| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 16–28 April 1979 |
| Venue | Crucible Theatre |
| City | Sheffield |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | WPBSA |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £35,000 |
| Winner's share | £10,000 |
| Highest break |  Bill Werbeniuk (CAN) (142) |
| Final | |
| Champion |  Terry Griffiths (WAL) |
| Runner-up |  Dennis Taylor (NIR) |
| Score | 24–16 |
← 1978 1980 → | |
The 1979 World Snooker Championship (officially known as the 1979 Embassy World Snooker Championship) was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 to 28 April 1979 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Promoted by Mike Watterson for the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it was the third consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament having taken place in 1977.
A qualifying event for the championship was held from 25 March to 7 April, producing eight qualifiers who joined the eight invited seeded players in the main event staged from 16 to 28 April. The main tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, and was sponsored by the Embassy cigarette company. The winner received £10,000 from the total prize fund of £35,000. Steve Davis, Terry Griffiths and Kirk Stevens all qualified for the Crucible stage for the first time. The defending champion was Ray Reardon, who had won the title for a sixth time by defeating Perrie Mans by 25 frames to 18 in the 1978 final. Reardon was eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing 8–13 to Dennis Taylor.
Griffiths met Taylor in the final, which was a best-of-47-frame match. Griffiths won 24–16, to become the first player to proceed from the qualifying competition and win the title at the Crucible. There were 13 century breaks compiled during the championship, the highest of which was a championship record-equalling 142 by Bill Werbeniuk.