World Chess Champions (before FIDE)
🌍 World Chess Champions
(before FIDE)
Wilhelm Steinitz
World Champion: 1886-1894
Nationality: Austro-Hungarian Monarchy / U.S.A.
Defended Title: 3 times
Born: May 14, 1836 - Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic), Austrian Empire
Died: August 12, 1900 - New York City, U.S.A.
World Chess Championship 1886
U.S.A. (January 11 - March 29)
Time Control: 30 moves in 2 hours
and then 15 moves in 1 hour.
Winner: first player to achieve 10 wins,
in the event of 9 wins each, the match would be declared a draw.
Venues:
- New York City (Jan 11-20)
until one player had 4 wins (games 1-5)
Steinitz: +1, =0, -4
- St. Louis (Feb 3-10)
until one player had 3 wins (games 6-9)
Steinitz: +3, =1, -0
- New Orleans (Feb 26 - Mar 29)
(games 10-20)
Steinitz: +6, =4, -1
Wilhelm Steinitz (Austro-Hungarian Monarchy) vs Johannes Zukertort (United Kingdom)
Final Score: 10 - 5
(5 draws not counting, Steinitz: +10, =5, -5)
Defended Title
World Chess Championship 1889
Havana, Captaincy General of Cuba, Spanish Empire (January 20 - February 24)
Winner: first player to reach 10½ points,
in the event of a 10-10 tie, the defending champion would defend the title.
Wilhelm Steinitz (U.S.A.) vs Mikhail Chigorin (Russian Empire)
Final Score: 10½ - 6½
(Steinitz: +10, =1, -6)
World Chess Championship 1890-1891
New York City, U.S.A. (December 9, 1890 - January 22, 1891)
Winner: first player to achieve 10 wins
or reach 10½ points,
in the event of 9 wins each, the match would be declared a draw.
Wilhelm Steinitz (U.S.A.) vs Isidor Gunsberg (Austro-Hungarian Monarchy)
Final Score: 10½ - 8½
(Steinitz: +6, =9, -4)
World Chess Championship 1892
Havana, Captaincy General of Cuba, Spanish Empire (January 1 - February 28)
Winner: first player to achieve 10 wins
or reach 10½ points,
in the event of a 10-10 tie, the players would continue until one of them had won 10 games,
in the event of 9 wins each, the defending champion would defend the title.
Wilhelm Steinitz (U.S.A.) vs Mikhail Chigorin (Russian Empire)
Final Score: 10 - 8
(5 draws not counting, Steinitz: +10, =5, -8)
Emanuel Lasker
World Champion: 1894-1921
Nationality: German Empire / Germany
Defended Title: 5 times
Born: December 24, 1868 - Berlinchen, Kingdom of Prussia
Died: January 11, 1941 - New York City, U.S.A.
World Chess Championship 1894
U.S.A. and Canada (March 15 - May 26)
Time Control: 15 moves in 1 hour.
Winner: first player to achieve 10 wins.
Venues:
- New York City, U.S.A. (games 1-8)
Lasker: +4, =2, -2
- Philadelphia, U.S.A. (games 9-11)
Lasker: +3, =0, -0
- Montreal, Canada (games 12-19)
Lasker: +3, =2, -3
Emanuel Lasker (German Empire) vs Wilhelm Steinitz (U.S.A.)
Final Score: 10 - 5
(4 draws not counting, Lasker: +10, =4, -5)
Defended Title
World Chess Championship 1896-1897
Moscow, Russian Empire (November 6, 1896 - January 14, 1897)
Winner: first player to achieve 10 wins.
Emanuel Lasker (German Empire) vs Wilhelm Steinitz (U.S.A.)
Final Score: 10 - 2
(5 draws not counting, Lasker: +10, =5, -2)
World Chess Championship 1907
U.S.A. (January 26 - April 6)
Winner: first player to achieve 8 wins.
Venues:
New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Chicago. Memphis
Emanuel Lasker (German Empire) vs Frank Marshall (U.S.A.)
Final Score: 8 - 0
(7 draws not counting, Lasker: +8, =7, -0)
World Chess Championship 1908
German Empire (August 17 - September 30)
Time Control: 15 moves in 1 hour.
Winner: first player to achieve 8 wins.
Venues:
- Düsseldorf (Aug 17-31)
until one player had 3 wins (games 1-4)
Lasker: +3, =0, -1
- Munich (Sep 1-30)
(games 5-16)
Lasker: +5, =5, -2
Emanuel Lasker (German Empire) vs Siegbert Tarrasch (German Empire)
Final Score: 8 - 3
(5 draws not counting, Lasker: +8, =5, -3)
World Chess Championship 1910
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and German Empire (January 7 - February 10)
Time Control: 15 moves in 1 hour.
Winner: first player to reach 5½ points,
in the event of a 5-5 tie, the defending champion would defend the title.
Venues:
- Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (Jan 7-24)
(games 1-5)
Lasker: +0, =4, -1
- Berlin, German Empire (Jan 29 - Feb 10)
(games 6-10)
Lasker: +1, =4, -0
Emanuel Lasker (German Empire) vs Carl Schlechter (Austro-Hungarian Monarchy)
Final Score: 5 - 5
(Lasker: +1, =8, -1)
World Chess Championship 1910
Berlin, German Empire (November 8 - December 8)
Winner: first player to achieve 8 wins.
