World Subjective PLAYERS Champions By: The Chess Champ + History of some very little known great chess matches & forgotten players ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .Luis Ramirez de Lucena 1490's .Ruy Lopez de Segura 1559-1574 .Cutri Giovanni Leonardo 1574 - 1587 .Paoli Boi 1587 - 1598 .Salvio Alessandro 1598 - 1621 .Greco Gioacchino of Calabria 1620's, 30's 1621 - 1634 .De Kermeur Legall 1730 - 1747 Modern Times: ( also WORLD PLAYERS' CHAMPS: ) -Anatoly Karpov 1993-1999, Russia -Alexander Khalifman 1999-2000, Russia -Vishy Anand 2000-2002, India -Ruslan Ponomariov 2002-2004, Ukraine -Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2004-2005, Uzbekisttan -Veselin Topalov 2005-2006 Bulgaria (End of silly FIDE 'championship' formats) TRUE World Chess Champions: =============================== THEY (below) SHOULD BE OFFICIAL, IT HAS BEEN RESEARCHED... - NOTE: - These people played title conttinuation matches in order to be what they are... The Champs !!! It's possible there were some other champs in between, if so I hope to correct it in due time. The problem is that at that time nothing was official and the best players did not have the chance to play against each other due to many reasons. There were no official matches sanctioned. 1. Philidor Andre Francois 1777 (1747) - 1795 ( Won a 10 game match against Legall in 1747 ) Can't be a champion for so long, this date is more than enough. Not enough matches played to prove he was the best for 50 years, but it's possible he was. 2. Deschapelles Alexander 1795 - 1821 3. Louis de la Bourdonnais 1821 - 1834, 1835 - 1842 4. Alexander McDonnell 1834 - 1835 5. Pierre de Saint-Amant 1842 - 1843 Saint Amant is the logical choice for new champion after Boudonnais' death. 6. John Cochrane 1842 - 1846 7. Howard Staunton 1846 - 1851 (beating Horwitz Bernar, not Horrowitz Daniel) - Since Cochrane did not play any seriouus matches after 1842, this is considered a world championship match of 24 games. Staunton Beat Howrith 16 to 7 with 2 draws. Here are some little known facts from around 1843, the time of the two Staunton/Staint-Amant matches: In 1841 Adolf Zytogorski played Staunton. Staunton gave odds of "pawn and 2" and Zytogorski devastated Staunton +6 -0 =1 It is very well possible Zytogorski was a better player. In 1843 John Cochrane decisively beat Saint-Amant +6 -4 =1 Later that year Staunton would lose a match to Saint-Amant, though he would beat him in a longer match a short time after. The 1843 match between Saint-Amant and Staunton never seemed to be a "world championship" in anyone's minds but rather a nationalistic rivalry vying England against France. It's doesn't seem to me that it's a given who was the strongest player in England and in France in 1843. In 1843 Staunton played John Cochrane in a series of games at different odds. It is obvious Staunton played at odds because if he lost he could always excuse himself, point out why he lost. Staunton giving "pawn and 1" broke even at +12 =7 -12. Staunton giving "pawn and 1" again, broke even at +3 -3 BUT playing even, Staunton lost -3 +1 =2. So John Cochrane was a better player and a world champion. Therefore the Saint Amant - Staunton 1843 match can not be considered as the Unofficial World Championship, because Cochrane was the world champion and Staunton was only England's champ. And the only real match they played consisted of 6 games, not enough for championship. Must be at least 10. In 1843 Lasa played a short match with Buckle winning +2 -1. In 1843 Buckle (who had lost to Lasa) crushing Staunton +6 -0 =1 with Staunton giving odds of "pawn and 1". It is very well possible Buckle was a much better player than Staunton. In 1844 Lasa played Staunton in a series of games and, according to the Oxford Companion to Chess, Lasa won the majority. So that makes Lasa the better player. Then again, while Staunton may or may not have been the best player in the world, which history did not accurately record, in part thanks to Staunton's