World Champions By Number of Title Match Victories
The table below organises the world champions in order of championship wins, and is current through the World Chess Championship 2012. (For the purpose of this table, a successful defence counts as a win, even if the match was drawn.) The table is made more complicated by the split between the "Classical" and FIDE world titles between 1993 and 2006.
| Champion | Total | Undisputed | FIDE | Classical | Years as champion | Years as undisputed champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emanuel Lasker | 6 | 6 | 27 | 27 | ||
| Garry Kasparov | 6 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 8 | |
| Anatoly Karpov | 6 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 10 | |
| Mikhail Botvinnik | 5 | 5 | 13 | 13 | ||
| Viswanathan Anand | 5 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 5 | |
| Alexander Alekhine | 4 | 4 | 17 | 17 | ||
| Wilhelm Steinitz | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | ||
| Vladimir Kramnik | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 | |
| Tigran Petrosian | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | ||
| José Raúl Capablanca | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | ||
| Boris Spassky | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Bobby Fischer | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Max Euwe | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Vasily Smyslov | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Mikhail Tal | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ruslan Ponomariov | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Alexander Khalifman | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Rustam Kasimdzhanov | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Veselin Topalov | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Read more about this topic: World Chess Championship
Famous quotes containing the words world, champions, number, title, match and/or victories:
“Cleopatra: Was I right to avenge myself?... Caesar: If one man in all the world can be found, now or forever, to know that you did wrong, that man will have either to conquer the world as I have, or be crucified by it.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“While the Governor, and the Mayor, and countless officers of the Commonwealth are at large, the champions of liberty are imprisoned.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. It is not the part of men, but of fanatics, or of mathematicians, if you will, to say, that, the shortness of life considered, it is not worth caring whether for so short a duration we were sprawling in want, or sitting high. Since our office is with moments, let us husband them.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“He that rebels against reason is a real rebel, but he that in defence of reason rebels against tyranny has a better title to “Defender of the Faith,” than George the Third.”
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
“When they turn the sun
on again I’ll plant children
under it, I’ll light up my soul
with a match and let it sing....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of war.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)