Russian Chess Championship
The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms.
Imperial Russia
In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first Russian champion until his student, Mikhail Chigorin, defeated him in a match held in St. Petersburg in 1879. Chigorin won with seven wins, four losses, and two draws.
In 1899 the format of the championship was changed to a round-robin tournament known as the All-Russian Masters' Tournament. The winners were:
# Year City Winner 1 1899 Moscow Mikhail Chigorin 2 1900/1901 Moscow Mikhail Chigorin 3 1903 Kiev Mikhail Chigorin 4 1905/1906 St. Petersburg Gersz Salwe 5 1907/1908 Łódź Akiba Rubinstein 6 1909 Vilna Akiba Rubinstein 7 1912 Vilna Akiba Rubinstein 8 1913/1914 St. Petersburg Alexander Alekhine & Aron Nimzowitsch
RSFSR
After the formation of the USSR the USSR Chess Championship was established as the national championship. However the Russian championship continued to exist as the championship of the RSFSR. The first two USSR championships in 1920 and 1923 were also recognized as RSFSR championships; the modern numbering of Russian championships begins with these two tournaments. The cities Moscow and Leningrad held their own championships and their players were ineligible to play in the RSFSR championship. However, some did participate as outside competitors: for example, Taimanov finished with the same number of points as Tarasov in the 1960 championship, but only Tarasov was awarded the title as Taimanov was from Leningrad.
Rashid Nezhmetdinov held the record of five wins of the Russian Chess Championship.
Post-USSR
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Championship was re-established as a national championship, and players from Moscow and St. Petersburg were allowed to participate. Prior to 2004, the championship was organized as a Swiss-style tournament except for 1997 and 1999, where a knockout format was used. In 2004, the tournament reverted to a round robin with the strongest players in the country directly seeded into the final (called the Superfinal) held in Moscow while others progress through qualifying tournaments.
Women
# Year City Winner 1 1934 Moscow Vera Chudova 2 1935 Nizhny Novgorod Nina Golubeva 3 1947 Ivanovo Olga Strelova 4 1948 Kuibishev Alexandra Daibo 5 1949 Stavropol Vera Tikhomirova 6 1950 Rostov-on-Don Vera Tikhomirova 7 1951 Ivanovo Tema Filanovskaya 8 1952 Saratov Vera Tikhomirova 9 1953 Sochi Vera Tikhomirova 10 1954 Nizhny Novgorod Tema Filanovskaya 11 1955 Taganrog Tema Filanovskaya, Polishchuk 12 1956 Tuapse Valentina Borisenko 13 1957 Kaluga Valentina Borisenko 14 1958 Saratov Valentina Borisenko 15 1959 Yaroslavl Klara Skegina 16 1960 Sochi Valentina Borisenko 17 1961 Sverdlosk Klara Skegina 18 1963 Tula Klara Skegina 19 1964 Dubna Natalia Konopleva 20 1966 Krasnodar Rimma Bilunova 21 1968 Nalchik Rimma Bilunova 22 1970 Kostroma Vera Ushakova (Timoshchenko) 23 1971 Krasnodar Ludmila Lyubarskaya 24 1972 Volgograd Ludmila Saunina 25 1973 Arkhangelsk L. Vericheva 26 1974 Nalchik Alexsandra Kislova 27 1975 Chelyabinsk Alexsandra Kislova 28 1976 Penza Valentina Kozlovskaya 29 1977 Kaliningrad Natalia Alekhina 30 1979 Kaluga Valentina Kozlovskaya, Ludmila Saunina 31 1980 Voronezh Elena Akhmilovskaya 32 1981 Sverdlosk Nadezhda Putjatina 33 1982 Ordzhonikidze Natalia Alekhina 34 1984 Kaliningrad Larisa Polnareva 35 1985 Lipetsk Ludmila Saunina 36 1986 Saratov Alla Grinfeld, Ludmila Saunina 37 1987 Sverdlosk Tatiana Stepovaia 38 1988 Sverdlosk Tatiana Stepovaia 39 1989 Sverdlosk Tatiana Stepovaia 40 1990 ? ? 41 1991 ? ? 42 1992 ? Svetlana Prudnikova 43 1993 ? Ludmila Zaitseva 44 1994 Elista Ekaterina Kovalevskaya 45 1995 Elista Julia Demina 46 1996 Elista Ludmila Zaitseva 47 1997 Elista Alisa Galliamova 48 1998 Elista Svetlana Prudnikova 49 1999 Moscow Julia Demina 50 2000 Elista Ekaterina Kovalevskaya 51 2001 Elista Olga Zimina 52 2002 Elista Tatiana Kosintseva 53 2003 Elista Irina Slavina Turova 54 2004 Kazan Tatiana Kosintseva 55 2005 Samara Alexandra Kosteniuk 56 2006 Gorodets Ekaterina Korbut 57 2007 Moscow Tatiana Kosintseva 58 2008 Moscow Nadezhda Kosintseva 59 2009 Moscow Alisa Galliamova 60 2010 Moscow Alisa Galliamova 61 2011 Moscow Valentina Gunina 62 2012 Moscow Natalia Pogonina 63 2013 Nizhny Novgorod Valentina Gunina 64 2014 Kazan Valentina Gunina 65 2015 Chita Aleksandra Goryachkina 66 2016 Novosibirsk Alexandra Kosteniuk 67 2017 St. Petersburg
References
- Karpov, Anatoly, ed. (1990). Шахматы. энциклопедический словарь (in Russian). Moscow: Great Soviet Encyclopedia. ISBN 5-85270-005-3.
- RUSBASE (part V) 1919-1937,1991-1994
- RUSBASE (part IV) 1938-1960
- RUSBASE (part III), 1961-1969,1985-1990
- RUSBASE (part II) 1970-1984
- Russian Chess History by Bill Wall.
- The Week in Chess
- Chessmetrics
- Details on the 2007 edition