Rook House - History of Champions

"I got strong ideas about my house. I'm going to hire the best architect and have him build it in the shape of a rook. Yeah, that's for me. Class. Spiral staircases, parapets, everything. I want to live the rest of my life in a house built exactly like a rook."

-- Bobby Fischer

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History of Champions

The first officially declared world chess champion was William Steinitz in 1886. However, there were many great players before him that were given the unofficial title of "World Chess Champion" and we have listed them for you with as many facts as we could find.

From 1993 to 2006 there was a split between FIDE and Garry Kasparov, thus creating parallel champions (FIDE and Classical). This was rectified in 2006 with Vladimir Kramnik capturing the newly unified crown.

Click on the names below for player biography pages and interactive PGN games.

Unofficial World Champions (Pre-1886)

Name	Born	Country of Origin	Title Year(s)
Ruy Lopez de Segura	1530 - 1580	Italy	1560-1575
Leonardo di Cutri	1552 - 1597	Italy	1575-1587
Paolo Boi	1528 - 1598	Italy	1587-1598
Alessandro Salvio	1570 - 1640	Italy	1598-1620
Gioacchino Greco	1600 - 1634	Italy	1620-1634
Legall de Kermeur	1702 - 1792	France	1730-1747
Francois Philidor	1726 - 1795	France	1747-1795
Alexandre Deschapelles	1780 - 1847	France	1795-1821
Louis de la Bourdonnais	1795 - 1840	France	1821-1840
Pierre Saint-Amant	1800 - 1872	France	1840-1843
Howard Staunton	1810 - 1874	England	1843-1851
Adolf Anderssen	1818 - 1879	Germany	1851-1858
Paul Morphy	1837 - 1884	United States	1858-1862
Adolf Anderssen	1818 - 1879	Germany	1862-1866
Wilhelm Steinitz	1834 - 1900	Austria	1866-1886

Undisputed World Champions (1886-Present)

Name	Born	Country of Origin	Title Year(s)
Wilhelm Steinitz	1834 - 1900	Austria/USA	1886-1894
Emanuel Lasker	1868 - 1941	Germany	1894-1921
Jose Raul Capablanca	1888 - 1942	Cuba	1921-1927
Alexander Alekhine	1892 - 1946	Russia/France	1927-1935
Max Euwe	1901 - 1981	Netherlands	1935-1937
Alexander Alekhine	1892 - 1946	Russia/France	1937-1945
Mikhail Botvinnik	1911 - 1995	Soviet Union	1948-1957
Vasily Smyslov	1921 -	Soviet Union	1957-1958
Mikhail Botvinnik	1911 - 1995	Soviet Union	1958-1960
Mikhail Tal	1936 - 1993	Soviet Union	1960-1961
Mikhail Botvinnik	1911 - 1995	Soviet Union	1961-1963
Tigran Petrosian	1929 - 1984	Soviet Union	1963-1969
Boris Spassky	1937 -	Soviet Union	1969-1972
Robert J. Fischer	1943 - 2008	United States	1972-1975
Anatoly Karpov	1951 -	Soviet Union	1975-1985
Garry Kasparov	1963 -	USSR/Russia	1985-2000
Vladimir Kramnik	1975 -	Russia	2000-Present

Spassky - Fischer

(1970 Olympics)

Tal - Botvinnik

(1960 WCC Match)

Anderssen - Steinitz

(1866 Match Play)