There were fifteen participants, with four players taking part in a qualifying competition for a place in the twelve-person main event.

Walter Donaldson, who entered the championship for the first time since his debut in 1933, won the qualifying event, and eliminated Claude Falkiner, a tournament debutant who was taking part in his first cue sports tournament for several years, in the first round of the main draw, before losing in the quarter-finals to Sidney Smith.

[1] The sport was developed in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India.

[9]: 50–52 For the 1939 Championship, the BACC announced a closing date for entries of 31 October 1938, and that the main competition would be played at Thurston's Hall.

[12][13] The main event was held over a six-week period from 23 January to 4 March at Thurston's Hall.

[13] On 21 January, the 1938/1939 Daily Mail Gold Cup, which was won by Alec Brown, concluded.

[14] A preview of the World Championship in The Times suggested that despite the improvement in the standard of play of younger competitor such as Brown and Sidney Smith, Davis was likely to retain the title he had held since the tournament's inception in 1927.

After the fourth session, his advantage was 13–7 and, by winning the first three frames on the final day, he achieved decisive 16–7 lead.

Playing Donaldson was his first competitive cue sports match in several years, and his first participation in the World Snooker Championship.

The correspondent for The Times, whilst describing Donaldson as "a player of considerable skill", felt that Falkiner's lack of recent match experience contributed to his defeat.

[13][18] The second week started with a match between Tom Newman and Alec Mann, which was held from 30 January to 1 February.

Newman gained a winning 16–10 lead by taking the first frame of the evening session and finished 19–12 ahead.

[19][20][39] Fred Davis and Conrad Stanbury met in the last first round match, which started on 2 February.

[21][22][40] Daily Mail Gold Cup winner Alec Brown met Horace Lindrum in the first quarter-final, from 6 to 8 February.

A match report in The Times referred to Davis as "a sound and steady rather than a brilliant player".

[27][28][43] Joe Davis played his first match of the 1939 Championship in the last quarter-final, against Willie Smith, from 16 to 18 February.

Fred regained the lead on the second afternoon but Joe took four of the evening frames and finished the day 11–9 ahead.

Fred's break, a new record for the World Championship, included 12 reds, 6 blacks, 3 pinks, 2 blues, a brown and then all the colours.

[50] It was the thirteenth consecutive world championship won by Davis,[51] a feat that the Birmingham Post's correspondent wrote "proved again .. that he has no equal as a snooker player".

[53][54] Walter Donaldson, who had last entered the tournament on his debut in 1933 World Snooker Championship,[56] met Herbert Holt in the first qualifying match at the Lion Hotel, Blackpool from 8–10 December 1938.