mechanics and access to major newspapers, where he was able to write his chess columns and praise himself, I think he certainly represented England better than any other English player might have. There were other players of reputation from around the world who were never really tested on par to the English and French. For instance there was Vincent Grimm originally from Budapest but who moved to Syria/Turkey in 1848 and Alexander Petroff from Russia adding to these uncertainties. I do not understand why they were not invited to the 1851 London Tournament ?!? But I strongly doubt either Grimm or Petroff could have defeated Anderssen. They would get close, at best. If a match did not consist of 6 or more games, it should not count as the world championship match. Not enough games to conclude who was better player. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Any player who draws world champion should be considered as CO-CHAMPION BUT NOT THE CHAMPION. In reality the lineal world champions should start from Anderssen, because of the major intnerational tournament he won in London in 1851 where he pretty much destroyed all the competition. 1. Adolf Anderssen 1851 - 1858, 1860 - 1865, 1868 - 1871 (23 years on top) Won all matches against Zukertort, except for the 1865 and 1871 match, Steinitz defeated Anderssen in 1866 but Anderssen was not the champ. Co Champions: Paulson drew Anderessen in 1860 match, 5 to 5, one draw, Kolisch did it in 1862 match, 3 to 3 with 2 draws. Anderssen also drew Daniel Harrwitz in 1848 match, 5 to 5, this could be considered the first world championship match since at least 10 serious games were played! In 1860 he drew 11 game match vs Harrwitz. In 1861 he won 9 game match vs Harrwitz. In 1862 he drew 8 game match vs Paulson! In 1864 he also drew Suhle, 3 to 3 with 2 draws. He lost a match in 1865 to Zukertort, regained the title in 1868. Since 1848 match was very competitive and Anderssen defeated everybody who met him, he should be considered the best player of his time. 2. Paul Charles Morphy 1858 - 1860 ( technically, in reality: 1857 - 1884 ) 3. Johannes Zukertort 1865 - 1868, 1871 - 1872 In 1866 he played Victor Knorre in a 6 games match, it was drawn 3 to 3. 4/1. Willhelm ( William ) Steinitz 1872 - 1894 (Defeated Zukertort in 1872, the 1866 match should not count against Anderssen, because at that time Zukertort was stronger from Anderssen, beating him in 1865) 5. Emanuel Lasker 1894 - 1920 (He resigned the title in 1920 but next year played the vs Capablanca match because there was a good purse, who would refuse that ?) Pillsbury was the only one who had even record vs Lasker. Co-Champion: Carl Schlecter in 1910, lost 10th game, he had the game drawn but foolishly played for a win. 6. Jose Raul Capablanca 1920 - 1927 7. Alexander Alekhine 1927 - 1935, 1937 - 1948 (1946 died in a hotel) Alekhine's big mistake was not giving Capablanca a rematch. Similar faith may haunt Kramnik over Kasparov. By not giving Kasparov another shot, Alekhine's historical mistake repeats itself. Kasparov played solid openings Kramnik new well. It's good Gary is gone wasting his time on politics he'll not change, possibly ever, he had too much of disgusting bravado and big mouth, talking about subjects he barely knew. 8. Max Euwe 1935 - 1937 ( also better player in 1934 ) A real gentleman, an example to all pathetic rude board players. 9. Mihail Botvinnik 1948 - 1957, 1958 - 1960, 1961 - 1963 Co Champions: Bronstein 1951, 24th game drawn, 23rd game Bronstein drew on purpose ? Also Smyslov did it in 1954, 24th final game drawn 10. Vassily Smyslov 1957 - 1958 11. Mihail Tal 1960 - 1961, also first World Blitz Champion 1987 - 1988, defeated Gary in the finals. - A nice guy and a gent chess does not hhave. 