The Latvian Chess Championship (Latvian: Latvijas Šaha čempionāts) is the annual national chess tournament of Latvia among men and women players, which was established in 1924. It is organized by the Latvian Chess Federation (Latvian: Latvijas Šaha federācija), previously - Latvian Chess Union (Latvian: Latvijas Šaha savienība).

Mikhail Tal was winner twice - in 1953 and 1965.
Jānis Klovāns won the Latvian Championship nine times: 1954, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1979, and 1986.
Edvīns Keņģis is an eight-time Latvian Champion, winning the national contest in 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1997, 2004 and 2005.
Laura Rogule won the Latvian Chess Championship for women thirteen times: 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Dana Reizniece-Ozola won the Latvian Chess Championship in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.

History

The first professional Latvian chess players can be traced back to the 19th century, when Latvia was a part of the Russian Empire. They participated in chess tournaments and union congresses, organized by the Riga Chess Association which was founded in 1890. After World War I and the Latvian War of Independence and the establishment of the Latvian Chess Union in 1924, the official Latvian chess championship tradition was started as the Latvian Chess Congresses. The first Latvian Chess Congress took place in 1924 in Riga.

After the start of the Soviet occupation of Latvia the 1940 edition was not held, but in 1941 the first Chess Championship of the Latvian SSR was played. The tournament was also played once during the German occupation during WWII, in 1943. After the restoration of Latvian independence, the Latvian Championship returned in 1990.

The tournament has been mostly held in the capital Riga and the village of Mežezers of Pļaviņas Municipality in southern Vidzeme.

Championships and winners

Year City Men's Winner Women's Winner 1924 Riga Hermanis Matisons 1926-7 Riga Fricis Apšenieks 1930-1 Riga Vladimirs Petrovs 1932 Jelgava Movsas Feigins 1934 Riga Fricis Apšenieks 1935 Riga Vladimirs Petrovs 1937 Riga Vladimirs Petrovs Milda Lauberte 1938-9 Riga Vladimirs Petrovs Elise Vogel 1941 Riga Alexander Koblencs Marta Krūmiņa 1943 Riga Igors Ždanovs Milda Lauberte 1944 Udelnaya, Russian SFSR Voldemārs Mežgailis 1945 Riga Alexander Koblencs 1946 Riga Alexander Koblencs 1947 Riga Zigfrīds Solmanis 1948 Riga Augusts Strautmanis Milda Lauberte 1949 Riga Alexander Koblencs Milda Lauberte 1950 Riga Voldemārs Mežgailis Milda Lauberte 1951 Riga Mark Pasman Milda Lauberte 1952 Riga Jānis Kļaviņš Milda Lauberte 1953 Riga Mikhail Tal Milda Lauberte 1954 Riga Jānis Klovāns Milda Lauberte 1955 Riga Aivars Gipslis Milda Lauberte 1956 Riga Aivars Gipslis Milda Lauberte 1957 Riga Aivars Gipslis Milda Lauberte 1958 Riga Israel Zilber Zara Nakhimovskaya 1959 Riga Kārlis Klāsups Zara Nakhimovskaya 1960 Riga Aivars Gipslis Milda Lauberte 1961 Riga Aivars Gipslis Zara Nakhimovskaya 1962 Riga Jānis Klovāns Zara Nakhimovskaya 1963 Riga Aivars Gipslis Astra Klovāne 1964 Riga Aivars Gipslis Astra Klovāne 1965 Riga Mikhail Tal Astra Klovāne 1966 Riga Aivars Gipslis Benita Vēja 1967 Riga Jānis Klovāns Vija Rožlapa 1968 Riga Jānis Klovāns Sarma Sedleniece 1969 Riga Anatolijs Šmits Astra Klovāne 1970 Riga Jānis Klovāns Astra Klovāne 1971 Riga Jānis Klovāns Vija Rožlapa 1972 Riga Lev Gutman Vija Rožlapa 1973 Daugavpils(M) Riga(W) Alvis Vītoliņš Tamāra Vilerte Ingrīda Priedīte 1974 Riga Juzefs Petkēvičs Vladimir Kirpichnikov Vija Rožlapa 1975 Riga Jānis Klovāns Anatolijs Šmits Astra Goldmane 1976 Riga Alvis Vītoliņš Ilze Rubene 1977 Riga Alvis Vītoliņš Astra Klovāne 1978 Riga Alvis Vītoliņš Astra Klovāne 1979 Riga Jānis Klovāns Ingrīda Priedīte 1980 Riga Valerij Zhuravliov Tatjana Voronova 1981 Riga Aleksander Wojtkiewicz Astra Goldmane 1982 Riga (M), Jūrmala (W) Alvis Vītoliņš Anda Šafranska 1983 Riga Alvis Vītoliņš Astra Goldmane 1984 Riga Edvīns Ķeņģis Anda Šafranska 1985 Riga Alvis Vītoliņš Juzefs Petkēvičs Tatjana Voronova 1986 Riga Jānis Klovāns Tatjana Voronova 1987 Riga Edvīns Ķeņģis Tatjana Voronova 1988 Riga Edvīns Ķeņģis Natālija Jerjomina 1989 Riga Edvīns Ķeņģis Ingūna Erneste 1990 Riga Edvīns Ķeņģis Anda Šafranska 1991 Riga Normunds Miezis Anda Šafranska 1992 Riga Valerij Zhuravliov Anna Hahn 1993 Riga Zigurds Lanka Anda Šafranska 1994 Riga Valerij Zhuravliov Anda Šafranska 1995 Riga Igors Rausis Ilze Rubene 1996 Riga Daniel Fridman Anda Šafranska 1997 Riga Edvīns Ķeņģis Anda Šafranska 1998 Riga Māris Krakops Dana Reizniece 1999 Riga Arturs Neikšāns Dana Reizniece 2000 Riga Viesturs Meijers Dana Reizniece 2001 Riga Guntars Antoms Dana Reizniece 2002 Riga Ilmārs Starostīts Ingūna Erneste 2003 Riga Evgeny Sveshnikov Laura Rogule 2004 Riga Edvīns Ķeņģis Ilze Bērziņa 2005 Riga Edvīns Ķeņģis Laura Rogule 2006 Riga Normunds Miezis Laura Rogule 2008 Mežezers (Pļaviņas Municipality) Evgeny Sveshnikov Ilze Bērziņa 2009 Mežezers (Pļaviņas Municipality) Vitālijs Samoļins Laura Rogule 2010 Mežezers (Pļaviņas Municipality) Evgeny Sveshnikov Laura Rogule 2011 Mežezers (Pļaviņas Municipality) Arturs Neikšāns Laura Rogule 2012 Riga Vitālijs Samoļins Ilze Bērziņa 2013 Riga Igor Kovalenko Laura Rogule 2014 Riga Igor Kovalenko Katrīna Šķiņķe 2015 Riga Arturs Neikšāns Laura Rogule 2016 Riga Vladimirs Svešņikovs Laura Rogule 2017 Riga Arturs Bernotas Linda Krūmiņa 2018 Riga Ņikita Meškovs Elizabete Limanovska 2019 Riga Arturs Neikšāns Ilze Bērziņa 2020 Riga Zigurds Lanka Laura Rogule 2021 Riga Rolands Bērziņš Laura Rogule 2022 Riga Ilmārs Starostīts Laura Rogule 2023 Riga Toms Kantāns Laura Rogule 2024 Riga Guntis Jankovskis Ilze Bērziņa 2025 Riga Arturs Neikšāns Marija Kuznecova

