Chess Champions

Chess has been played competitively ever since the16th century. Chess tournaments, consisting of long series of matches and involving large number of players, have been held since then, in an effort to crown the best chess players.

First Chess Champions

Ruy Lopez de Segura is considered to be the first world chess champion (though unofficially, since the establishment of world chess championship was not founded yet). The Spanish priest championed the first chess tournament, held in Madrid in 1560, and retained the title for the next 15 years. Lopez de Segura is also recognized as one of the first chess authors of modernity and his book Libro de la invención liberal y arte del juego del Axedrez is seen as one of the most important chess books of the era.

Chess Champions in the 19th Century

The first official World Chess Championship was held in 1886 and for the next five and a half decades consisted of a single match held between two of the world's leading chess players. Wilhelm Steinitz of Austria-Hungry, who had held the yet unofficial title in the period between 1866 and 1878, recaptured the first official crown in 1886 until 1894. During the 1860s, Steinitz was known for his offensive style of play, and later on in 1873, he revealed the new positional style of play. In 1894, Steinitz lost to Emanuel Lasker, who kept the title for an amazing 27 years. Lasker was known for using intensive manipulations on his opponents and forcing him into checkmate. In 1914, the Tsar of Russia changed the title of Chess World Champion to that of Grandmaster of Chess, resulting in Alekhine, Lasker, Tarrasch, Capablanca (widely regarded as the best player in history), and Marshall all holding the title of Grandmaster.

Russian Reign in Chess

1948 marks the beginning of the Russian reign in chess, producing the largest number of Grandmasters between then and 1972 and ushering a new kind of champions.
The Soviet Union registered as a member of the FIDE in 1947. At the same year, native Mikhail Botvinnik won the title, defeating five of the era's best chess players. Botvinnik defended his title in 1951 and 1954, but was forced to give it up in 1957 when he was beaten by Vasily Smyslov; who kept the title only for one year until Botvinnik won it back in 1958. Botvinnik continued to hold the Chess Grandmaster title until 1960. In 1961, he lost it in a rematch to Tigran Petrosian, who lost the title in 1968 to Boris Spassky in a rematch, all of them of Soviet origins.

Chess Champions in the 1970s

American Bobby Fischer put an end to the Russian dominance at the World Chess Championship in 1972 and during the three consecutive years. In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title against Anatoly Karpov, making the latter World Champion by default and causing Fisher to drop his FIDE membership. The 1975 rise of Anatoly Karpov, brought back Mother Russia to the forefront of Chess Grandmasters and maintained his reputation as one of the world's greatest chess players. Karpov had defended his title for the next decade, until his compatriot Garry Kasparov earned it and kept it for almost two whole decades.