World Chess Champions

Despite the fact that the history of chess goes back many centuries, the official title of the world champion among men was played relatively recently - 134 years ago. Of course, before that, various international competitions were held, and their winners were recognized as the best players in the world. Such "uncrowned" champions at different times became - Francois Philidor, Charles-Louis Labourdonnay, Howard Staunton, Paul Morphy. However, this article will focus on 16 heroes who are currently officially recognized as world chess champions.
List of world champions by year

To begin with, let us give a list of all the world chess champions among men by the years of their "reign" on the chess throne.
Wilhelm Steinitz (1886-1894)
Emanuel Lasker (1894-1921)
Jose Raul Capablanca (1921-1927)
Alexander Alekhin (1927-1946)
Max Euwe (1935-1937)
Mikhail Botvinnik (1948-1963)
Vasily Smyslov (1957-1958)
Mikhail Tal (1960-1961)
Tigran Petrosyan (1963-1969)
Boris Spassky (1969-1972)
Robert Fisher (1972-1975)
Anatoly Karpov (1975-1985)
Garry Kasparov (1985-2000)
Vladimir Kramnik (2000-2007)
Viswanathan Anand (2007-2013)
Magnus Carlsen (2013-?)
World champions among men

So let's get to know all the male world chess champions in order. You can follow the links to open their detailed biographies and study the games, but in this review I would like to briefly dwell on the contribution that each of them made to the development of the chess game.
Wilhelm Steinitz

Our list opens with Wilhelm Steinitz, who was born on May 14, 1836 in Prague into a large Jewish family. Then he represented Austria and the USA. For a long time he was considered the strongest chess player in the world, winning major international competitions, but it was after the victory in the match with Johann Zukertort in 1886 that Steinitz went down in history as the first world chess champion.
World Chess Champions
Wilhelm Steinitz strongly advanced the general theory of chess. He formulated the most important principles of positional play, which are still relevant today. In the spirit of his time, when science was the locomotive of the Second Industrial Revolution, Steinitz was the first to try to introduce into chess the laws according to which chess games should proceed. For example, that only the side with the advantage has the right to attack. Moreover, she is obliged to do so under the threat of losing her advantage.
Emanuel Lasker

Emanuel Lasker was born on December 24, 1868 in the territory of East Prussia in the town of Berlinchen. When he beat the elderly Steinitz in 1894, he still had no outstanding tournament success behind him. At that moment, the chess world did not accept him as a deserved champion. However, Lasker quickly proved with his victories that it was not in vain that he bears the honorary title. Moreover, over the next 26 years, no one could beat him in the match for the chess crown. This record has not yet been broken.
World Chess Champions
Lasker's chess concepts were also consistent with the time in which he lived. Einstein's theory of relativity (with whom, by the way, Lasker was well familiar), Freud's psychoanalysis, postmodernism in painting, etc. At the beginning of the 20th century, the world ceased to seem as clear as classical science wanted to present it. And in the matches won against Steinitz, and then Tarrasch, who was his follower, Lasker was able to prove that chess is much deeper and cannot be so simply put on the shelves. And that we need a specific analysis of not only each move, and each opponent. It was Lasker who first drew attention to the psychology of chess, so sometimes his seemingly irrational decisions were based on a deep study of the opponent's psychotype.
Jose Raul Capablanca

The third world chess champion Jose Raul Capablanca was born on November 19, 1888 in Havana. The Cuban announced his claims to the chess crown early, but World War I postponed the fight with Lasker. Only in 1921, Capablanca was able to challenge his opponent to a match and confidently beat him. At that time, the Cuban champion was so superior to the rest of the players that he even earned the glory of a "chess machine".
World Chess Champions
Jose Raul Capablanca reigned on the chess throne from 1921 to 1927. This is a period of rapid economic prosperity in the United States, when it seemed that all wars were behind and humanity entered a new bright era. Just remember the movie "The Great Gatsby" with its magnificent scenery. Capablanca was a hero of that time - unusually handsome, enjoyed tremendous success with women. He loved to appear in the world, especially since he was officially listed as a Cuban diplomat. However, even such an idle life allowed Capablanca to create brilliant masterpieces, his playing was unusually light and clean - this is how Raphael wrote his paintings and Mozart created music. According to rumors, he did not even seriously study chess, his talent was so enormous. That is why Capablanca's contribution to opening theory is not so great, but many of the Cuban's games are educational examples of positional play.
Alexander Alekhin

