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Which chess player has taken part in the most World Championship events?

ByDrDave

I think a natural question is, who has taken part in the most World Championship matches, but sometimes the World Championship event is a tournament… Good question!

So here is a table based on a Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Chess_Championships:

(Player names are given with their national affiliation)

Date Location Winner Score Runner-up Format Match/Tournament
Predecessor events prior to 1886 
1834United Kingdom London France Louis de La Bourdonnais 18–7United Kingdom Alexander McDonnell M
1843France Paris United Kingdom Howard Staunton 13–8 France Pierre Saint-Amant M
1851United Kingdom London Kingdom of Prussia Adolf Anderssen 15–6[a] United Kingdom Marmaduke Wyvill T
1858France Paris United States Paul Morphy 8–3 Kingdom of Prussia Adolf Anderssen M
1862United Kingdom London Kingdom of Prussia Adolf Anderssen 11½–1½ German Confederation Louis Paulsen M
1866United Kingdom London Austrian Empire Wilhelm Steinitz 8–6 Kingdom of Prussia Adolf Anderssen M
1883United Kingdom London United Kingdom Johannes Zukertort 22–4 Austria-Hungary Wilhelm Steinitz M
Private matches
1886    United States New York City (1–5)St. Louis (6–9)New Orleans (10–15)Austria-Hungary Wilhelm Steinitz 12½–7½ United Kingdom Johannes Zukertort M
1889Spanish Empire Havana United States Wilhelm Steinitz 10½–6½ Russia Mikhail Chigorin M
1890–1891 United States New York City United States Wilhelm Steinitz 10½–8½ Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen Isidor Gunsberg M
1892Spanish Empire Havana United States Wilhelm Steinitz 10–10, 2½–½Russia Mikhail Chigorin M
1894    United States New York City (1–8)Philadelphia (9–11)Canada Montréal (12–19)German Empire Emanuel Lasker 12–7 United States Wilhelm Steinitz M
1896–1897 Russia Moscow German Empire Emanuel Lasker 12½–4½ United States Wilhelm Steinitz M
1907    United States New York City (1–6, 15)Philadelphia (7–8)Washington, D.C. (9)Baltimore (10)Chicago (11)Memphis (12–14)German Empire Emanuel Lasker 11½–3½ United States Frank Marshall M
1908    German Empire Düsseldorf (1–4)Munich (5–16)German Empire Emanuel Lasker 10½–5½ German Empire Siegbert Tarrasch M
Jan–Feb 1910‡     Austria-Hungary Vienna (1–5)German Empire Berlin (6–10)German Empire Emanuel Lasker  5–5 Austria-Hungary Carl Schlechter M
Nov–Dec 1910 Germany Berlin Germany Emanuel Lasker 9½–1½ France Dawid Janowski M
1921Cuba Havana Cuba José Raúl Capablanca 9–5 Weimar Republic Emanuel Lasker M
1927Argentina Buenos Aires France Alexander Alekhine 18½–15½ Cuba José Raúl Capablanca M
1929    German Empire Wiesbaden (1–8, 24–25)Heidelberg (9–11)Berlin (12–17)Netherlands The Hague (18–19, 23)Rotterdam (20)Amsterdam (21–22)France Alexander Alekhine 15½–9½ Weimar Republic Efim Bogoljubow M
1934Germany 12 cities[A] France Alexander Alekhine 15½–10½ Germany Efim Bogoljubow M
1935Netherlands 12 cities[B] Netherlands Max Euwe 15½–14½ France Alexander Alekhine M
1937Netherlands 9 cities[C] France Alexander Alekhine 15½–9½ Netherlands Max Euwe M
Title vacant from 1946 to 1948, following the death of Alekhine.
FIDE eventsM
1948    Netherlands The Hague (1–10)Soviet Union Moscow (11–20)Soviet Union Mikhail Botvinnik 14–6Soviet Union Vasily Smyslov T
1951Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Mikhail Botvinnik 12–12 Soviet Union David Bronstein M
1954Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Mikhail Botvinnik 12–12 Soviet Union Vasily Smyslov M
1957Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Vasily Smyslov 12½–9½ Soviet Union Mikhail Botvinnik M
1958Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Mikhail Botvinnik 12½–10½ Soviet Union Vasily Smyslov M
1960Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Mikhail Tal 12½–8½ Soviet Union Mikhail Botvinnik M
1961Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Mikhail Botvinnik 13–8 Soviet Union Mikhail Tal M
1963Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Tigran Petrosian 12½–9½ Soviet Union Mikhail Botvinnik M
1966Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Tigran Petrosian12½–11½ Soviet Union Boris Spassky M
1969Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Boris Spassky 12½–10½ Soviet Union Tigran Petrosian M
1972Iceland Reykjavík United States Bobby Fischer 12½–8½ Soviet Union Boris Spassky M
1975Philippines Manila Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov defaultUnited States Bobby Fischer M
1978Philippines Baguio Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov 16½–15½ FIDE Viktor Korchnoi M
1981Italy Merano Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov 11–7 Switzerland Viktor Korchnoi M
1984–1985Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov 25–23 Soviet Union Garry Kasparov M
1985Soviet Union Moscow Soviet Union Garry Kasparov 13–11 Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov M
1986    United Kingdom London (1–12)Soviet Union Leningrad (13–24)Soviet Union Garry Kasparov 12½–11½ Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov M
1987Spain Seville Soviet Union Garry Kasparov 12–12 Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov M
1990    United States New York City (1–12)France Lyon (13–24)Russia Garry Kasparov12½–11½ Soviet Union Anatoly Karpov M
Classical World Chess Championships (1993–2006)
1993United Kingdom London Russia Garry Kasparov 12½–7½ United Kingdom Nigel Short M
1995United States New York City Russia Garry Kasparov 10½–7½ India Viswanathan Anand M
2000United Kingdom London Russia Vladimir Kramnik 8½–6½ Russia Garry Kasparov M
2004‡ Switzerland Brissago Russia Vladimir Kramnik 7–7 Hungary Peter Leko M
FIDE World Chess Championships (1993–2006)
1993    Netherlands Zwolle (1–3)Arnhem (4–6)Amsterdam (7–12)Indonesia Jakarta (13–24)Russia Anatoly Karpov 12½–8½ Netherlands Jan Timman M
1996Russia Elista Russia Anatoly Karpov10½–7½ United States Gata Kamsky M
1998† Switzerland Lausanne Russia Anatoly Karpov 3–3, 2-0India Viswanathan Anand T
1999† United States Las Vegas Russia Alexander Khalifman 18½–11½Armenia Vladimir Akopian T
2000    India New Delhi (rounds 1–6)Iran Tehran (round 7)India Viswanathan Anand 14–6Spain Alexei Shirov T
2002MoscowUkraine Ruslan Ponomariov19-9Ukraine Vasyl IvanchukT
2004† Libya Tripoli Uzbekistan Rustam Kasimdzhanov 20–10England Michael Adams T
2005† Argentina Potrero de los Funes Bulgaria Veselin Topalov 10–4India Viswanathan Anand T
FIDE World Championships (2006–present)
2006Russia Elista Russia Vladimir Kramnik 6–6, 2½–1½Bulgaria Veselin Topalov M
2007† Mexico Mexico City India Viswanathan Anand 9–5Russia Vladimir Kramnik T
2008Germany Bonn India Viswanathan Anand 6½–4½ Russia Vladimir Kramnik M
2010Bulgaria Sofia India Viswanathan Anand 6½–5½ Bulgaria Veselin Topalov M
2012Russia Moscow India Viswanathan Anand 6–6, 2½–1½Israel Boris Gelfand M
2013India Chennai Norway Magnus Carlsen 6½–3½ India Viswanathan Anand M
2014Russia Sochi Norway Magnus Carlsen 6½–4½ India Viswanathan Anand M
2016United States New York City Norway Magnus Carlsen 6–6, 3–1Russia Sergey Karjakin M
2018United Kingdom London Norway Magnus Carlsen 6–6, 3–0United States Fabiano Caruana M
2021United Arab Emirates Dubai Norway Magnus Carlsen 7½–3½ Ian Nepomniachtchi M
2023Kazakhstan Astana China Ding Liren 7–7, 2½–1½FIDE Ian Nepomniachtchi M
2024Singapore India Gukesh Dommaraju 7½–6½ China Ding Liren M

