US Chess Championship
(Redirected from U.S. Chess Championship)
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The US Chess Championship is an invitational tournament organized by the United States Chess Federation to determine the country's chess champion.[1] It is the oldest national chess tournament.[2] The event originated as a challenge match in 1845, but the champion has been decided by tournament play under the auspices of the USCF since 1936.[2] The tournament has fluctuated between a round-robin tournament and a Swiss system. From 2000 to 2006, the championship was sponsored and organized by the Seattle Chess Foundation (later renamed America's Foundation for Chess); starting in 2002 it featured a larger body of competitors, made possible by the change to a Swiss-style format. After the Foundation withdrew its sponsorship, the 2007 and 2008 events were held in Stillwater, Oklahoma, still as a Swiss system, under tournament director Frank K. Berry. The Saint Louis Chess Club has hosted the championship since 2009. Since 2014, the championship has used a round-robin format. The event is often a Zonal tournament for the United States Chess Federation, providing qualifier spots to the Chess World Cup.[3]
As of 2023, twelve players are invited to compete: the reigning US champion, as well as the respective winners of the US Open Chess Championship and the US Junior Championship. The remaining players are chosen by highest invitational rating, in addition to one organizer wildcard.[4] Fabiano Caruana is the current US chess champion.
By acclamation (1845–1891)
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 1871–1891 George Henry Mackenzie Won the 2nd, 3rd and 5th American Chess Congress
Match format (1891–1935)
George Henry Mackenzie died in April 1891 and, later that year, Max Judd proposed he, Jackson Showalter and S. Lipschütz contest a triangular match for the championship. Lipschütz withdrew so Judd and Showalter played a match which the latter won. A claim by Walter Penn Shipley that S. Lipschütz became US Champion as a result of being the top-scoring American at the Sixth American Chess Congress, New York 1889, is refuted in a biography of Lipschütz.[5] The following US Champions until 1909 were decided by matches.
Year Winner Loser Result Notes 1 1891Template:Nbnd92 Script error: No such module "Sort". Script error: No such module "Sort". +7−4=3 The final game was delayed until January 1892 because Judd was ill. 2 1892 Script error: No such module "Sort". Script error: No such module "Sort". +7−1=7 3 1894 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) Script error: No such module "Sort". +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. 4 1894 Script error: No such module "Sort". Script error: No such module "Sort". +5−3=1 Can be considered a match extension or a new match. 5 1895 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) Script error: No such module "Sort". +7−4=3 6 1896 Script error: No such module "Sort". (4) Script error: No such module "Sort". +7−4=4 7 1896 Script error: No such module "Sort". (5) Script error: No such module "Sort". +7−2=4 8 1897 Script error: No such module "Sort". Script error: No such module "Sort". +10−7=3 Pillsbury added to the conditions of the match : "... even if I should win, I shall leave Showalter the possession of his championship title".[6] 9 1898 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) Script error: No such module "Sort". +7−2=2 Contrary to the 1897 match, the title of US champion was clearly at stake in 1898.[7] 10 1909 Script error: No such module "Sort". Script error: No such module "Sort". +7−2=3 Title reverted to Showalter after Pillsbury's death in 1906. 11 1923 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) Script error: No such module "Sort". +5−4=9 Marshall declined to play in the invitational tournament that began in 1936.
Round-robin format (1936–1998)
№ Year Winner(s) Notes 1 1936 Script error: No such module "Sort". 2 1938 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 3 1940 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) - 1941 Script error: No such module "Sort". (4) Match victory over I.A. Horowitz 4 1942 Script error: No such module "Sort". (5) An erroneous ruling by the director allowed Reshevsky to tie for first with Isaac Kashdan.[8]
Reshevsky won a playoff match against Kashdan 6 months later.5 1944 Script error: No such module "Sort". - 1946 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) Match victory over Herman Steiner 6 1946 Script error: No such module "Sort". (6) 7 1948 Script error: No such module "Sort". 8 1951 Script error: No such module "Sort". - 1952 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) Match victory over Herman Steiner 9 1954 Script error: No such module "Sort". - 1957 Script error: No such module "Sort". (7) Match victory over Arthur Bisguier.The title was not at stake - Bisguier remained champion. 10 1957/8 Script error: No such module "Sort". At 14, the youngest champion ever 11 1958/9 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 12 1959/0 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) 13 1960/1 Script error: No such module "Sort". (4) 14 1961/2 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) Bobby Fischer did not enter 15 1962/3 Script error: No such module "Sort". (5) 16 1963/4 Script error: No such module "Sort". (6) The only perfect score in US Championship history 17 1965/6 Script error: No such module "Sort". (7) 18 1966/7 Script error: No such module "Sort". (8) A record eighth win (out of eight attempts) 19 1968 Script error: No such module "Sort". (4) 20 1969 Script error: No such module "Sort". (8) 21 1972 Script error: No such module "Sort". Playoff held 9 months after the tournament, with Byrne winning over Reshevsky and Kavalek 22 1973 Script error: No such module "Sort".
Script error: No such module "Sort".23 1974 Script error: No such module "Sort". 24 1975 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 25 1977 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) 26 1978 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 27 1980 Script error: No such module "Sort". (4)
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Script error: No such module "Sort". (5)28 1981 Script error: No such module "Sort". (5)
Script error: No such module "Sort".29 1983 Script error: No such module "Sort". (6)
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Script error: No such module "Sort".30 1984 Script error: No such module "Sort". 31 1985 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 32 1986 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 33 1987 Script error: No such module "Sort".
