Know the World Chess Champions

We play and follow Chess regularly. It's a beautiful game. How about taking some time to know the World Champions from history to today of this brilliant mind game?

These World Championship matches are held by FIDE which is the World Federation of Chess. There are in total just sixteen Champions till today! The first official World Chess Championship Match was held in 1886. Here we shall see the World Champions in chronological order.

Let us go back in time.

1. Wilhelm Steinitz 

(17 May, 1836 - 12 August, 1900 --- Austria-Hungary, England, United States)
World Championship Reign: 1886 - 1894

Famous line: "Only the player with the initiative has the right to attack."

2. Emanuel Lasker

(24 December, 1868 - 11 January, 1941 --- Germany)
World Championship Reign: 1894 - 1921

Famous line: "When you see a good move, look for a better one."

3. Jose Raul Capablanca

(19 November, 1888 - 8 March, 1942 --- Cuba)
World Championship Reign: 1921 - 1927

Famous line: "A good player is always lucky."

4. Alexander Alekhine

(31 October, 1892 - 24 March, 1946 --- Russia, France)
World Championship Reign: 1927 - 1935, 1937 - 1946

Famous line: "Through chess I developed my character. Chess first of all teaches you to be objective. You can become a big master in chess only if you see your mistakes and short-comings. Exactly the same as in life itself."

5. Max Euwe

(20 May, 1901 - 26 November, 1981 --- Netherlands)
World Championship Reign: 1935 - 1937

Famous line: "Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation."

6. Mikhail Botvinnik

(17 August, 1911 - 5 May, 1995 --- Soviet Union, Russia)
World Championship Reign: 1948 - 1957, 1958 - 1960, 1961 - 1963

Famous line: "Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic."

7. Vasily Smyslov

(24 March, 1921 - 27 March 2010 --- Soviet Union, Russia)
World Championship Reign: 1957 - 1958

Famous line: "Despite the development of chess theory, there is much that remains secret and unexplored in chess."

8. Mikhail Tal

(9 November, 1936 - 28 June 1992 --- Soviet Union, Latvia)
World Championship Reign: 1960 - 1961

Famous line: "There are two types of sacrifices: correct ones, and mine."

9. Tigran Petrosian

(17 June, 1929 - 13 August, 1984 --- Soviet Union, Armenia)
World Championship Reign: 1963 - 1969

Famous line: "What I value more than anything in chess is logic. I am firmly convinced that in chess there is nothing accidental. This is my credo. I believe only in logical, "correct" play."

10. Boris Spassky

(30 January, 1937 --- Soviet Union, Russia)
World Championship Reign: 1969 - 1972

Famous line: "The best indicator of a chess player's form is his ability to sense the climax of the game."

11. Robert James Fischer

(9 March, 1943 - 17 January, 2008 --- United States)
World Championship Reign: 1972 - 1975

Famous line: "All that matters on the chessboard is good moves."

12. Anatoly Karpov

(23 May, 1951 --- Soviet Union, Russia)
World Championship Reign: 1975 - 1985

Famous line: "Chess is everything: art, science, and sport."

13. Garry Kasparov

(13 April, 1963 --- Soviet Union)
World Championship Reign: 1985 - 1993

Famous line: "Winning is not a secret that belongs to a very few, winning is something that we can learn by studying ourselves, studying the environment and making ourselves ready for any challenge that is in front of us."

14. Vladimir Kramnik

(25 June, 1975 --- Russia)
World Championship Reign: 2006 - 2007

Famous line: "Chess is like body-building. If you train every day, you stay in top shape. It is the same with your brain – chess is a matter of daily training."

15. Viswanathan Anand 

(11 Dec, 1969 --- India)
World Championship Reign: 2007 - 2013

Famous line: "Chess is like a language, the top players are very fluent at it. Talent can be developed scientifically but you have to find first what you are good at."

16. Magnus Carlsen

(30 Nov, 1990 --- Norway)
World Championship Reign: 2013 - present

Famous line: "Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it’s OK to lose. I don’t. You have to be merciless."

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