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World Championship Posters

Explore the visual chronicles of chess history with this collection of unique tournament posters. From the post-war era to modern-day championships, these posters serve not only as advertisements but as artistic testaments to legendary battles.

Women's World Chess Championship 1949–50 Poster

The 8th Women's World Chess Championship took place from 20 December 1949 to 16 January 1950 in Moscow, USSR. Tournment line-up: Lyudmila Rudenko (Soviet Union), Olga Rubtsova (Soviet Union), Elisaveta Bykova (Soviet Union), Valentina Belova (Soviet Union), Edith Keller (East Germany), Eileen Betsy Tranmer (England), Chantal Chaudé de Silans (France), Fenny Heemskerk (Netherlands), Clarice Benini (Italy), Jozsa Langos (Hungary), María Teresa Mora (Cuba), Gisela Kahn Gresser (USA), Nina Grushkova-Belska (Czechoslovakia), Mona May Karff (USA), Ingrid Larsen (Denmark), Róża Germanova (Poland). The title had been vacant since the death of Vera Menchik in 1944. The round-robin tournament was won by Lyudmila Rudenko.

Women's World Chess Championship 1981 Poster

The 1981 Women's World Chess Championship was played between the reigning women's world champion Maia Chiburdanidze and the challenger Nana Alexandria. The championship match was played in Borjomi and Tbilisi in 1981. A tough match went the full 16 games and ended in an 8-8 tie, with champion Chiburdanidze thus retaining her title.

World Championship Match 1981 Poster

Anatoly Karpov defeated Viktor Korchnoi in the World Championship match in Merano, Italy. Held in 1981, this was the second match between the two opponents, the first being the famous 1978 match in Baguio, Philippines, which Karpov also won.

Knockout World Chess Championship 1999 Poster

The FIDE World Chess Championship 1999 took place at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip from July 31 to August 28. Russian player Alexander Khalifman emerged victorious, defeating Vladimir Akopian in the final to become the FIDE World Chess Champion. The tournament featured 100 participants. The championship followed a knockout format with short matches, similar to the 1998 championship, retaining both its benefits and drawbacks. A notable change from the previous year was that the incumbent champion, Anatoly Karpov, did not receive any special privileges, making the competition more open and unpredictable.

World Championship Match 2014 Poster

The 2014 World Championship Match took place in Sochi, Russia. Viswanathan Anand, who had lost the chess crown to Magnus Carlsen one year earlier, earned another shot at the title by winning the Candidates Tournament in 2014. The match was intense, but Carlsen prevailed and retained his title. The distinctive poster for the event was the first in a series of original and notable design solutions by World Chess, the commercial partner of FIDE that held the rights to organize the world championship cycle at the time.

World Chess Championship 2018 Poster

One of the 2018 world chess championship logos has caused quite a stir. The image depicting two chequered bodies wrapped around each other went viral on social media and was reported on by mainstream media all over the world. The controversial logo was designed by Shuka Designs. Interestingly, Shuka Designs had also created the logo for 2016 World Chess Championship held in New York.

FIDE World Championship Match 2021 Poster

The World Chess Championship 2021, held at the Dubai Exhibition Centre during Expo 2020 (postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic), saw reigning champion Magnus Carlsen face challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. After five high-quality draws, Carlsen won a marathon Game 6, the longest in championship history with 136 moves. Nepomniachtchi’s play deteriorated afterward, leading to Carlsen capitalizing on several blunders to secure a decisive victory with four wins, seven draws, and no losses, thus retaining his title. The graphic identity for the championship, including this poster, was designed by the Spanish design bureau Morillas.

FIDE World Championship Match 2023 Poster - Ian Nepomniachtchi

On October 31, 2022, the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen officially confirmed that he would not defend his title as Classical World Champion against his challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren, the runner-up in the Candidates Tournament, received the unexpected opportunity to play for the highest recognition in the chess world. The match took place in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 9 April to 30 April 2023, and was a best of 14 games, plus tiebreaks. After a 7–7 score tie in the classical time format — in which five of the first seven games were decisive — on 30 April, the match proceeded to tiebreaks with rapid time format. After draws in the first three games, Ding Liren played boldly and won with black in the final game to become the 17th World Chess Champion.

FIDE World Championship Match 2023 Poster - Ding Liren

On October 31, 2022, the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen officially confirmed that he would not defend his title as Classical World Champion against his challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren, the runner-up in the Candidates Tournament, received the unexpected opportunity to play for the highest recognition in the chess world. The match took place in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 9 April to 30 April 2023, and was a best of 14 games, plus tiebreaks. After a 7–7 score tie in the classical time format — in which five of the first seven games were decisive — on 30 April, the match proceeded to tiebreaks with rapid time format. After draws in the first three games, Ding Liren played boldly and won with black in the final game to become the 17th World Chess Champion.

Chess before the 20th century

10 Scoresheets from World Championship matches