# The 15 Greatest World Chess Championship Matches of All Time

> A title match can run five months or come down to one blunder in the last game. Some of these were sport, some were theatre, and one of them was never finished at all.

*By YPB Team · Published September 16, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-15-greatest-world-chess-championship-matches-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Fischer vs Spassky, 1972** — score 1000/1000
   Reykjavik, a forfeited game, and an audience chess has never had again.
2. **Kasparov vs Karpov, 1990** — score 689/1000
   New York and Lyon, the fifth and final title match between them.
3. **Karpov vs Korchnoi, 1978** — score 597/1000
   Baguio, 32 games, and a feud that ran far beyond the board.
4. **Carlsen vs Karjakin, 2016** — score 596/1000
   Ten draws, one loss each, and a tiebreak on the challenger's birthday.
5. **Kasparov vs Karpov, 1987** — score 517/1000
   Level after 23 games in Seville and decided by the very last one.
6. **Carlsen vs Anand, 2013** — score 517/1000
   The generational handover, played in the champion's home city.
7. **Lasker vs Schlechter, 1910** — score 517/1000
   Schlechter needed only a draw in the last game and went for the win instead.
8. **Anand vs Topalov, 2010** — score 517/1000
   Anand reached Sofia by road after a volcano closed European airspace.
9. **Ding vs Nepomniachtchi, 2023** — score 517/1000
   Six decisive games and a tiebreak almost nobody predicted.
10. **Kasparov vs Karpov, 1984-85** — score 423/1000
   Abandoned after 48 games and five months with no result declared.
11. **Botvinnik vs Tal, 1960** — score 423/1000
   An attacking challenger the champion could not calculate against.
12. **Alekhine vs Capablanca, 1927** — score 310/1000
   Thirty-four games in Buenos Aires, and a rematch that never happened.
13. **Kramnik vs Kasparov, 2000** — score 310/1000
   Kasparov never solved the Berlin Defence and never won a game.
14. **Gukesh vs Ding, 2024** — score 310/1000
   Settled by a single mistake in the final classical game in Singapore.
15. **Euwe vs Alekhine, 1935** — score 0/1000
   A part-time player took the title from the most feared attacker in the game.

Tags: sports, chess, all-time, matches