12. Tigran Petrosian 1963 - 1969 13. Boris Spassky 1969 - 1972 14. Bobby Fischer 1972 - 1975 (Fischer was already strongest player in 1971) 15. Anatoly Karpov 1975 - 1985 (fide 1993 - 1999) 16. Garry Kasparov 1985 - 2000 (fide 1985-1993) 17. Vladimir Kramnik 2000 - 2007 18. Visvanatan (Vishy) Anand (Fide 2000-2002) 2007 - Kramnik is at least gone for a year. In a 14 double round games, Anand wins tournament championship on September 29, becomes 15th wrold champion on October 29 2008 when he beats Kramnik 6.5:4.5. 19. Magnus Carlsen 2013 - CM - S/BY2K Computer ? Almost, it was a +2,=4,-2 tie against Deep Patzer Fritz and Kramnik in 2002. In 2006 Kramnik lost 4-2 to a computer. (but the computer did not win the match, Kramnik made horrific idiotic mistakes, one mate blunder, stupid opening in final game) Let's not forget the almost champs... Pillsbury, Schlechter, Rubinstein, Bronestein, Keres, Korchnoi. Many times their contribution in their eras to our game was best from the rest. Men's Chess Correspondence World Champions have included: I 1950-1953 - C. Purdy (Australia) (Match started in 1947) II 1956-1959 - V. Ragozin (USSR) III 1959-1962 - A. O'Kelly (Belgium) IV 1962-1965 - V. Zagorovsky (USSR) V 1965-1968 - H. Berliner (USA) VI 1968-1971 - H. Rittner (Germany) VII 1972-1976 - Y. Estrin (USSR) VIII 1975-1980 - J. Sloth (Denmark) IX 1977-1983 - T. Oim (USSR) X 1978-1984 - V. Palciuskas (USA) XI 1981-1987 - F. Baumbach (Germany) XII 1984-1990 - G. Sanakoev (USSR) XIII 1989-1998 - M. Umansky (Russia) XIV 1994-1999 - T. Oim (Estonia) XV 1996-2001 - G. Timmerman (Netherlands) #1 1998-2003 - CHESS CHAMP (From All Over the Universe) XVI 1999-04 - T. Hamarat (Austria) Women's Chess Correspondence World Champions have included: 1972 - O. Rubtsova (USSR) 1977 - L. Yakovleva (USSR) 1984 - L. Kristol (Isr) 1992 - L. Belavenets (Russia) 1998 - L. Kristol (Isr) The Ladies' Champs: -------------------- 1. 1927 - 1950 : Vera Menchik-Stevenson (URSS then England, 1906-1944+) Killed by nazi bombs over London in 1944. Died Undefeated, forever champion 2. 1950 - 1953 : Ludmilla Rudenko (URSS, 1904-1986) 3. 1953 - 1956 : Elizavyeta Bykova (URSS, 1913-1989) 4. 1956 - 1958 : Olga Rubtsova (URSS, Born 1909) 3. 1958 - 1962 : Elizavyeta Bykova (URSS, 1913-1989) 5. 1962 - 1978 : Nona Gaprindachvili (URSS, Born 1941) 6. 1978 - 1991 : Maia Chiburdanidze (URSS then Georgia, Born 1961) 7. 1991 - 1993 : Jun Xie (China, Born 1970) 8. 1993 - 1996 : Zsusza Polgar (Hungary, Born 1969) 7. 1996 - 2000 : Jun Xie (China) 8. 12/2000 - 12/2001 New Delhi: Jun Xie (China) 2.5 - Kanying Qin (China) 1.5 (4 games is way not enough) 9. 12/2001 - 6/2004 Moscow: Chen Zhu (China) defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk 3:1 (Russia) 10. 6/2004 - 3/2006 Kalmykia: Anoatneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) 11. 3/2006 - 9/2008 Ekaterinburg Russua: Xu Yuhua (China) 12. 9/2008 - Alexandra Kosteniuk: Hou Yifan 1. Vera Menchik - 1927 - 1950 Born in Moscow of Czechoslavakian-British extraction, Vera Menchik was easily the strongest female player of her time, having at one time or other beaten most of the strongest players in the world (the defeated became members of the "Vera Menchik Club"). In 1927 she won the first Women's World Championship tournament with a score of 10.5 out of 11. She defended her title with ease in Hamburg 1930, Prague 1931, Folkestone 1933, Warsaw 1935, Stockholm 1937 and Buenos Aires 1939. She died during Nazi raids over London. The tragedy was not all bad. She remains undefeated in death. 2. Ludmila Rudenko - 1950 - 1953 Ludmila Rudenko from Byelorussian started her career by winning the women's champion of Moscow in 1928. She went on to win the Women's World Championship tournament in 1949, with a score of 11.5 out of 15. 3. Elizaveta Bykova - 1953 - 1956 Elizaveta Bykova was coincidentally born in a town called Bogolyubovo in Russia. In 1938 she became women's champion of Moscow, which she subsequently won a number of times. She was first the USSR Championships of 1947, 1948 and 1950. In 1953 she wrested the women's world championship title from Rudenko in a very hard-fought match. 