Editing World Chess Championship (section)

===Champions before FIDE (1886–1946)===
====Reign of Wilhelm Steinitz (1886–1894)====
[[File:Wilhelm Steinitz2.jpg| thumb | [[Wilhelm Steinitz]] dominated chess from 1866 to 1894. Some commentators date his time as World Champion from 1866; others [[World Chess Championship 1886|from 1886]].]]
Following the Steinitz–Zukertort match, a tradition continued of the world championship being decided by a match between the reigning champion, and a challenger: if a player thought he was strong enough, he (or his friends) would find financial backing for a match purse and challenge the reigning world champion. If he won, he would become the new champion.

Steinitz successfully defended his world title against [[Mikhail Chigorin]] in [[World Chess Championship 1889|1889]], [[Isidor Gunsberg]] in [[World Chess Championship 1891|1891]], and Chigorin again in [[World Chess Championship 1892|1892]].

In 1887, the [[American Chess Congress]] started work on drawing up regulations for the future conduct of world championship contests. Steinitz supported this endeavor, as he thought he was becoming too old to remain world champion. The proposal evolved through many forms (as Steinitz pointed out, such a project had never been undertaken before), and resulted in the [[American Chess Congress#Sixth American Chess Congress (1889)|1889 tournament in New York]] to select a challenger for Steinitz,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Nathaniel |date=2022-06-08 |title=The 10 Most Brilliant Candidates Games |url=https://www.chess.com/article/view/10-most-brilliant-candidates-chess-games |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Chess.com |language=en-US}}</ref> rather like the more recent [[Candidates Tournament]]s. The tournament was duly played, but the outcome was not quite as planned: Chigorin and [[Max Weiss]] tied for first place; their play-off resulted in four draws; and neither wanted to play a match against Steinitz – Chigorin had just lost to him, and Weiss wanted to get back to his work for the [[S. M. von Rothschild|Rothschild Bank]]. The third prizewinner, [[Isidor Gunsberg]], was prepared to play Steinitz for the title in New York, so this match was played in 1890–1891 and was won by Steinitz.<ref name="Thulin1899WorldChampionshipMatchOrNot">{{cite web | url=http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/SteinitzChigorin1889.pdf | title=Steinitz—Chigorin, Havana 1899 – A World Championship Match or Not? | author=Thulin, A. | date=August 2007 | access-date=6 June 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530021654/http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/SteinitzChigorin1889.pdf | archive-date=30 May 2008 | url-status=live }} Based on {{cite book | title=The Steinitz Papers: Letters and Documents of the First World Chess Champion | author=Landsberger, K. | publisher=McFarland | year=2002 | isbn=0-7864-1193-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NltT4BinugsC&q=steinitz+%22the+field%22+hoffer&pg=PA28 | access-date=25 October 2020 | archive-date=30 December 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230102635/https://books.google.com/books?id=NltT4BinugsC&q=steinitz+%22the+field%22+hoffer&pg=PA28 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="endgameNLNewYork1889And1924">{{cite web | url=http://www.endgame.nl/newyork.htm | title=New York 1889 and 1924 | access-date=7 June 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619023938/http://www.endgame.nl/newyork.htm | archive-date=19 June 2008 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="storiascacchiMatches1880Al1999">{{cite web | url=http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/matches/1880-99.htm | title=I matches 1880/99 | access-date=29 May 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524085111/http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/matches/1880-99.htm | archive-date=24 May 2008 | url-status=live }}</ref> The experiment was not repeated, and Steinitz's later matches were private arrangements between the players.<ref name="NYTimes1894PreSteinitzLasker" />

Two young strong players emerged in late 1880s and early 1890s: [[Siegbert Tarrasch]] and [[Emanuel Lasker]].<ref name="Horowitz39" /> Tarrasch had the better tournament results at the time, but it was Lasker who was able to raise the money to challenge Steinitz.<ref name=Horowitz39>"From Morphy to Fischer", [[Israel Horowitz]], (Batsford, 1973) 39</ref> Lasker [[World Chess Championship 1894|won the 1894 match]] and succeeded Steinitz as world champion.

