Ages of World Chess Champions

Historical knowledge and information regarding our great game.
ben.graff
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Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2012 5:53 pm

Ages of World Chess Champions

Post by ben.graff » Sat Feb 05, 2022 9:44 am

I am working on a project at the moment, where I need to give the ages of the World Chess Champions. Both when they won the title, and also when they finally lost it. I'm sure there must be a definitive source, but I haven't found it, and I've noticed small variances in the material I have got. The below is my best estimate, but if anyone thinks any of this is incorrect (or correct!) I would be very grateful for the help. For Alekhine and Botvinnik, the age showing is for when they lost the title for the final time, obviously for Alekhine his age at death. For Kasparov, it is when he lost to Kramnik.

Name/Age on first winning/ Age on losing:
Steinitz 49/58
Lasker 26/53
Capablanca 33/40
Alekhine 35/53
Euwe 34/36
Botvinnik 37/52
Smyslov 36/37
Tal 23/24
Petrosian 34/40
Spassky 32/35
Fischer 29/32
Karpov 23/34
Kasparov 22/37
Kramnik 25/32
Anand 37/43
Carlsen 22/
Ben Graff
Author of 'Checkmate! Great Champions And Epic Matches From A Timeless Game' 'The Greenbecker Gambit' and 'Find Another Place'