There has never been a world winning woman in the game of chess

 There has never been a world winning woman in the game of chess

List of World Chess Champions

(no woman dared to defeat a male champion)

Champion Period Won the title against Title defenses against

Country Name

1886–1893 Wilhelm Steinitz Johannes Zukertort (1886) (Mikhail Chigori (1889); Isidor Gunsberg (1891); (Mikhail Chigorin (1892);

1894–1920 Emanuel Lasker Wilhelm Steinitz (1894) Wilhelm Steinitz (1897); Frank Marshall (1897); Siegbert Tarrasch (1908); Carl Schlechter (1910); Dawid Janowski (1910)

1921–1926 José Raúl Capablanca Emanuel Lasker (1921)

1927–1934 Alexander Alekhine José Raúl Capablanca (1927) Efim Bogoljubov (1929); Efim Bogoljubov (1934);

1935–1936 Max Euwe Alexander Alekhine (1935)

1937–1946 Alexander Alekhine Max Euwe (1937)

1948–1956 Mikhail Botvinnik 1948 World Tournament David Bronstein (1951); Vasily Smyslov (1954)

1957–1958 Vasily Smyslov Mikhail Botvinnik (1957)

1958–1959 Mikhail Botvinnik Vasily Smyslov (1958)

1960–1961 Mikhail Tal Mikhail Botvinnik (1960)

1961–1962 Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Tal (1961)

1963–1968 Tigran Petrosian Mikhail Botvinnik (1963)

1969–1971 Boris Spassky Tigran Petrosian (1966)

1972–1974 Bobby Fischer Boris Spassky (1972)

1975–1984 Anatoly Karpov Bobby Fischer (withdrawal) Viktor Korchnoi (1978); Viktor Korchnoi (1981); Garry Kasparov (1984)

1985–1992 Garry Kasparov Anatoly Karpov (1985) Anatoly Karpov (1986); Anatoly Karpov (1987); Anatoly Karpov (1990)

FIDE World Champions (1993–2006)

Champion Period Won the title against Title defenses against

Country Name

1993–1998 Anatoly Karpov Jan Timman (1993) Gata Kamsky (1996); Anand (1998)

1999–2000 Alexander Khalifman Vladimir Akopian (1999)

2000–2001 Viswanathan Anand Alexei Shirov (2000)

2002–2003 Ruslan Ponomariov Vassily Ivanchuk (2002)

2004–2005 Rustam Kasimdzhanov Michael Adams (2004)

2005–2006 Veselin Topalov World Tournament 2005

PCA World Champions (1993–2006)

Champion Period Won the title against Title defenses against

Country Name

1993–2000 Garry Kasparov Nigel Short (1993) Anand (1995)

2000–2006 Vladimir Kramnik Garry Kasparov (2000) Peter Leko (2004)

World Champions (2006–present)

Champion Period Won the title against Title defenses against

Country Name

2006–2007 Vladimir Kramnik Veselin Topalov (2006)

2007–2013 Viswanathan Anand 2007 Vladimir Kramnik World Tournament (2008); Topalov (2010). Boris Gelfand (2012)

2013– Magnus Carlsen Viswanathan Anand (2013) Viswanathan Anand (2014); Sergey Karjakin (2016); Fabiano Caruana (2018); Ian Nepomniachtchi (2021);