The final ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season, the tournament was originally scheduled to take place from 18 April to 4 May 2020, but both the qualifying stage and the main rounds were postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Judd Trump was the defending champion, having won his maiden world title at the previous year's event, defeating John Higgins 18–9 in the final.

[1][2][3] The first World Snooker Championship took place in 1927, with the final held at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England, and the title was won by Joe Davis.

[6] As of 2022[update], Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan are the event's most successful participants in the modern era, having both won the championship seven times.

[7][8] The 2019 championship had been won by England's Judd Trump, who defeated Scotland's John Higgins in the final 18–9 to win his first world title.

[11] The tournament was scheduled to take place between 18 April and 4 May 2020 in Sheffield, England, but was postponed to between 31 July and 16 August as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[14][15] In May 2019, the World Snooker Tour announced the event's qualifying format would be changed from the previous year, with seeding given to players with a higher ranking, and played over four rounds instead of three.

[17][18] This was the 44th consecutive year that the tournament had been held at the Crucible, and the 52nd successive world championship to be contested through the modern knockout format.

[21][22] The remaining 15 seeds were allocated based on the latest world rankings, released after the 2020 Tour Championship which was the penultimate event of the season.

[24][25][26] Internationally, the event was broadcast by Eurosport in Europe and Australia;[25] by Superstars Online, Zhibo.tv, Youku and CCTV in China; by NowTV in Hong Kong; and by DAZN in Canada, the United States, and Brazil.

[28][29] The event, along with the Glorious Goodwood Festival and two county cricket matches, was being used as a trial for live audiences by the UK Government, ahead of restrictions being lifted in October.

[28][30] On the first day of the event, UK prime minister Boris Johnson announced that the sporting pilots were being ended, and spectators would no longer be allowed inside the venue.

The World Snooker Tour confirmed an hour later that fans would be admitted for the rest of the first day, but matches were to be played behind closed doors for the remainder of the tournament.

[15] James Cahill, who defeated five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the main stage in 2019, lost in the opening round to amateur player Ben Mertens.

[36][37] Six-time runner-up Jimmy White won his first two qualifying matches over Ivan Kakovskii and Michael Georgiou, but lost in the third round to Robert Milkins.

[36][38] Gary Wilson, who reached the semi-finals in the 2019 event, lost in the third round of qualifying to Swiss player Alexander Ursenbacher 3–6.

[46] Anthony McGill lost only one frame in his win over Baird,[47] whilst Norwegian player Kurt Maflin defeated Matthew Selt by the same scoreline, 10–1, to qualify for the first time since 2015.

Defending champion Judd Trump said Hamilton should have made his decision earlier, as by participating in the qualifiers despite knowing there would be spectators in the final stages he had denied a place to another player.

[67] Five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan averaged less than 14 seconds per shot as he opened an 8–1 lead in the first session against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.

[93][95] Yan missed the final brown ball in frame eight, allowing Trump to make a clearance and finish the session 3–5 behind.

[108] In the deciding frame, Clarke failed to escape from a snooker, and left a free ball, which was enough for McGill to win the match 13–12.

[115] As a first-time champion, Trump was facing the Crucible curse, where since 1977 no player had successfully defended a maiden world title.

[123] In frame 23, O'Sullivan missed the blue, which was the only ball he required to win the match, with Williams making a clearance to force a respotted black.

[130] In the final frame, McGill was snookered behind the yellow ball, and conceded 35 penalty points, missing the shot on eight occasions.

Seven-time champion Stephen Hendry suggested that Selby may have felt he had "almost won" the session after claiming the final frame and avoided been 6-2 down.

It just felt like he was doing that throughout the match..."[137][138] O'Sullivan, however, responded to all questions stating that his cue action was poor, and that he had been struggling to play during the tournament.

[145] The 1997 champion Ken Doherty suggested that failing to pot the red was a missed opportunity for Wilson, whilst O'Sullivan would be "over the moon" to lose only five frames in the session.

[53][149][150] † = Winner of frame Qualifying for the 2020 World Snooker Championship took place from 21 to 28 July 2020 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, using an eight-table set-up.

[153][154] The amateur players were selected as follows:[153] A total of 17 professional players – 13 from mainland China – chose not to participate in the event due to COVID-19 safety concerns: Zhou Yuelong, Xiao Guodong, Zhao Xintong, Li Hang, Yuan Sijun, Marco Fu, Mei Xiwen, Zhang Anda, James Wattana, Zhang Jiankang, Chang Bingyu, Andy Lee, Chen Zifan, Xu Si, Bai Langning, Lei Peifan and Steve Mifsud.

[156] Two invited players from the World Women's Snooker Tour, Ng On-yee and Nutcharut Wongharuthai, also declined to participate due to COVID-19 safety concerns.