Qualifying rounds for the tournament took place from 23 March to 4 April 1981 at two locations — Redwood Lodge Country Club, near Bristol, and at Romiley Forum, near Stockport.

The defending champion and top seed in the tournament was Cliff Thorburn, who had defeated Alex Higgins 18–16 in the 1980 final.

The cigarette manufacturer Embassy sponsored the tournament, which received daily coverage on BBC television.

[4][6] By the time the main event started on 7 April, Davis — who during the season had won his first professional title at the 1980 UK Championship, as well as the 1980 Classic, 1981 Yamaha Organs Trophy and 1981 English Professional Championship — had become the bookmakers' favourite to win, at 7–2.

[7][8] Mike Watterson promoted the championship tournament, with the authority of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).

[11] The breakdown of prize money for the 1981 tournament is shown below:[12] Qualifying matches took place from 23 March to 4 April,[13] and were held at two locations — Redwood Lodge Country Club, near Bristol, and at Romiley Forum, near Stockport.

[14][15]: 12  All qualifying matches were scheduled in best-of-17 format with the first player to win nine frames progressing to the next round.

[15]: 12  Former champion John Pulman lost 2–9 to Dave Martin, who was accepted by the WPBSA as a professional only a few days before entries closed.

[7][16] Chris Ross — who experienced a nervous breakdown in his first year playing professionally after winning the 1976 English Amateur Championship — found that his bridge hand was unsteady, and he was unable to control his cue properly, resulting in his conceding the match to opponent Tony Knowles when 0–7 behind.

[7][19] Steve Davis made the first century break of the tournament, 119, in the fifth frame of his match against White, while building a 4–2 lead by the end of their first session.

He failed to pot the black, which would have left Miles unable to win the frame without Knowles conceding penalty points.

Jack Karnehm, a snooker commentator and author, later suggested that Spencer was able to win the last frame, in which he made a break of 38, because he had the ability to handle pressure better than Edmonds did.

[28] Graham Miles only gained a single frame in each of the two sessions against defending champion Cliff Thorburn.

[21] Dennis Taylor went from 9–11 against Kirk Stevens to progress to the next round with a 13–11 scoreline; he compiled breaks of 135 and 133 during the match.

[28] Stevens had been unable to use the practice table at the venue before the match because it was being used to record a programme for a television broadcast.

According to Karnehm, Stevens was "frustrated and bitterly hot-tempered when he came out for the second session... his pots missed by fractions, his safety shots would unluckily stay in the open, his judgement was becoming erratic.

[28] After that, Davis pulled ahead to 9–5,[30] Griffiths compiled a break of 100 in the first frame of the third session, making the scoreline 6–9.

[24][32] Snooker historian Clive Everton later wrote that "strongly as the opposition resisted, Davis never really looked like being broken".

[24] Ray Reardon defeated Bill Werbeniuk 13–8, to reach his first semi-final since 1978,[32] and compiled a 112 break in the 16th frame.

[36] Doug Mountjoy made a new record world snooker championship break of 145 in the 12th frame against Ray Reardon, pocketing blacks after all reds except the eighth, when he potted the blue.

According to Karnehm, Thorburn "was still seething at this result and the remarks of the gloating Romford fans in their own stronghold.

[40][41] It was the first world professional snooker championship final for both players, Steve Davis and Doug Mountjoy.

The two players had a total of 37 turns playing whilst three coloured balls were left, before the frame was abandoned and restarted due to the stalemate.

The numbers in brackets to the right of players' names indicate the top 16 seeds, whilst match winners are noted by bold type.

[24][46][47] The final was played as a best-of-35 frames match at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, on 19 and 20 April 1981, refereed by John Williams.

[22][48] Qualifying matches were held at Redwood Lodge Country Club, near Bristol, and at Romiley Forum, Stockport.

Mountjoy earned a £5,000 bonus for his achievement,[12] and his record stood until the 1983 tournament, when Thorburn compiled a maximum break.