World Correspondence Chess Championship


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.
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.

World Champions

Dates given are the period in which the final of the championship took place, as given on the ICCF website.
YearsChampionRunner-up
01.1950-1953 Cecil PurdyHarald Malmgrem
02.1956-1959 Viacheslav RagozinLucius Endzelins
03.1959-1962 Albéric O'Kelly de GalwayPiotr Dubinin
04.1962-1965 Vladimir ZagorovskyGeorgy Borisenko
05.1965-1968 Hans BerlinerJaroslav Hybl
06.1968-1971 Horst RittnerVladimir Zagorovsky
07.1972-1976 Yakov EstrinJosef Boey
08.1975-1980 Jørn SlothVladimir Zagorovsky
09.1977-1983 Tõnu ÕimFritz Baumbach
10.1978-1984 Victor PalciauskasJuan Morgado
11.1983-1989 Fritz BaumbachGennadi Nesis
12.1984-1991 Grigory SanakoevJosef Franzen
13.1989-1998 Mikhail UmanskyEric Bang
14.1994-2000 Tõnu ÕimOve Ekebjaerg
15.1996-2002 Gert Jan TimmermanJoop van Oosterom
16.1999-2004 Tunç HamaratRudolf Maliangkay
17.2002-2007 Ivar BernWolfgang Rohde
18.2003-2005 Joop van OosteromHans Elwert
19.2004-2007 Christophe LéotardFrank Gerhardt
20.2004-2011 Pertti LehikoinenStefan Winge
21.2005-2008 Joop van OosteromAlexander Ugge
22.2007-2010 Aleksandr Surenovich DronovJürgen Bücker
23.2007-2010 Ulrich StephanThomas Winckelmann
24.2009-2011 Marjan ŠemrlHans-Dieter Wunderlich
25.2009-2013 Fabio FinocchiaroRichard Hall
26.2010-2014 Ron LangeveldFlorin Serban
27.2011-2014 Aleksandr Surenovich DronovMatthias Kribben
28.2013-2016 Ing. Leonardo LjubičićHoracio Neto
29.2015-2018 Aleksandr Surenovich DronovJacek Oskulski
30.2017-2019 Andrey Leonidovich KochemasovEnver Mikhailovich Efendiyev

Ladies World Champions

YearsChampionRunner-up
01.1968-1972 Olga RubtsovaGertrude Schoisswohl
02.1972-1977 Lora JakovlevaOlga Rubtsova
03.1978-1984 Ljuba KristolMerike Rotova
04.1984-1992 Liudmila BelavenetsNina Orlova
05.1993-1998 Ljuba KristolIngrida Priedite
06.2000-2005 Alessandra RieglerMaja Zelcic
07.2002-2006 Olga Mikhailovna SukharevaMary Jones
08.2007-2010 Olga Mikhailovna SukharevaMarie Bazantová
09.2011-2014 Irina Vladimirovna PerevertkinaMaria Lisitcina
10.2014-2017 Irina Vladimirovna PerevertkinaTetiana Moyseenko

ICCF World Cup