====Emanuel Lasker (1894–1921)====
[[File:Emanuel Lasker.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Emanuel Lasker]] was the World Champion for 27 years consecutively from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of a World Champion. During that period, he played seven World Championship matches.]]
Lasker held the title from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign (27 years) of any champion. He won a [[World Chess Championship 1897|return match against Steinitz in 1897]], and then did not defend his title for ten years, before playing four title defences in four years. He comfortably defeated [[Frank Marshall (chess player)|Frank Marshall]] in [[World Chess Championship 1907|1907]] and [[Siegbert Tarrasch]] in [[World Chess Championship 1908|1908]]. In 1910, he almost lost his title in a [[World Chess Championship 1910 (Lasker–Schlechter)|short tied match]] against [[Carl Schlechter]], although the exact conditions of this match are a mystery. He then defeated [[Dawid Janowski]] in the most one-sided title match in history [[World Chess Championship 1910 (Lasker–Janowski)|later in 1910]].

Lasker's negotiations for title matches from 1911 onwards were extremely controversial. In 1911, he received a challenge for a world title match against [[José Raúl Capablanca]] and, in addition to making severe financial demands, proposed some novel conditions: the match should be considered drawn if neither player finished with a two-game lead; and it should have a maximum of 30 games, but finish if either player won six games and had a two-game lead (previous matches had been won by the first to win a certain number of games, usually 10; in theory, such a match might go on for ever). Capablanca objected to the two-game lead clause; Lasker took offence at the terms in which Capablanca criticized the two-game lead condition and broke off negotiations.<ref name="graemecree1921WorldChessChampionship">{{cite web|url=http://members.aol.com/graemecree/chesschamps/world/world1921.htm|title=1921 World Chess Championship|access-date=4 June 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050120165616/http://members.aol.com/graemecree/chesschamps/world/world1921.htm|archive-date=20 January 2005}} This cites: a report of Lasker's concerns about the location and duration of the match, in {{Cite journal|date=15 March 1911|title=Emanuel Lasker column|journal=New York Evening Post}}; Capablanca's letter of 20 December 1911 to Lasker, stating his objections to Lasker's proposal; Lasker's letter to Capablanca, breaking off negotiations; Lasker's letter of 27 April 1921 to Alberto Ponce of the Havana Chess Club, proposing to resign the 1921 match; and Ponce's reply, accepting the resignation.</ref>

Further controversy arose when, in 1912, Lasker's terms for a proposed match with [[Akiba Rubinstein]] included a clause that, if Lasker should resign the title after a date had been set for the match, Rubinstein should become world champion.<ref name="WinterHowCapaBecameChampion" /> When he resumed negotiations with Capablanca after [[World War I]], Lasker insisted on a similar clause that if Lasker should resign the title after a date had been set for the match, Capablanca should become world champion.<ref name="graemecree1921WorldChessChampionship" /> On 27 June 1920 Lasker abdicated in favor of Capablanca because of public criticism of the terms of the match, naming Capablanca as his successor.<ref name="WinterHowCapaBecameChampion" /> Some commentators questioned Lasker's right to name his successor;<ref name="WinterHowCapaBecameChampion" /> [[Amos Burn]] raised the same objection but welcomed Lasker's resignation of the title.<ref name="WinterHowCapaBecameChampion" /> Capablanca argued that, if the champion abdicated, the title must go to the challenger, as any other arrangement would be unfair to the challenger.<ref name="WinterHowCapaBecameChampion" /> Lasker later agreed to play a match against Capablanca in 1921, announcing that, if he won, he would resign the title so that younger masters could compete for it.<ref name="WinterHowCapaBecameChampion">{{cite web | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/capablanca2.html | title=How Capablanca Became World Champion | first=Edward | last=Winter | access-date=7 June 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312104622/http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/capablanca2.html | archive-date=12 March 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref> Capablanca [[World Chess Championship 1921|won their 1921 match]] by four wins, ten draws and no losses.<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" />

====Capablanca, Alekhine and Euwe (1921–1946)====
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| total_width       = 350
| image1            = José_Raúl_Capablanca_1931.jpg
| caption1          = [[José Raúl Capablanca]] reigned as World Champion from 1921 to 1927, and proposed the short-lived "London Rules" for future Championship matches.
| image2            = Alexandre Alekhine 01.jpg
| caption2          = [[Alexander Alekhine]] was the World Champion from 1927 to 1935 and again from 1937 to his death in 1946. He is the only World Champion to die while holding the title.
}}
After the breakdown of his first attempt to negotiate a title match against Lasker (1911), Capablanca drafted rules for the conduct of future challenges, which were agreed to by the other top players at the 1914 Saint Petersburg tournament, including Lasker, and approved at the Mannheim Congress later that year. The main points were: the champion must be prepared to defend his title once a year; the match should be won by the first player to win six or eight games (the champion had the right to choose); and the stake should be at least £1,000 (about £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|1000|1914|r=-4}}}} in current terms).<ref name="graemecree1921WorldChessChampionship" />