The name that appears most often is obviously Karpov, 11 times, but if you are not inclined to count the 1975 match that Fischer forfeited, then Anand also played in 10 title events, including some of the 1990s FIDE tournaments where he didn’t make it to the final.

  1. 1995 PCA World Championship Match – Challenger vs. Garry Kasparov (lost)
  2. 1998 FIDE World Championship Match – Challenger vs. Karpov (lost in rapid tiebreaks)
  3. 2000 FIDE Knockout (New Delhi/Tehran) – Champion, beat Shirov
  4. 2001/02 FIDE Knockout (Moscow) – Semifinalist, lost to Ivanchuk
  5. 2005 FIDE World Championship (San Luis, double round-robin) – Participated, tied 2nd–3rd behind Topalov
  6. 2007 Unified World Championship (Mexico City, double round-robin) – Champion
  7. 2008 World Championship Match – Defended title vs. Kramnik (won)
  8. 2010 World Championship Match – Defended title vs. Topalov (won)
  9. 2012 World Championship Match – Defended title vs. Gelfand (won in rapid tiebreaks)
  10. 2013 World Championship Match – Lost title to Carlsen

If you are mostly interested in the lineal sequence of championships, ignoring FIDE’s parallel track in the 1990s(*), then Karpov’s 7 events come second to the 8 events of both Kasparov and Botvinnik.  Some say the World Championship dates back in effect to 1866, not 1886, and if so, then Steinitz can also lay claim to 8 matches to decide who was the strongest player in the world.

(*) The 2004 FIDE event had only two of the top ten players of the day taking part.

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