#World Championship

No. Magnus Carlsen gave up the world championship title in 2023, but he never retired from chess — he remains the world's highest-rated active player.

In 2023, Magnus Carlsen walked away from the world chess championship he had held for ten years. Three years on, has the game survived without him?

At 18, D. Gukesh became the youngest world chess champion in history. The Indian generation behind him is not an accident — it is the end of an order.

The first official World Chess Championship match — Wilhelm Steinitz defeats Johannes Zukertort across three American cities to become the inaugural world champion.

Capablanca takes the title from Lasker without losing a game — ending the longest reign in championship history at 27 years.

The longest world championship match in history — Alekhine defeats Capablanca in 34 games over 73 days in Buenos Aires.

The Magician from Riga takes the throne at 23 — Mikhail Tal becomes the youngest world champion to date, defeating Mikhail Botvinnik in Moscow.

Boris Spassky takes the title from Tigran Petrosian in their second consecutive championship match — the rematch in Moscow, decided by a single game.

The Match of the Century — Bobby Fischer takes the title from Boris Spassky in Reykjavík, ending 24 years of Soviet dominance of the championship.

The match that was never finished — Karpov–Kasparov 1984/85 ran for five months and 48 games before FIDE terminated it without a winner.

Garry Kasparov becomes the 13th world chess champion at 22 — the youngest ever, defeating Anatoly Karpov in the rematch decided by Game 24.

The Seville draw — Kasparov needs to win the final game to retain the title and does it, ending the match 12–12 with the champion keeping the crown.

The fifth and final Kasparov–Karpov match — split between New York and Lyon, Kasparov retains the title with one round to spare.

The Berlin Wall — Vladimir Kramnik takes the title from Garry Kasparov without losing a single game, in the London match organised by Brain Games.

Anand defends the unified title against Kramnik in Bonn — the first championship match held entirely under the post-2006 unified cycle.

Anand defends the title in Sofia — defeats Topalov in the final game of a match held in the challenger's home country.

Anand defends the title in Moscow — defeats Boris Gelfand in rapid tiebreaks after the classical match ends 6–6.

Carlsen takes the title at 22 — defeating Viswanathan Anand in Chennai, in Anand's home city, with a dominant 6.5–3.5 performance.

Carlsen defends in Sochi against the same opponent — a closer match than 2013, decided in eleven games.

The New York rapid playoff — Carlsen defends against Karjakin after the classical match ends 6–6, winning the tiebreak 3–1.

Twelve drawn classical games — the most drawn championship match ever, decided by Carlsen winning the rapid tiebreak 3–0.

Carlsen's most one-sided championship win — defeats Nepomniachtchi in Dubai with three wins in the first eight games and one in Game 11.

The first championship without Carlsen — Ding Liren defeats Nepomniachtchi in tiebreaks at Astana to become China's first male world chess champion.

The youngest world chess champion ever — Dommaraju Gukesh defeats Ding Liren in Singapore at 18 years and 10 months, beating Kasparov's 1985 record.

FIDE's annual blitz championship — 21-round Swiss at 3+2, the most dramatic chess event of the year by sheer per-second decision count.

FIDE's annual end-of-year championship at rapid time control — 15-round Swiss, 200+ players, the strongest annual non-classical event in chess.

Gukesh Dommaraju's first title defence — the eighteenth world champion's match against the 2026 Candidates winner. Location, dates, and challenger to be confirmed.

Singapore, December 2024 — Gukesh Dommaraju, eighteen years old, defeated Ding Liren to become the youngest World Chess Champion in history.

The international governing body of chess — founded in Paris in 1924, today headquartered in Lausanne, recognised by the IOC and responsible for the world championship cycle, ratings, titles, and the biennial Olympiad.