Following the controversies surrounding his 1921 match against Lasker, in 1922 world champion Capablanca proposed the "London Rules": the first player to win six games would win the match; playing sessions would be limited to 5 hours; the time limit would be 40 moves in 2½ hours; the champion must defend his title within one year of receiving a challenge from a recognized master; the champion would decide the date of the match; the champion was not obliged to accept a challenge for a purse of less than US$10,000 (about ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|10000|1921|r=-4}}}} in current terms); 20% of the purse was to be paid to the title holder, and the remainder being divided, 60% going to the winner of the match, and 40% to the loser; the highest purse bid must be accepted. [[Alexander Alekhine|Alekhine]], [[Efim Bogoljubow|Bogoljubow]], [[Géza Maróczy|Maróczy]], [[Richard Réti|Réti]], [[Akiba Rubinstein|Rubinstein]], [[Savielly Tartakower|Tartakower]] and [[Milan Vidmar|Vidmar]] promptly signed them.<ref name="chessvilleLondonRules">{{cite web
 | url=http://www.chessville.com/misc/History/Mad_Aussie_Trivia_Archive_Three.htm
 | title=The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia – Archive No. 3
 | author=Clayton, G.
 | access-date=9 June 2008
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516220224/http://www.chessville.com/misc/History/Mad_Aussie_Trivia_Archive_Three.htm
 | archive-date=16 May 2008
| url-status=usurped
 }}</ref> The only match played under those rules was Capablanca vs [[Alexander Alekhine|Alekhine]] in [[World Chess Championship 1927|1927]], although there has been speculation that the actual contract might have included a "two-game lead" clause.<ref name="WinterCapablancaVsAlekhine1927">{{cite web
 | title=Capablanca v Alekhine, 1927
 | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/capablancaalekhine1927.html
 | author=Winter, E.
 | access-date=9 June 2008
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509083746/http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/capablancaalekhine1927.html
 | archive-date=9 May 2008
| url-status=live
 }} 

Regarding a possible "two-game lead" clause, Winter cites Capablanca's messages to Julius Finn and Norbert Lederer dated 15 October 1927, in which he proposed that, if the Buenos Aires match were drawn, the second match could be limited to 20 games. Winter cites ''La Prensa'' 30 November 1927 for Alekhine's conditions for a return match.</ref> 

Alekhine, Rubinstein and [[Aron Nimzowitsch|Nimzowitsch]] had all challenged Capablanca in the early 1920s but only Alekhine could raise the US$10,000 Capablanca demanded and only in 1927.<ref name="chessmaniacCapablancaOnlineTribute" /> Capablanca was shockingly upset by the new challenger. Before the match, almost nobody gave Alekhine a chance against the dominant [[Cuba]]n, but Alekhine overcame Capablanca's natural skill with his unmatched drive and extensive preparation (especially deep opening analysis, which became a hallmark of most future grandmasters). The aggressive Alekhine was helped by his tactical skill, which complicated the game. Immediately after winning, Alekhine announced that he was willing to grant Capablanca a return match provided Capablanca met the requirements of the "London Rules".<ref name="WinterCapablancaVsAlekhine1927" /> Negotiations dragged on for several years, often breaking down when agreement seemed in sight.<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" /> Alekhine easily won two title matches against [[Efim Bogoljubov]] in [[World Chess Championship 1929|1929]] and [[World Chess Championship 1934|1934]]. In [[World Chess Championship 1935|1935]], Alekhine was unexpectedly defeated by the Dutch [[Max Euwe]], an amateur player who worked as a [[mathematics]] teacher. Alekhine convincingly won a [[World Chess Championship 1937|rematch in 1937]]. World War II temporarily prevented any further world title matches, and Alekhine remained world champion until his death in 1946.

