US Chess Championship

The US Chess Championship is an invitational tournament organized by the United States Chess Federation to determine the country's chess champion. It is the oldest national chess tournament. 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. 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.

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. 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. The following US Champions until 1909 were decided by matches.

Year Winner Loser Result Notes 1 1891‍–‍92 Jackson Showalter Max Judd +7−4=3 The final game was delayed until January 1892 because Judd was ill. 2 1892 Samuel Lipschütz Jackson Showalter +7−1=7 3 1894 Jackson Showalter (2) 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. 4 1894 Albert Hodges Jackson Showalter +5−3=1 Can be considered a match extension or a new match. 5 1895 Jackson Showalter (3) S. Lipschütz +7−4=3 6 1896 Jackson Showalter (4) Emil Kemény +7−4=4 7 1896 Jackson Showalter (5) John Barry +7−2=4 8 1897 Harry Pillsbury Jackson Showalter +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". 9 1898 Harry Pillsbury (2) Jackson Showalter +7−2=2 Contrary to the 1897 match, the title of US champion was clearly at stake in 1898. 10 1909 Frank Marshall Jackson Showalter +7−2=3 Title reverted to Showalter after Pillsbury's death in 1906. 11 1923 Frank Marshall (2) Edward Lasker +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 Samuel Reshevsky 2 1938 Samuel Reshevsky (2) 3 1940 Samuel Reshevsky (3) - 1941 Samuel Reshevsky (4) Match victory over I.A. Horowitz 4 1942 Samuel Reshevsky (5) An erroneous ruling by the director allowed Reshevsky to tie for first with Isaac Kashdan. Reshevsky won a playoff match against Kashdan 6 months later. 5 1944 Arnold Denker - 1946 Arnold Denker (2) Match victory over Herman Steiner 6 1946 Samuel Reshevsky (6) 7 1948 Herman Steiner 8 1951 Larry Evans - 1952 Larry Evans (2) Match victory over Herman Steiner 9 1954 Arthur Bisguier - 1957 Samuel Reshevsky (7) Match victory over Arthur Bisguier.The title was not at stake - Bisguier remained champion. 10 1957/8 Bobby Fischer At 14, the youngest champion ever 11 1958/9 Bobby Fischer (2) 12 1959/0 Bobby Fischer (3) 13 1960/1 Bobby Fischer (4) 14 1961/2 Larry Evans (3) Bobby Fischer did not enter 15 1962/3 Bobby Fischer (5) 16 1963/4 Bobby Fischer (6) The only perfect score in US Championship history 17 1965/6 Bobby Fischer (7) 18 1966/7 Bobby Fischer (8) A record eighth win (out of eight attempts) 19 1968 Larry Evans (4) 20 1969 Samuel Reshevsky (8) 21 1972 Robert Byrne Playoff held 9 months after the tournament, with Byrne winning over Reshevsky and Kavalek 22 1973 Lubomir Kavalek John Grefe 23 1974 Walter Browne 24 1975 Walter Browne (2) 25 1977 Walter Browne (3) 26 1978 Lubomir Kavalek (2) 27 1980 Walter Browne (4) Larry Christiansen Larry Evans (5) 28 1981 Walter Browne (5) Yasser Seirawan 29 1983 Walter Browne (6) Larry Christiansen (2) Roman Dzindzichashvili 30 1984 Lev Alburt 31 1985 Lev Alburt (2) 32 1986 Yasser Seirawan (2) 33 1987 Joel Benjamin Nick de Firmian 34 1988 Michael Wilder 35 1989 Roman Dzindzichashvili (2) Stuart Rachels Yasser Seirawan (3) 36 1990 Lev Alburt (3) Knockout tournament 37 1991 Gata Kamsky Knockout tournament 38 1992 Patrick Wolff 39 1993 Alexander Shabalov Alex Yermolinsky 40 1994 Boris Gulko The only person to have held both the US and Soviet championships 41 1995 Nick de Firmian (2) Patrick Wolff (2) Alexander Ivanov 42 1996 Alex Yermolinsky (2) 43 1997 Joel Benjamin (2) 44 1998 Nick de Firmian (3)

Swiss format (1999–2013)

№ Year Winner(s) Notes 45 1999 Boris Gulko (2) 46 2000 Joel Benjamin (3) Alexander Shabalov (2) Yasser Seirawan (4) 47 2002 Larry Christiansen (3) 48 2003 Alexander Shabalov (3) 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 (4) 52 2008 Yury Shulman 53 2009 Hikaru Nakamura (2) 54 2010 Gata Kamsky (2) Kamsky won an Armageddon tie-break playoff against Yury Shulman 55 2011 Gata Kamsky (3) 56 2012 Hikaru Nakamura (3) Switched to a round-robin tournament for this year only 57 2013 Gata Kamsky (4) Kamsky won an Armageddon tie-break playoff against Alejandro Ramírez

Round-robin format (2014–present)

№ Year Winner(s) Notes 58 2014 Gata Kamsky (5) Kamsky won a playoff rapid against Varuzhan Akobian after Akobian qualified by beating Aleksandr Lenderman on an Armageddon tie-break 59 2015 Hikaru Nakamura (4) 60 2016 Fabiano Caruana 61 2017 Wesley So Wesley So won a rapid playoff against Alexander Onischuk 62 2018 Samuel Shankland 63 2019 Hikaru Nakamura (5) 64 2020 Wesley So (2) Tournament held online via Lichess due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 65 2021 Wesley So (3) So won a rapid playoff against Fabiano Caruana and Samuel Sevian 66 2022 Fabiano Caruana (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

See also

• US Women's Chess Championship
• US Open Chess Championship
• US Women's Open Chess Championship
• American Chess Congress

Notes

• Soltis, Andy; McCormick, Gene H. (1997). The United States Chess Championship 1845–1996 (2nd ed.). McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0248-2.
• Isaac Kashdan (November–December 1933). (PDF). Chess Review. pp. 36–38.

External links