4. Olga Rubtsova - 1956 - 1958 At 17 Olga won the first USSR Women's Championship. That was in 1927. After that she won a great number of tournaments, including the USSR Women's Championships of 1931, 1937 and 1949 and the Moscow Championships of 1953 and 1954. In 1956 she defeated Elizaveta Bykova to become the fourth women's world champion. 5. Nona Gaprindashvili - 1962 - 1978 She was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and was the greatest female player of her generation. She won the world championship title in 1962 and defended it three times. Gaprindashvili played in men's tournaments, winning amongst others Hastings 1963/64 and and tied for first at Lone Price 1977. In 1978 she came second and earned a full male GM title. 6. Maya Chiburdanidze - 1978 - 1991 The Georgian was one of the first women chess prodigies, becoming the youngest WIM in the history of the game (in 1974 at the age of 13). Her best results were first at Brasov 1974, =1st at Tbilisi 1975 and most impressive of all, second in the 1976 Tbilisi Women's Interzonal and thus qualifying for the 1977 Candidates, wherein, she defeated Alla Kushnir in the final. In 1978, she became Women World Champion by winning a match against Nona Gaprindashvili by 8.5-6.5. 7. Xie Jun - 1991 - 1996, 1999-2001 The Chinese player won the World Women's Champion title a total of four times: in 1991 against Chiburdanize, 1993 against Ioseliani, 1999 against Galliamova and 2000 against Qin Kanying in the first FIDE knock-out championship. Xie Jun was directly responsible for a dramatic increase in popularity of chess in China. 8. Zsuzsa (Susan) Polgar - 1996 - 1999 The oldest of the famous Polgar sisters initially refused to play in women's tournaments, becoming a male grandmaster in 1991 at the age of 23. In 1993 she decided to play for the women's world championship, but did not win the title after a 12-12 draw against Nana Ioseliani. In 1996 she became world champion after beating Xie Jun, and lost the title in 1999 when she refused to play under FIDE's new knockout rules. Susan has also won the Women's World Chess Champion titles in rapid and blitz chess (both in 1992). 9. Zhu Chen - 2001 - 2004 The Chinese player Zhu Chen became Women's World Champion in the FIDE knock-out event in Moscow 2001, beating Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk in the process. In the recent world championship in Elista Zhu failed to participate due to pregnancy and attached scheduling problems. 10. Antoaneta Stefanova - 2004 - 2006 Anoatneta is the Bulgarian female player who won the title in the FIDE knock-out championship (June 5th 2004) in Elista, Kalmykia, defeating Russian WGM Ekaterina Kovalevskaya in the final. Youngest woman champion. Still Xie Jun and Judit Polgar have higher ratings and they did not compete. 11. Xu Yuhua - 2006 - 2008 This was a 64 players knockout, at least more women have a chance to play for the championship than men. This was third Chinese Championship for women in the last 12 years. Xu won the final by beating Alisa Galliamova 2.5 - 0.5 (Both women and men's championship should have at leat 10 games in a match). Antoaneta was eliminated in 2nd round. 12. Alexandra Kosteniuk - 2008 - In September 2008 Russian GM drew the fourth game against the 14 year old Chinese Hou Yifan to win the final with 2.5:1.5 score. (Any world championship should have at least 10 games match) If you want to use any of my articles first write for my permission !!! If you use it in part or in any way, make sure you give credit where credit is due. I AM THE CHESS AMBASSADOR TO THE UNIVERSE; World Correspondence Match Play Chess Champion 1998 - 2003 !!! More 0000 goodies: encyclopediasupreme.org /0000.txt encyclopediasupreme.org /0000.pgn encyclopediasupreme.org/ChessHistory.txt encyclopediasupreme.org/Lotrules.txt encyclopediasupreme.org/Twomoves.txt - 0000 0-0-0-0 castle exists since 2000,, Lottery since 2001. If you know what's good for you and for chess, support this castle!!! Engage your WCA castle and Lottery !!! The proper way chess was ment to be played!