Back
For 140 years, the world chess title has passed from hand to hand, from Wilhelm Steinitz to Gukesh Dommaraju. This November, two young stars from two chess powers, India and Uzbekistan, will write its next chapter. This page lays out the long history that brought us to this moment, match by match, and tells the story of the world championship in numbers at the end.
The 2026 Match
Defending championIndia · Age 20
Gukesh won the 2024 Candidates Tournament at 17, the youngest winner in the tournament's history. Months later, he beat GM Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 in Singapore, with the match decided in the final game, to become the youngest undisputed world champion ever, at 18 years and 195 days.
ChallengerUzbekistan · Age 20
Sindarov became a grandmaster at 12, the second-youngest ever at the time. In 2025, he won the World Cup at 19, its youngest and first Uzbek winner. This April, he won the Candidates Tournament with 10/14, the highest score in the current format, and clinched it with a round to spare. He has since reached number four in the world rankings.
Their combined age at game one is about 41.5 years, more than nine years below the previous youngest title match (Ding vs. Gukesh, 2024, at 50.6). FIDE calls it the youngest World Championship contest in history.
The History
Eighteen men have held the title since 1886. Scroll to move through time, or use the timeline to jump to a specific year.
140
Years since the first official match
18
Official world champions
27
Longest reign, Lasker (years)
To bring the numbers on this page to life, we ran Chess.com Game Review on every World Championship match. It gave us each player's average accuracy and number of brilliant moves, and from its opening names we tallied the most popular openings, which you will find on the match cards and in the numbers section at the end.
Before 1886
There was no official title before 1886, only a widely shared sense of who was best. Adolf Anderssen won London, 1851, and was called the strongest player alive. Paul Morphy beat him in 1858. Steinitz beat him in 1866 and later dated his own reign as champion from that match. In 1886, he got his chance to prove it.
Age
Each champion's age on the day his title match began, youngest first.
Combined age of the two players at game one
Back to 2026
Every chart above is a match told one game at a time. This one is empty, and will fill in as Gukesh and Sindarov play.
First Defense
Sixteen champions have defended the title for the first time. Ten kept it, and six lost it. Ding is the only champion since Spassky in 1972 to lose his first defense.
Youngest Ever
Gukesh was 18 when he won, the youngest undisputed champion in history. Kasparov was 22, Carlsen 22, and Tal 23.
By The Numbers
Draws, comebacks, blowouts, and long reigns, all counted from the matches charted above.
Match results compiled from published scores and checked game by game: each match's sequence adds up to its official score. Ages are measured on the day the title match began. Time positions use the start date of each match. Charts show the running score from the winner's side; each square is one classical game.
Back
Top
| Privacy Statement Terms of Service Contact |
Refresh
|
All the best breaking news stories from Apex Football Lite. Optimised for feature phones and low end Android devices, Apex Football Lite helps users with legacy devices and poor network connectivity access the latest football news and live scores. Particularly relevant for breaking football news in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.