This is a list of all the winners of the USSR Chess Championship. It was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners. The USSR championship was held as a round-robin tournament with the exception of the 35th and 58th championships, which were Swiss system tournaments.
| No. | Date | Place | Winner | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4–24 October 1920 | Moscow | Alexander Alekhine | 12/15 (+9-0=6) | Known as the All-Russian Chess Olympiad at the time, this tournament was later recognized as the first USSR championship. |
| 2 | 8–24 July 1923 | Petrograd | Peter Romanovsky | 10/12 (+9-1=2) | |
| 3 | 23 August - 15 September 1924 | Moscow | Efim Bogoljubov | 15/17 (+13-0=4) | |
| 4 | 11 August - 6 September 1925 |
Leningrad | Efim Bogoljubov | 14/19 (+11-2=6) | |
| 5 | 26 September - 25 October 1927 |
Moscow | Fedor Bogatyrchuk Peter Romanovsky |
14.5/20 (+10-1=9) 14.5/20 (+12-3=5) |
|
| 6 | 2–20 September 1929 | Odessa | Boris Verlinsky | 5.5/8 (+4-1=3), 4/5 (+4-1=0), and 3.5/4 (+3-0=1) | The tournament was conducted in three stages. |
| 7 | 10 October - 11 November 1931 |
Moscow | Mikhail Botvinnik | 13.5/17 (+12-2=3) | |
| 8 | 16 August - 9 September 1933 |
Leningrad | Mikhail Botvinnik | 14/19 (+11-2=6) | |
| 9 | 7 December 1934 - 2 January 1935 |
Leningrad | Grigory Levenfish Ilya Rabinovich |
12/19 (+8-3=8) 12/19 (+9-4=6) |
|
| 10 | 12 April - 14 May 1937 |
Tbilisi | Grigory Levenfish | 12.5/19 (+9-3=7) | |
| 11 | 15 April - 16 May 1939 |
Leningrad | Mikhail Botvinnik | 12.5/17 (+8-0=9) | |
| 12 | 5 September - 3 October 1940 |
Moscow | Andor Lilienthal Igor Bondarevsky |
13.5/19 (+8-0=11) 13.5/19 (+10-2=7) |
Mikhail Botvinnik won the Absolute Championship, 23 March-29 April 1941, Leningrad/Moscow, 13.5/20 (+9-2=9) |
| 13 | 21 May - 17 June 1944 |
Moscow | Mikhail Botvinnik | 12.5/16 (+11-2=3) | |
| 14 | 1 June - 3 July 1945 |
Moscow | Mikhail Botvinnik | 15/17 (+13-0=4) | |
| 15 | 2 February - 8 March 1947 |
Leningrad | Paul Keres | 14/19 (+10-1=8) | |
| 16 | 10 November - 13 December 1948 |
Moscow | David Bronstein Alexander Kotov |
12/18 (+7-1=10) 12/18 (+10-4=4) |
|
| 17 | 16 October - 20 November 1949 |
Moscow | Vasily Smyslov David Bronstein |
13/19 (+9-2=8) 13/19 (+8-1=10) |
|
| 18 | 10 November - 12 December 1950 |
Moscow | Paul Keres | 11.5/17 (+8-2=7) | |
| 19 | 11 November - 14 December 1951 |
Moscow | Paul Keres | 12/17 (+9-2=6) | |
| 20 | 29 November - 29 December 1952 |
Moscow | Mikhail Botvinnik | 13.5/19 (+9-1=9) | Botvinnik defeated Mark Taimanov in a playoff. |
| 21 | 7 January - 7 February 1954 |
Kiev | Yuri Averbakh | 14.5/19 (+10-0=9) | |
| 22 | 11 February - 15 March 1955 |
Moscow | Efim Geller | 12/19 (+10-5=4) | Geller defeated Vasily Smyslov in a playoff. |
| 23 | 10 January - 15 February 1956 |
Leningrad | Mark Taimanov | 11.5/17 (+8-2=7) | Taimanov defeated Boris Spassky and Yuri Averbakh in a playoff. |
| 24 | 20 January - 22 February 1957 |
Moscow | Mikhail Tal | 14/21 (+9-2=10) | |
| 25 | 12 January - 14 February 1958 |
Riga | Mikhail Tal | 12.5/18 (+10-3=5) | |
| 26 | 9 January - 11 February 1959 |
Tbilisi | Tigran Petrosian | 13.5/19 (+8-0=11) | |
| 27 | 26 January - 26 February 1960 |
Leningrad | Viktor Korchnoi | 14/19 (+12-3=4) | |
