The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the national chess champion of the United States. Since 1936, it has been held under the auspices of the U.S. Chess Federation. Until 1999, the event consisted of a round-robin tournament of varying size. From 1999 to 2006, the Championship was sponsored and organized by the Seattle Chess Foundation (later renamed America's Foundation for Chess) as a large Swiss system tournament. AF4C withdrew its sponsorship in 2007. The 2007 and 2008 events were held (again under the Swiss system) in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The 2009 event was held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in St Louis.
Contents |
Years | Champion | Notes |
---|---|---|
1845–1857 | Charles Stanley | Defeated Eugène Rousseau in a match in 1845 |
1857–1871 | Paul Morphy | Won the first American Chess Congress in 1857 |
1871–1889 | George Henry Mackenzie | Won the 2nd, 3rd and 5th American Chess Congress |
S. Lipschütz is regarded as the first US Champion of this period, as a result of being the top-scoring American at the sixth American Chess Congress, New York 1889. The following US Champions until 1909 were decided by matches.
Year | Winner | Loser | Result | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1890 | Jackson Showalter | S. Lipschütz | unknown | The match may have not taken place or may not have been completed. |
2 | 1890 | Max Judd | Jackson Showalter | +7 -3 =0 | |
3 | 1892 | Samuel Lipschütz | Jackson Showalter | +7 -1 =7 | |
4 | 1891-2 | Jackson Showalter | Max Judd | +7 -4 =3 | The final game was delayed until January 1892 because Judd was ill. |
5 | 1894 | Jackson Showalter | Albert Hodges | +7 -6 =4 | Prior to the last game the players agreed to extend the match. Many sources classify this as the first of two matches instead of one extended match. |
6 | 1894 | Albert Hodges | Jackson Showalter | +5 -3 =1 | Can be considered a match extension or a new match. |
7 | 1895 | Jackson Showalter | S. Lipschütz | +7 -4 =3 | |
8 | 1896 | Jackson Showalter | Emil Kemény | +7 -4 =4 | |
9 | 1896 | Jackson Showalter | John Barry | +7 -2 =4 | |
10 | 1897 | Harry Pillsbury | Jackson Showalter | +10 -7 =3 | |
11 | 1898 | Harry Pillsbury | Jackson Showalter | +7 -2 =2 | |
12 | 1909 | Frank Marshall | Jackson Showalter | +7 -2 =3 | Title reverted to Showalter after Pillsbury's death in 1906. |
13 | 1923 | Frank Marshall | Edward Lasker | +5 -4 =9 | Marshall declined to play in the invitational tournament that began in 1936. |
# | Year | Winner | Notes |
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1 | 1936 | Samuel Reshevsky | |
2 | 1938 | Samuel Reshevsky | |
3 | 1940 | Samuel Reshevsky | |
- | 1941 | Samuel Reshevsky | Match victory over I.A. Horowitz |
4 | 1942 | Samuel Reshevsky | An erroneous ruling by the director allowed Reshevsky to tie for first with Isaac Kashdan.[1] Reshevsky won a playoff match against Kashdan 6 months later. |
5 | 1944 | Arnold Denker | |
- | 1946 | Arnold Denker | Match victory over Herman Steiner |
6 | 1946 | Samuel Reshevsky | |
7 | 1948 | Herman Steiner | |
8 | 1951 | Larry Evans | |
- | 1952 | Larry Evans | Match victory over Herman Steiner |
9 | 1954 | Arthur Bisguier | |
- | 1957 | Samuel Reshevsky | Match victory over Arthur Bisguier |
10 | 1957/8 | Bobby Fischer | At 14, the youngest champion ever |
11 | 1958/9 | Bobby Fischer | |
12 | 1959/0 | Bobby Fischer | |
13 | 1960/1 | Bobby Fischer | |
14 | 1961/2 | Larry Evans | |
15 | 1962/3 | Bobby Fischer | |
16 | 1963/4 | Bobby Fischer | Fischer went 11-0 in the tournament, the only perfect score in its history |
17 | 1965/6 | Bobby Fischer | |
18 | 1966/7 | Bobby Fischer | A record eighth win (out of eight attempts) |
19 | 1968 | Larry Evans | |
20 | 1969 | Samuel Reshevsky | |
21 | 1972 | Robert Byrne | After playoff 9 months later against Samuel Reshevsky and Lubomir Kavalek |
22 | 1973 | Lubomir Kavalek John Grefe |
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23 | 1974 | Walter Browne | |
24 | 1975 | Walter Browne | |
25 | 1977 | Walter Browne | |
26 | 1978 | Lubomir Kavalek | |
27 | 1980 | Walter Browne Larry Christiansen Larry Evans |
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28 | 1981 | Walter Browne | |
29 | 1983 | Walter Browne Larry Christiansen Roman Dzindzichashvili |
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30 | 1984 | Lev Alburt | |
31 | 1985 | Lev Alburt | |
32 | 1986 | Yasser Seirawan | |
33 | 1987 | Joel Benjamin Nick de Firmian |
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34 | 1988 | Michael Wilder | |
35 | 1989 | Roman Dzindzichashvili Stuart Rachels Yasser Seirawan |
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36 | 1990 | Lev Alburt | Knockout tournament |
37 | 1991 | Gata Kamsky | Knockout tournament |
38 | 1992 | Patrick Wolff | |
39 | 1993 | Alexander Shabalov Alex Yermolinsky |
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40 | 1994 | Boris Gulko | The only person to have held both the US and Soviet championships |
41 | 1995 | Nick de Firmian Patrick Wolff Alexander Ivanov |
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42 | 1996 | Alex Yermolinsky | |
43 | 1997 | Joel Benjamin | |
44 | 1998 | Nick de Firmian | |
45 | 1999 | Boris Gulko | |
46 | 2000 | Joel Benjamin Alexander Shabalov Yasser Seirawan |
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47 | 2002 | Larry Christiansen | |
48 | 2003 | Alexander Shabalov | |
49 | 2005 | Hikaru Nakamura | Tournament was played in 2004, but called the 2005 Championship, for legal reasons |
50 | 2006 | Alexander Onischuk | |
51 | 2007 | Alexander Shabalov | |
52 | 2008 | Yury Shulman | |
53 | 2009 | Hikaru Nakamura | |
54 | 2010 | Gata Kamsky | Kamsky won an Armageddon tie-break playoff against Yury Shulman |
55 | 2011 | Gata Kamsky[2] |