World Chess Championship

The World Chess Championship decides the leading individual title in classical chess, meaning chess played with long time controls. Its official line is generally considered to begin with the 1886 match between Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort. Today it is organized by FIDE, the International Chess Federation, and the reigning champion defends the crown against a challenger who qualifies through the world championship cycle.

The final stage for selecting the challenger is the Candidates Tournament. Routes into that event change from cycle to cycle and can include major competitions such as the FIDE World Cup. Winning an important tournament therefore does not automatically make a player World Champion; it may instead earn a place in a later stage of the process.

How the modern system formed

In the early decades, champions and challengers directly negotiated many conditions of their matches. After Alexander Alekhine died in 1946, FIDE organized the 1948 title tournament and built a regular qualification system. The first Candidates Tournament in that system was held in 1950.

The title line split in 1993 when Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short played outside FIDE and two rival world championships coexisted. Reunification came in 2006 with the match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov.

The championship is open with respect to gender: a woman can qualify and compete for this title. There is also a separate Women's World Chess Championship with eligibility restricted to women and its own championship cycle.