List of World Records in Chess - Consecutive Wins

Consecutive Wins

Steinitz won his last 16 games at Vienna 1873, including a two-game playoff against Blackburne at the end. He played no serious chess until an 1876 match against Blackburne that Steinitz swept 7–0. After a long period of inactivity, Steinitz played at Vienna 1882, where he won his first two games before finally ending his winning streak with a draw. Steinitz's 25-game winning streak over nine years has never been equalled. (Soltis 2002, p. 42)

The modern record of 20 consecutive wins is held by Bobby Fischer. (Some commentators give this as 19, electing not to count Fischer's game against Oscar Panno, who resigned after Fischer's first move as a protest). Fischer won his last seven games at the 1970 Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (including the one-move game against Panno). In the quarter-finals of the Candidates Matches leading to the world championship, Fischer swept Grandmaster Mark Taimanov 6–0. In the semi-finals, Fischer swept Grandmaster Bent Larsen by the same score. In the Candidates Match final, Fischer beat former World Champion Tigran Petrosian in the first game before Petrosian snapped the streak by beating Fischer in the second match game. (Soltis 2002, pp. 43, 73)

The record for most consecutive professional tournament victories is held by Garry Kasparov, who placed first or equal first in 15 individual supertournaments, from 1981 to 1990. The streak was broken by Vasily Ivanchuk at Linares 1991, where Kasparov placed 2nd, half a point behind him.