World Champions
Dates given are the period in which the final of the championship took place, as given on the ICCF website. [1] [2]
The World Correspondence Chess Championship determines the World Champion in correspondence chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest the title. The official World Correspondence Chess Championship is managed by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF).
The world championship comprises four stages: Preliminaries, Semi-Finals, Candidates' Tournament, and Final. ICCF tournament rules define which players can access each stage. The first-, second- and third-placed finishers from the previous Final, and the first- and second-placed finishers from the Candidates' Tournaments have access to the World Correspondence Chess Championship Final.
The ICCF also manages the Ladies World Correspondence Chess Championships, that comprises Semi-Finals and Final.
Dates given are the period in which the final of the championship took place, as given on the ICCF website. [1] [2]
| N° | Years | Champion | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | 1968–1972 [39] |  Olga Rubtsova |  Gertrude Schoisswohl |
| 02. | 1972–1977 [40] | Lora Jakovleva | Olga Rubtsova |
| 03. | 1978–1984 [41] |  Ljuba Kristol | Merike Rotova |
| 04. | 1984–1992 [42] | Liudmila Belavenets | Nina Orlova |
| 05. | 1993–1998 [43] | Ljuba Kristol |  Ingrida Priedite |
| 06. | 2000–2005 [44] |  Alessandra Riegler |  Maja Zelcic |
| 07. | 2002–2006 [45] |  Olga Mikhailovna Sukhareva |  Mary Jones |
| 08. | 2007–2010 [46] | Olga Mikhailovna Sukhareva |  Marie Bazantová |
| 09. | 2011–2014 [47] | Irina Vladimirovna Perevertkina | Maria Lisitcina |
| 10. | 2014–2017 [48] | Irina Vladimirovna Perevertkina |  Tetiana Moyseenko |
| 11. | 2017–2020 [49] | Irina Vladimirovna Perevertkina |  Vilma Dambrauskaitè |
| Nr. | Years | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 01. | 1973–1977 |  Karl Maeder [50] |
| 02. | 1977–1983 | Gennadi Nesis [51] |
| 03. | 1981–1986 | Nikolai Rabinovich [52] |
| 04. | 1984–1989 | Albert Popov [53] |
| 5A. | 1987–1994 | Alexandr Frolov [54] |
| 5B. | 1987–1994 |  Gert Timmerman [55] |
| 06. | 1994–1999 | Olita Rause [56] |
| 07. | 1994–2001 | Alexei Lepikhov [57] |
| 08. | 1998–2002 | Horst Staudler [58] |
| 09. | 1998–2001 | Edgar Prang [59] |
| 10. | 2001–2005 | Frank Schroder [60] |
| 11. | 2008–2011 | Reinhardt Moll [61] |
| 12E | 2005–2007 | Reinhardt Moll [62] |
| 12P | 2009–2013 | Matthias Gleichmann [63] |
| 13. | 2009–2012 | Reinhardt Moll [64] |
| 14. | 2009–2012 | Reinhardt Moll [65] |
| 15. | 2012–2015 |  Klemen Sivic [66] |
| 16. | 2013–2016 | Uwe Nogga [67] |
| 17. | 2014–2017 | Matthias Gleichmann [68] |
| Nr. | Years | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 01. | 2014–2015 |  Fabian Stanach [69] |
| 02. | 2015–2016 | Darko Babič [70] |
| 03. | 2016–2018 |  Jean Banet [71] |
| 04. | 2018–2019 | Ivan Panitevsky [72] |
| 05. | 2019–2021 | Aleksey Voll [73] |
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less common methods that have been employed include fax, homing pigeon and phone. It is in contrast to over-the-board (OTB) chess, where the players sit at a chessboard at the same time, or play each other in real time via the internet.
Christopher Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess grandmaster, Twitch streamer, five-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the reigning World Fischer Random Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 15, the youngest American at the time to do so. Nakamura won the 2011 edition of Tata Steel Chess Tournament Group A and has represented the United States at five Chess Olympiads, winning a team gold medal and two team bronze medals. With a peak rating of 2816, Nakamura is the tenth-highest rated player in history. In May 2014, when FIDE began publishing official rapid and blitz chess ratings, Nakamura ranked No. 1 in the world on both lists; he has remained at or near the No. 1 rank on both lists ever since. As of December 2022, he has won all of the last five Chess.com Speed Chess Championships.
