When was the last time an American was world chess champion?

On Friday, June 17, 2022, the 2022 Candidates Tournament began in Madrid, Spain, in which two American players will participate: Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, trying to be the official challengers of Magnus Carlsen so that an American can once again be world champion. When was the last time that happened? Here we tell you.

This 2022 Candidates Tournament can undoubtedly be the great opportunity for the United States to once again have a world champion since two of the eight participants are American. On the one hand, Fabiano Caruana, who was already a challenger for the Carlsen's title (and therefore winner of this tournament) and on the other Hikaru Nakamura, who in addition to being a chess player is a renowned youtuber.

Of the two, without a doubt the one with the best chance is Caruana, who together with Ding Liren and Alireza Firouzja are the main candidates to win the tournament. Likewise, in a tournament as difficult as this one, anyone could be the winner, and Nakamura is a strong player with 2760 elo points. Hikaru and Caruana will try to be Carlsen's challengers and for the champion to be an American again.

The last American world champion

Although Paul Morphy is considered a champion by FIDE, he is not an official champion since the first to be officially named was Wilhelm Steinitz in 1886, two years after the death of the great American player. That is why in history there was only one official champion born in the United States.

That champion is none other than Robert James Fischer, born on March 9, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois. Bobby was undoubtedly one of the greatest talents in chess history, and at a time when this sport was dominated by the Soviets, Fischer emerged as one of the few players capable of playing at the same level.

In 1972 he was the challenger of the then world champion, the Soviet Boris Spassky, whom he defeated 12 1/2 to 8 1/2 in what became known as "The match of the century", one of the most remembered episodes of the Cold War. That is, Caruana and Nakamura seek to be the first American world champions in 50 years.