Multiple champions

# Men's Winner Titles Years 1 Jānis Klovāns 9 1954, 1962, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1975, 1979, 1986 2 Aivars Gipslis 8 1955-57, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1966 3 Edvīns Ķeņģis 8 1984, 1987–90, 1997, 2004–05 4 Alvis Vītoliņš 7 1973, 1976–78, 1982–83, 1985 5 Arturs Neikšāns 5 1999, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2025 6 Vladimirs Petrovs 4 1930, 1935, 1937, 1938 7 Aleksandrs Koblencs 4 1941, 1945–46, 1949 8 Valerij Zhuravliov 3 1980, 1992, 1994 9 Evgeny Sveshnikov 3 2003, 2008, 2010 10 Fricis Apšenieks 2 1927, 1934 11 Voldemārs Mežgailis 2 1944, 1950 12 Mikhail Tal 2 1953, 1965 13 Anatolijs Šmits 2 1969, 1975 14 Juzefs Petkēvičs 2 1974, 1985 15 Normunds Miezis 2 1991, 2006 16 Vitālijs Samoļins 2 2009, 2012 17 Igor Kovalenko 2 2013-14 18 Zigurds Lanka 2 1993, 2020 19 Ilmārs Starostīts 2 2002, 2022

# Women's Winner Titles Years 1 Milda Lauberte 13 1937, 1943, 1948–57, 1960 2 Laura Rogule 13 2003, 2005–06, 2009–11, 2013, 2015–16, 2020–23 3 Anda Šafranska 8 1982, 1984, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1996–97 4 Astra Klovāne 7 1963-65, 1969–70, 1977–78 5 Ilze Bērziņa 5 2004, 2008, 2012, 2019, 2024 6 Zara Nakhimovskaya 4 1958-59, 1961–62 7 Vija Rožlapa 4 1967, 1971–72, 1974 8 Tatjana Voronova 4 1980, 1985–87 9 Dana Reizniece 4 1998-2001 10 Astra Goldmane 3 1975, 1981, 1983 11 Ingrīda Priedīte 2 1973, 1979 12 Ilze Rubene 2 1976, 1995 13 Ingūna Erneste 2 1989, 2002

Notes

External links

  • Whyld, Ken (1986), Chess: The Records, Guinness Books, pp. 104–105, ISBN 0-85112-455-0 (results through 1985)
  • Popovsky, Alexey, chapter "Championships of Republics" (Latvian Championships results: 1941–1990)
  • , archived from on 2012-01-14 chapter "Turnīri - Latvijas čempionātu rezultāti" (Latvian Championships results: 1924–1993)
  • Crowther, Mark (17 March 2003), , London Chess Center
  • Crowther, Mark (23 August 2004), , London Chess Center
  • Crowther, Mark (23 May 2005), , London Chess Center
  • Crowther, Mark (17 April 2006), , London Chess Center
  • Žuravļevs, N.; Dulbergs, I.; Kuzmičovs, G. (1980), Latvijas šahistu jaunrade (in Latvian), Riga: Avots (results through 1979)