Script error: No such module "Sort".34 1988 Script error: No such module "Sort". 35 1989 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2)
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Script error: No such module "Sort". (3)36 1990 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) Knockout tournament 37 1991 Script error: No such module "Sort". Knockout tournament 38 1992 Script error: No such module "Sort". 39 1993 Script error: No such module "Sort".
Script error: No such module "Sort".40 1994 Script error: No such module "Sort". The only person to have held both the US and Soviet championships 41 1995 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2)
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Script error: No such module "Sort".42 1996 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 43 1997 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 44 1998 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3)
Swiss format (1999–2013)
№ Year Winner(s) Notes 45 1999 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 46 2000 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3)
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Script error: No such module "Sort". (4)47 2002 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) 48 2003 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) 49 2005 Script error: No such module "Sort". Tournament was played in 2004, but called the 2005 Championship for legal reasons[9] 50 2006 Script error: No such module "Sort". 51 2007 Script error: No such module "Sort". (4) 52 2008 Script error: No such module "Sort". 53 2009 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 54 2010 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) Kamsky won an Armageddon tie-break playoff against Yury Shulman 55 2011 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) [10] 56 2012 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) Switched to a round-robin tournament for this year only 57 2013 Script error: No such module "Sort". (4) Kamsky won an Armageddon tie-break playoff against Alejandro Ramírez
Round-robin format (2014–present)
№ Year Winner(s) Notes 58 2014 Script error: No such module "Sort". (5) Kamsky won a playoff rapid against Varuzhan Akobian after Akobian qualified
by beating Script error: No such module "Sort". on an Armageddon tie-break59 2015 Script error: No such module "Sort". (4) 60 2016 Script error: No such module "Sort". 61 2017 Script error: No such module "Sort". Wesley So won a rapid playoff against Alexander Onischuk 62 2018 Script error: No such module "Sort". 63 2019 Script error: No such module "Sort". (5) 64 2020 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) Tournament held online via Lichess due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 65 2021 Script error: No such module "Sort". (3) So won a rapid playoff against Fabiano Caruana and Samuel Sevian 66 2022 Script error: No such module "Sort". (2) 67 2023 Fabiano Caruana (3) 68 2024 Fabiano Caruana (4) 69 2025 Fabiano Caruana (5) Caruana ties Fischer's record of 4 consecutive US Championship wins
Players by number of championships
| Name | Total Victories | Tournament Victories | Match Victories | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Fischer | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1957/8 1958/9 1959/0 1960/1 1962/3 1963/4 1965/6 1966/7 |
| Samuel Reshevsky | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1936 1938 1940 1941 1942 1946 1957 1969 |
| Walter Browne | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1974 1975 1977 1980 1981 1983 |
| Larry Evans | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1951 1952 1961/2 1968 1980 |
| Gata Kamsky | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1991 2010 2011 2013 2014 |
| Hikaru Nakamura | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2005 2009 2012 2015 2019 |
| Jackson Showalter | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1891–92 1894 1895 1896 1896 |
| Fabiano Caruana | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2016 2022 2023 2024 2025 |
| Yasser Seirawan | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1981 1986 1989 2000 |
| Alexander Shabalov | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1993 2000 2003 2007 |
| Lev Alburt | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1984 1985 1990 |
| Joel Benjamin | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1987 1997 2000 |
| Larry Christiansen | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1980 1983 2002 |
| Nick de Firmian | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1987 1995 1998 |
| Wesley So | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2017 2020 2021 |
| Arnold Denker | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1944 1946 |
| Roman Dzindzichashvili | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1983 1989 |
| Boris Gulko | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1994 1999 |
| Lubomir Kavalek | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1973 1978 |
| Frank Marshall | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1909 1923 |
| Harry Pillsbury | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1897 1898 |
| Patrick Wolff | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1992 1995 |
| Alex Yermolinsky | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1993 1996 |
| Arthur Bisguier | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1954 |
| Robert Byrne | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1972 |
| John Grefe | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1973 |
| Albert Hodges | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1894 |
| Alexander Ivanov | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1995 |
| Samuel Lipschütz | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1892 |
| Alexander Onischuk | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2006 |
| Stuart Rachels | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1989 |
| Samuel Shankland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2018 |
| Yury Shulman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2008 |
| Herman Steiner | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1948 |
| Michael Wilder | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1988 |
See also
- US Women's Chess Championship
- US Open Chess Championship
- US Women's Open Chess Championship
- American Chess Congress
Notes
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Davies, pp. 196–99
- ↑ Andrew Soltis, The United States Chess Championship, Second Edition, McFarland, 1997, p. 32.
- ↑ Andrew Soltis, The United States Chess Championship, Second Edition, McFarland, 1997, p. 33.
- ↑ In an objectively drawn endgame against Arnold Denker, the flag on Reshevsky's clock fell, which should have resulted in his losing on time. The tournament director Walter Stephens, who was standing behind the clock, flipped it around and, looking at Reshevsky's side of the clock (which he mistakenly thought was Denker's), announced "Denker forfeits!" He refused to correct his error, explaining, "Does Kenesaw Mountain Landis reverse himself?" William Lombardy and David Daniels, U.S. Championship Chess, David McKay, 1975, p. 22. Template:ISBN. Arnold S. Denker, My Best Chess Games 1929–1976, Dover, 1981, p. 121. Template:ISBN.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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References
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External links
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