====Financing====
Before [[World Chess Championship 1948|1948]] world championship matches were financed by arrangements similar to those [[Emanuel Lasker]] described for his [[World Chess Championship 1894|1894 match]] with [[Wilhelm Steinitz]]: either the challenger or both players, with the assistance of financial backers, would contribute to a [[Purse distribution|purse]]; about half would be distributed to the winner's backers, and the winner would receive the larger share of the remainder (the loser's backers got nothing). The players had to meet their own travel, accommodation, food and other expenses out of their shares of the purse.<ref name="Lasker1984MatchFinancing">{{cite journal | journal=[[Lasker's Chess Magazine]] | volume=1 | title=From the Editorial Chair | date=January 1905 | url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lasker's_Chess_Magazine/Volume_1 | access-date=7 June 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216145306/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lasker's_Chess_Magazine/Volume_1 | archive-date=16 December 2008 | url-status=live }}</ref> This system evolved out of the wagering of small stakes on club games in the early 19th century.<ref name="BirdReminiscencesStakes" />

Up to and including the 1894 Steinitz–Lasker match, both players, with their backers, generally contributed equally to the purse, following the custom of important matches in the 19th century before there was a generally recognized world champion. For example: the stakes were £100 a side in both the second [[Howard Staunton|Staunton]] vs [[Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant|Saint-Amant]] match (Paris, 1843) and the [[Adolf Anderssen|Anderssen]] vs [[Wilhelm Steinitz|Steinitz]] match (London, 1866); Steinitz and [[Johannes Zukertort|Zukertort]] played their [[World Chess Championship 1886|1886 match]] for £400 a side.<ref name="BirdReminiscencesStakes">Section "Stakes at Chess" in {{cite book | title=Chess History And Reminiscences | author=Henry Edward Bird | publisher=Kessinger | orig-year=1893 | year=2004 | isbn=1-4191-1280-5 | url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Chess_History_and_Reminiscences | access-date=7 June 2008 | author-link=Henry Bird (chess player) | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628164838/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Chess_History_and_Reminiscences | archive-date=28 June 2008 | url-status=live }}</ref> Lasker introduced the practice of demanding that the challenger should provide the whole of the purse,{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} and his successors followed his example up to World War II. This requirement made arranging world championship matches more difficult, for example: [[Frank James Marshall|Marshall]] challenged Lasker in 1904 but could not raise the money until 1907;<ref name="dcsStAndrewsLaskerBio">{{cite web | url=http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Lasker.html | title=Lasker biography | access-date=31 May 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206104907/http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Lasker.html | archive-date=6 December 2007 | url-status=live }}</ref> in 1911 Lasker and [[Akiba Rubinstein|Rubinstein]] agreed in principle to a world championship match, but this was never played as Rubinstein could not raise the money.<ref name="Horowitz1973MorphyToFischer">{{cite book | title=From Morphy to Fischer | author=Horowitz, I.A. | publisher=Batsford | year=1973 | author-link=Israel Horowitz }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Classical Chess Matches, 1907–1913 |author=Wilson, F. |year=1975 |publisher=Dover |isbn=0-486-23145-3 |url=http://members.aol.com/graemecree/chesschamps/world/world1910.htm |access-date=30 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050120165609/http://members.aol.com/graemecree/chesschamps/world/world1910.htm |archive-date=20 January 2005 }}</ref> In the early 1920s, [[Alexander Alekhine|Alekhine]], Rubinstein and [[Aron Nimzowitsch|Nimzowitsch]] all challenged [[José Raúl Capablanca|Capablanca]], but only Alekhine was able to raise the US$10,000 that Capablanca demanded, and not until 1927.<ref name="chessmaniacCapablancaOnlineTribute">{{cite web
 | title=Jose Raul Capablanca: Online Chess Tribute
 | url=http://www.chessmaniac.com/2007/06/jose-raul-capablanca-online-chess.php
 | date=28 June 2007
| publisher=chessmaniac.com
 | access-date=20 May 2008
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513151615/http://www.chessmaniac.com/2007/06/jose-raul-capablanca-online-chess.php
 | archive-date=13 May 2008
| url-status=live
 }}</ref><ref name="chessgamesNewYork1924">{{cite web
 | title=New York 1924
 | url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1007158
 | publisher=chessgames
 | access-date=20 May 2008
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110174845/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1007158
 | archive-date=10 January 2009
| url-status=live
 }}</ref>