Hans Jack Berliner was an American chess player, and was the World Correspondence Chess Champion, from 1965–1968. He was a Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess. Berliner was a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He directed the construction of the chess computer HiTech, and was also a published chess writer.
Krishnan Sasikiran is an Indian chess grandmaster.
Simon Webb was a British chess player and writer who held the chess titles of International Master and Correspondence Chess Grandmaster.
Levon Grigori Aronian is an Armenian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at age 17. He is a former world rapid and blitz champion and has held the No. 2 position in the March 2014 FIDE world chess rankings with a rating of 2830, becoming the fourth-highest rated player in history.
International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) was founded on 26 March 1951 as a new appearance of the International Correspondence Chess Association (ICCA), which was founded in 1945, as successor of the Internationaler Fernschachbund (IFSB), founded on 2 December 1928.
Ivar Bern is a Norwegian chess player, most famous for being the seventeenth World Correspondence Chess Champion, 2002–2007. In over-the-board chess he received the FIDE title of International Master (IM) in 1990. In correspondence chess he earned the ICCF titles of International Master (IM) in 1994 and Grandmaster (GM) in 1996.
Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time. Once a chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship.
Gert Jan Timmerman is a Dutch chess player, most famous for being the fifteenth ICCF World Champion in correspondence chess, 1996–2002. Before becoming the fifteenth World Correspondence Champion, Timmerman won Final B of the 5th World Cup between 1987 and 1994.
ICCF U.S.A. is the member of the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) for the territory of the United States of America. The organization was formed in 1909 as Correspondence Chess League of New York but quickly expanded to become the Correspondence Chess League of America (CCLA). It has published The Chess Correspondent regularly since 1930.
Rafael Duailibe Leitão is a Brazilian chess player. He is a grandmaster in both over-the-board chess and correspondence chess. Leitão is a seven-time Brazilian champion. He competed in the FIDE World Championship in 1999, 2000 and 2004 and in the FIDE World Cup in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2015.
Anish Kumar Giri is a Russian-Dutch chess Grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he completed the requirements for the title Grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 7 months and 2 days. FIDE awarded him the title in 2009. Giri is a four-time Dutch champion and won the Corus Chess B Group in 2010. He has represented the Netherlands at five Chess Olympiads.
Ding Liren is a Chinese chess grandmaster. He is the highest rated Chinese chess player in history and is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion. He was the winner of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals and winning the 2019 Sinquefield Cup, as the first player since 2007 to beat Magnus Carlsen in a playoff. Ding is the first Chinese player ever to play in a Candidates Tournament and pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE world rankings. In July 2016, with a Blitz rating of 2875, he was the highest rated Blitz player in the world.
Eros Riccio is an Italian International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster, Advanced Chess Champion and chess opening book author. He is FICGS World Champion and ICCF vice-European Champion and Olympic bronze with the Italian national team.
Komodo and Dragon by Komodo Chess are UCI chess engines developed by Komodo Chess, which is a part of Chess.com. The engines were originally authored by Don Dailey and GM Larry Kaufman. Dragon is a commercial chess engines, but Komodo is free for non-commercial use. Dragon is consistently ranked near the top of most major chess engine rating lists, along with Stockfish and Leela Chess Zero.
Maurice W. Johnson is a retired English chess player who hold the ICCF title of Grandmaster. He played chess from an early age, going on to compete in over-the-board tournaments in Southampton, England during the 1960s, becoming club champion in 1969.
Mark Fredrick Noble is a New Zealand chess and lawn bowls player. He was awarded the title of International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (GM) in 2010, the first New Zealand player to be awarded this title.
Stefan Brzózka was the first Polish chess player to receive the chess title of Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1985).
Jozef Martin Boey was a Belgian chess player who held the FIDE title of International Master and the ICCF title of Correspondence Chess Grandmaster. He was a four-time Belgian Chess Championship winner.