Emanuel Lasker (German Empire) vs David Janowski (France)
Final Score: 8 - 0
(3 draws not counting, Lasker: +8, =3, -0)
José Raúl Capablanca
World Champion: 1921-1927
Nationality: Cuba
Born: November 19, 1888 - Havana, Captaincy General of Cuba, Spanish Empire
Died: March 8, 1942 - New York City, U.S.A.
World Chess Championship 1921
Havana, Cuba (March 15 - April 27)
Time Control: 15 moves in 1 hour.
Winner: first player to achieve 8 wins
or reach 12½ points,
in the event of a 12-12 tie, Capablanca would be World Champion, as Lasker insisted on being regarded as the challenger.
José Raúl Capablanca (Cuba) vs Emanuel Lasker (Germany)
Score: 9 - 5
(Capablanca: +4, =10, -0)
after Capablanca won for the fourth time in game 14, Lasker gave up.
Alexander Alekhine
World Champion: 1927-1935, 1937-1946
Nationality: France
Defended Title: 2 times
Regained Title: 1 time
Born: October 31, 1892 - Moscow, Russian Empire
Died: March 24, 1946 - Estoril, Portugal
World Chess Championship 1927
Buenos Aires, Argentina (September 9 - November 29)
Time Control: 40 moves in 2½ hours.
Winner: first player to achieve 6 wins.
Alexander Alekhine (France) vs José Raúl Capablanca (Cuba)
Final Score: 6 - 3
(25 draws not counting, Alekhine: +6, =25, -3)
Defended Title
World Chess Championship 1929
Germany and Netherlands (September 6 - November 12)
Winner: first player to reach 15½ points.
Venues:
- Wiesbaden, Germany (games 1-8, 24-25)
Alekhine: +4, =4, -2
- Heidelberg, Germany (games 9-11)
Alekhine: +1, =2, -0
- Berlin, Germany (games 12-17)
Alekhine: +3, =1, -2
- The Hague, Netherlands (games 18-19, 23)
Alekhine: +1, =1, -1
- Rotterdam, Netherlands (game 20)
Alekhine: +0, =1 -0
- Amsterdam, Netherlands (games 21-22)
Alekhine: +2, =0, -0
Alexander Alekhine (France) vs Efim Bogoljubov (Germany)
Final Score: 15½ - 9½
(Alekhine: +11, =9, -5)
World Chess Championship 1934
Germany (April 1 - June 14)
Winner: first player to reach 15½ points.
Venues:
12 various cities and towns -
Baden-Baden, Villingen, Freiburg, Pforzheim, Stuttgart, Munich, Bayreuth, Kissingen, Nuremberg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Berlin
Alexander Alekhine (France) vs Efim Bogoljubov (Germany)
Final Score: 15½ - 10½
(Alekhine: +8, =15, -3)
Regained Title
World Chess Championship 1937
Netherlands (October 5 - December 4)
Winner: first player to reach 15½ points.
Venues:
9 various cities and towns -
The Hague, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Leiden, Groningen, Zwolle, Eindhoven, Delft
Alexander Alekhine (France) vs Max Euwe (Netherlands)
Final Score: 15½ - 9½
(Alekhine: +10, =11, -4)
Max Euwe
World Champion: 1935-1937
Peak Rating: 2530 (May 1974)
Nationality: Netherlands
FIDE awarded the Grandmaster (GM) title to Max Euwe in 1950.
In 1950 FIDE officially introduced
the Grandmaster (GM) title
and first awarded it to 27 players:
- Top World Class Players at the time,
- Players still living who, though past their best, were recognised as having been World Class Players when at their peak.
World Class Players who died prior to 1950, including former World Champions:
Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine, never received the title.
Born: May 20, 1901 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died: November 26, 1981 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
World Chess Championship 1935
Netherlands (October 3 - December 16)
Winner: first player to reach 15½ points.
Venues:
12 various cities and towns -
Amsterdam (games 1–3, 8–9, 12–13, 18, 20, 23, 25–26, 28–30,
game 26 began on one day in Zandvoort, and was finished on a later day in Amsterdam)
Euwe: +6, =6, -3,
The Hague, Delft, Utrecht, Gouda, Groningen, Baarn, 's-Hertogenbosch, Eindhoven, Zeist, Ermelo, Zandvoort
Max Euwe (Netherlands) vs Alexander Alekhine (France)
Final Score: 15½ - 14½
(Euwe: +9, =13, -8)
Notes
- FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) was founded in Paris, France on July 20, 1924
- Alexander Alekhine who regained his title in the World Chess Championship 1937 and was the Defending Champion at that time, died in 1946.
- FIDE stepped in to take control of the World Chess Championships and that meant World Chess Championship 1937 was the last in where the World Champion had control of the title and could set match conditions.
🌍 World Chess Champions
- Domination of Soviet Union Players
- FIDE and PCA - Split Title
- Reunification of the Title