The first Russian world chess champion was born on October 31, 1892 in Moscow into a noble family. His victory over Capablanca in 1927 became a real sensation, since no one believed that it was realistic to defeat the "chess machine". And Alekhine himself, before that, could not beat the Cuban even in one game. However, in the early 1930s, Alexander Alexandrovich proved to the whole world that he is a great champion. Suffice it to recall his brilliant victories at tournaments in San Remo, Bled, winning the match against Bogolyubov. True, in 1935 Alekhine, in his own words, lent the title to Max Euwe, but in 1937 he returned it back.
World Chess Champions
Alekhine's contribution to the development of chess can hardly be overestimated - he developed entire opening systems, future champions still learn from his mating attacks, as well as the technique of playing in the endgame. In addition, he has published many books that have become classics in chess literature. Alekhine's style of play can also be associated with the ups and downs of his fate. He went through two world wars, revolutions, economic crises, anathema in the USSR. Perhaps that is why the games of Alexander Alexandrovich are filled with emotional experiences, when brilliant combinations were sometimes replaced by terrible blunders. Alekhine, the only world champion, passed away undefeated.
See also: Kramnik. The best chess combinations
Max Euwe

The fifth world chess champion Max Euwe was born on May 20, 1901 in the small Dutch town of Watergrafsmeer. His victory over Alekhine in 1935 came as a shock to the entire chess world, because the mathematics professor from the Netherlands was never perceived as a future champion. However, for 2 years of his short reign, Euwe performed quite well and was even considered a favorite before the rematch in 1937. However, Alekhine was able to fully regain his shape, so the Dutchman had no chance.
World Chess Champions
You can treat Max Euwe's championship in different ways, but he won his title in a well-deserved fight. Later he did a lot to popularize chess as President of FIDE.
Mikhail Botvinnik

Mikhail Botvinnik was born on August 4, 1911 in the Finnish town of Kuokkala into a family of dentists. He became the first Soviet world chess champion. Subsequently, he was even called "the patriarch of Soviet chess." As already noted, Alekhine died undefeated, so the FIDE management decided to organize a match-tournament among the strongest grandmasters at that time. In 1948, Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik became the winner of this historic competition, becoming the sixth world chess champion.
World Chess Champions
It can be said that Mikhail Botvinnik was the first to treat chess as a full-fledged profession (although he was also a specialist in the field of electrical engineering). He developed special training methods that dealt with both purely chess aspects and the physical and psychological form of a chess player. Botvinnik made a great contribution to the theory of chess, in particular, in such openings as the French Defense, Queen's Gambit, Sicilian Defense, etc.
Vasily Smyslov

The seventh world chess champion Vasily Smyslov was born on March 24, 1921 in Moscow. Already at an early age, he stood out among his peers for his chess successes, but the main victories came to him after the war. Since 1946, Smyslov was considered the main rival of Mikhail Botvinnik, with whom he eventually played 3 matches for the world championship. The first in 1954 ended in a draw, but in the second Vasily Vasilyevich was able to defeat his formidable opponent and become the next world champion. True, just a year later, in a rematch, Botvinnik regained the chess crown.
World Chess Champions
Vasily Smyslov made a great contribution to the development of the theory of the Spanish game, the Slav Defense, Queen's Gambit, Grunfeld Defense, etc. However, he himself believed that a chess player should first of all improve not in the opening and middlegame, but in the endgame.
Mikhail Tal

The eighth world chess champion Mikhail Tal was born in Riga on November 9, 1936. His path to the highest chess achievement became the fastest in history. In 1957-58. he twice became the champion of the USSR, then won the Interzonal tournament in Portoroz, and a year later the Candidates Tournament. In 1960, Mikhail Tal beat Botvinnik in the championship match and at 23 became the youngest holder of the main chess title at that time. True, a year later Mikhail Botvinnik took a convincing revenge, and Tal became the youngest ex-world champion.
World Chess Champions
Mikhail Tal practiced an attacking combinational style of play. His games are full of all kinds of sacrifices and tactical complications. This manner impressed the audience very much, so Tal, without exaggeration, was everyone's favorite.