| 28 | 11 January - 11 February 1961 |
Moscow | Tigran Petrosian | 13.5/19 (+9-1=9) | |
| 29 | 16 November - 12 December 1961 |
Baku | Boris Spassky | 14.5/20 (+10-1=9) | |
| 30 | 21 November - 20 December 1962 |
Yerevan | Viktor Korchnoi | 14/19 (+10-1=8) | |
| 31 | 23 November - 27 December 1963 |
Leningrad | Leonid Stein | 12/19 (+6-1=12) | Stein defeated Boris Spassky and Ratmir Kholmov in a playoff. |
| 32 | 25 December 1964 - 27 January 1965 | Kiev | Viktor Korchnoi | 15/19 (+11-0=8) | |
| 33 | 21 November - 24 December 1965 |
Tallinn | Leonid Stein | 14/19 (+10-1=8) | |
| 34 | 28 December 1966 - 2 February 1967 | Tbilisi | Leonid Stein | 13/20 (+8-2=10) | |
| 35 | 7–26 December 1967 | Kharkov | Lev Polugaevsky Mikhail Tal |
10/13 10/13 |
The tournament was a 126-player Swiss. |
| 36 | 30 December 1968 - 1 February 1969 |
Alma-Ata | Lev Polugaevsky | 12.5/19 (+7-1=11) | Polugaevsky defeated Alexander Zaitsev in a playoff. |
| 37 | 6 September - 12 October 1969 |
Moscow | Tigran Petrosian | 14/22 (+6-0=16) | Petrosian defeated Lev Polugaevsky in a playoff. |
| 38 | 25 November - 28 December 1970 |
Riga | Viktor Korchnoi | 16/21 (+12-1=8) | |
| 39 | 15 September - 17 October 1971 |
Leningrad | Vladimir Savon | 15/21 (+9-0=12) | |
| 40 | 16 November - 19 December 1972 |
Baku | Mikhail Tal | 15/21 (+9-0=12) | |
| 41 | 1–27 October 1973 | Moscow | Boris Spassky | 11.5/17 (+7-1=9) | |
| 42 | 30 November - 23 December 1974 |
Leningrad | Alexander Beliavsky Mikhail Tal |
9.5/15 (+6-2=7) 9.5/15 (+6-2=7) |
|
| 43 | 28 November - 22 December 1975 |
Yerevan | Tigran Petrosian | 10/15 (+6-1=8) | |
| 44 | 26 November - 24 December 1976 |
Moscow | Anatoly Karpov | 12/17 (+8-1=8) | |
| 45 | 28 November - 22 December 1977 |
Leningrad | Boris Gulko Iosif Dorfman |
9.5/15 (+4-0=11) 9.5/15 (+4-0=11) |
|
| 46 | 1–28 December 1978 | Tbilisi | Mikhail Tal Vitaly Tseshkovsky |
11/17 (+5-0=12) 11/17 (+6-1=10) |
|
| 47 | 29 November - 27 December 1979 |
Minsk | Efim Geller | 11.5/17 (+6-0=11) | |
| 48 | 25 December 1980 - 21 January 1981 |
Vilnius | Lev Psakhis Alexander Beliavsky |
10.5/17 (+8-4=5) 10.5/17 (+6-2=9) |
|
| 49 | 27 November - 22 December 1981 |
Frunze | Garry Kasparov, Lev Psakhis |
12.5/17 (+10-2=5) 12.5/17 (+9-1=7) |
|
| 50 | 2–28 April 1983 | Moscow | Anatoly Karpov | 9.5/15 (+5-1=9) | |
| 51 | 2 - 28 April 1984 |
Lvov | Andrei Sokolov | 12.5/17 (+8-0=9) | |
| 52 | 22 January - 19 February 1985 |
Riga | Viktor Gavrikov Mikhail Gurevich Alexander Chernin |
11/19 (+4-1=14) 11/19 (+6-3=10) 11/19 (+5-2=12) |
|
| 53 | 4–28 February 1986 | Kiev | Vitaly Tseshkovsky | 11/17 (+6-1=10) | |
| 54 | 4–29 March 1987 | Minsk | Alexander Beliavsky | 11/17 (+7-2=8) | Beliavsky defeated Valery Salov in a playoff. |
| 55 | 25 July - 19 August 1988 |
Moscow | Anatoly Karpov Garry Kasparov |
11.5/17 (+6-0=11) 11.5/17 (+6-0=11) |
|
| 56 | 22 September - 16 October 1989 |
Odessa | Rafael Vaganian | 9/15 (+5-2=8) | |
| 57 | 18 October - 3 November 1990 |
Leningrad | Alexander Beliavsky Leonid Yudasin Evgeny Bareev Alexey Vyzmanavin |
8.5/13 (+5-1=7) 8.5/13 (+4-0=9) 8.5/13 (+6-2=5) 8.5/13 (+5-1=7) |
|
| 58 | 1–13 November 1991 | Moscow | Artashes Minasian | 8.5/11 (+7-1=3) | Minasian won this Swiss-style tournament on tiebreak over Elmar Magerramov. |
Most wins: