Despite having missed virtually the entire season, defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan did not lose one session in the tournament and defeated Barry Hawkins 18–12 in the final to become a five-time World Champion, joining Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry as the only players to have successfully defended their titles at the Crucible.

[2] During the tournament, 32 professional players compete in one-on-one snooker matches in a single elimination format, each of which is played over several frames.

[3][4] English player Ronnie O'Sullivan won the previous year's championship by defeating fellow countryman Ali Carter in the final 18–11.

A breakdown of prize money for 2013 is shown below:[6] The first round was played between 20 and 25 April 2013; matches were held as the best-of-19 frames over two sessions.

Players Jack Lisowski, Michael White, Ben Woollaston, Dechawat Poomjaeng, Matthew Selt and Sam Baird made their debuts at the main stages of the event.

[20] Dott criticised Ebdon for his perceived slow play and called for a rule to limit the time a player could spend over a shot.

[22] The ending of the match between defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and Marcus Campbell was not aired on the BBC, which instead broadcast a repeat episode of the 1970s sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.

The match was also unavailable on the BBC Red Button service, leading to viewers expressing their anger on social networks.

The CEO of World Snooker Barry Hearn, apologised to fans on Twitter and wrote a formal letter of complaint to the BBC.

[34] O'Sullivan became the first defending champion since Murphy in 2006 to reach the quarter-finals when he defeated Ali Carter, his opponent in the 2008 and 2012 World Championship finals, 13–8.

[29] Walden reached the semi-finals of the World Championship on his third attempt, despite not having previously won a match in his earlier appearances in the main stages of the event in 2009 and 2011.

A World Snooker spokesman later stated eyewitnesses had also observed O'Sullivan making an inappropriate gesture but it was not captured on camera.

[46][47] The 2013 final between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Barry Hawkins was played on 5 and 6 May as the best-of-35 frames over four sessions and officiated by Jan Verhaas.

[29][59][60] The draw for the first round took place on 15 April 2013, one day after the qualifying, and was broadcast live by Talksport at 1:30 pm BST.

[61] Four preliminary qualifying rounds for the tournament were for invited amateur players and members not on the Main Tour; they took place on 4 and 5 April 2013 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield.

[66][67][68] Neil Robertson, the player who compiled the highest break of the tournament, received a cue stick made of gold.