Which World Chess Champion gained his title by the greatest winning margin?

star_gazer

This site claims that it is Garry Kasparov. http://listverse.com/2009/09/06/top-10-greatest-chess-players-in-history/ Sep 27 11, 2:14 PM

paper_aero

Using the following site: http://www.chessgames.com/wcc.html With the following assumptions, the first match to be considered is Steintz - Lasker (for no previous match was the result considered to designate the World Chess Champion) Only matches where the challenger won (and hence became the new champion). Those decided by tournament are excluded as non comparable. Lasker 10; Steinitz 5 (4 draws) +5 Capablanca 9; Lasker 5 +4 Alekhine 6; Capablanca 3 (25 draws) +3 Euwe 15½; Alekhine 14½ +1 Alekhine 15½; Euwe 9½ +6* Smyslov 12½; Botvinnik 9½ +3 Botvinnik 12½; Smyslov 10½ +2* Tal 12½; Botvinnik 8½ +4 Petrosian 12½; Botvinnik 9½ +3 Spassky 12½; Petrosian 10½ +2 Fischer 12½; Spassky 8½ +4 Karpov - Fischer (default) Kasparov 12½; Karpov 11½ +1 (* these are matches where the winner regained the title) After this the Chess Championship splits into two different versions. (Like boxing) However I can find no further matches with a score of greater than +4 So either we have +5 for Lasker Or +6 for Alekhine regaining it (only +3 when he gained it) [Just in case people wish to split hairs] Sep 27 11, 3:00 PM

AyatollahK

Of course, it's also possible to interpret this question as asking for the largest winning margin in a world chess championship match, since the title is up for grabs in any legitimate championship match, and so the match winner becomes world champion (even if he already is world champion). Using the results shown on the same site (but keeping in mind that the first match that actually stated it was for the world chess championship was Steinitz-Zukertort in 1886), the largest margin of victory was set by Emanuel Lasker, who twice won by 8 points: first, in a match against former world champion Wilhelm Steinitz in 1896 (officially, only victories counted, and the first to 10 wins triumphed -- Lasker won the match 10-2, with 5 draws) and then in a match against Frank Marshall in 1907 (this was a 15-game match; Lasker posted 8 wins and no losses and so won 11.5-3.5). So, if the question is interpreted to mean the largest margin of victory in a match in which the title changed hands, the answer would be Alekhine, who beat Euwe by 6 in 1937 to gain the title. But if the question simply means largest winning margin in a world championship match, the answer would be Lasker, who beat Steinitz by 8 and Marshall by 8. By the way, the split title from 1993 to 2006 meant nothing, because no one but FIDE ever believed that anyone other than Garry Kasparov was world champion until Kasparov lost his match to Kramnik in 2000, and then Kramnik held the world championship and won the reunification match in 2006. Sep 27 11, 4:39 PM