World Champions since 1886

The concept of a world chess champion started to emerge in the first half of the 19th century, and the phrase "world champion" first appeared in 1845.

From 1948 to 1993, the championship was administered by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), but in 1993, the reigning champion Garry Kasparov broke away from FIDE, which led to the creation of the rival PCA championship. The titles were unified at the World Chess Championship 2006.

Current world champion Magnus Carlsen won the World Chess Championship 2013 against Viswanathan Anand and successfully defended his title against Anand in the World Chess Championship 2014 and against Sergey Karjakin in 2016; Carlsen is set to defend his title again in the World Chess Championship in November of 2018.

Classical World Chess Champions (Official List)

• Magnus Carlsen (2013-current)
• Viswanathan Anand (2007-2013)
• Vladimir Kramnik (2000-2007)
• Garry Kasparov (1985-2000)
• Anatoly Karpov (1975-1985)
• Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (1972-1975)
• Boris Spassky (1969-1972)
• Tigran Petrosian (1963-1969)
• Mikhail Tal (1960-1961)
• Vasily Smyslov (1957-1958)
• Mikhail Botvinnik (1948-1957, 1958-1960, 1961-1963)
• Max Euwe (1935-1937)
• Alexander Alekhine (1927-1935, 1937-1946)
• Jose Raul Capablanca (1921-1927)
• Emanuel Lasker (1894-1921)
• Wilhelm Steinitz (1886-1894)

FIDE World Chess Champions

When Garry Kasparov split with the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and organized his 1993 World Championship match with Nigel Short, FIDE declared that they still controlled the World Championship title and staged their own championships. While the FIDE title did not carry the prestige of the classical World Championship, these players are still worth noting for their historical impact on the game.

• Veselin Topalov (2005-2006)
• Rustam Kasimdzhanov (2004-2005)
• Ruslan Ponomariov (2002-2004)
• Viswanathan Anand (2000-2002)
• Alexander Khalifman (1999-2000)
• Anatoly Karpov (1993-1999)

In 2006, the two titles were united when Classical World Champion Vladimir Kramnik defeated FIDE Champion Veselin Topalov in a reunification match.

IBM Deep Blue beat G. Kasparov in 1997

The first match was played in February 1996 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kasparov won the match 4–2, losing one game, drawing in two and winning three.

A rematch was played in 1997 – this time Deep Blue won 3.5–2.5

The video is a short documentary about computer chess history up to the third millennium and especially about the 1997 chess match between Garry Kasparov World Chess Champion and IBM's computer Deep Blue. The computer won the match 3.5 - 2.5 and Kasparov lost a chess match for the first time in his life.

Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine is a 2003 documentary film by Vikram Jayanti about the match between Garry Kasparov, the highest rated chess player in history (at the time) and the World Champion for 15 years (1985–2000), and Deep Blue, a chess-playing computer created by IBM. It was co-produced by Alliance Atlantis and the National Film Board of Canada.