Previous cycles:
1948-1951 World Championship cycle
1952-1954 World Championship cycle
1955-1957 World Championship cycle
1958-1960 World Championship cycle
1961-1963 World Championship cycle
1964-1966 World Championship cycle
1967-1969 World Championship cycle
1970-1972 World Championship cycle
1973-1975 World Championship cycle
1976-1978 World Championship cycle
1979-1981 World Championship cycle
1982-1984 World Championship cycle

Interestingly, rather than just choosing one of the players, the Swiss chess federation decided to stage a (short) tournament





ZONAL TOURNAMENTS

Zone 1 (West and South-West Europe)





Zone 2 (Central and Northern Europe + Israel)





Zone 3 (Eastern Europe)



Zone 4 (Soviet Union)



Zone 5 (Eastern Mediterranean)



Zone 6 (USA)



Zone 7 (Canada)



Zone 8 (South and Central America)



Zone 9 (South America)



Zone 10 (West Asia)



Zone 11 (East Asia and Oceania)



Zone 12 and 13 (Africa)



INTERZONAL TOURNAMENTS







CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT



CANDIDATES MATCHES



WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH