Template:Short description Template:Confused Template:Citations needed Template:Infobox sports award
The US Chess Championship is an invitational tournament organized by the United States Chess Federation to determine the country's chess champion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It is the oldest national chess tournament.<ref name=soltis>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name=soltis/> The tournament has fluctuated between a round-robin tournament and a Swiss system. From 1999 to 2006, the championship was sponsored and organized by the Seattle Chess Foundation (later renamed America's Foundation for Chess) and 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fabiano Caruana is the current US chess champion.
By acclamation (1845–1891)Edit
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)Edit
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.<ref>Davies, pp. 196–99</ref> The following US Champions until 1909 were decided by matches.
Year Winner Loser Result Notes 1 1891Template:Nbnd92 Template:Sortname Template:Sortname +7−4=3 The final game was delayed until January 1892 because Judd was ill. 2 1892 Template:Sortname Template:Sortname +7−1=7 3 1894 Template:Sortname (2) Template:Sortname +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 Template:Sortname Template:Sortname +5−3=1 Can be considered a match extension or a new match. 5 1895 Template:Sortname (3) Template:Sortname +7−4=3 6 1896 Template:Sortname (4) Template:Sortname +7−4=4 7 1896 Template:Sortname (5) Template:Sortname +7−2=4 8 1897 Template:Sortname Template:Sortname +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".<ref>Andrew Soltis, The United States Chess Championship, Second Edition, McFarland, 1997, p. 32.</ref> 9 1898 Template:Sortname (2) Template:Sortname +7−2=2 Contrary to the 1897 match, the title of US champion was clearly at stake in 1898.<ref>Andrew Soltis, The United States Chess Championship, Second Edition, McFarland, 1997, p. 33.</ref> 10 1909 Template:Sortname Template:Sortname +7−2=3 Title reverted to Showalter after Pillsbury's death in 1906. 11 1923 Template:Sortname (2) Template:Sortname +5−4=9 Marshall declined to play in the invitational tournament that began in 1936.
Round-robin format (1936–1998)Edit
№ Year Winner(s) Notes 1 1936 Template:Sortname 2 1938 Template:Sortname (2) 3 1940 Template:Sortname (3) - 1941 Template:Sortname (4) Match victory over I.A. Horowitz 4 1942 Template:Sortname (5) An erroneous ruling by the director allowed Reshevsky to tie for first with Isaac Kashdan.<ref>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.</ref>
Reshevsky won a playoff match against Kashdan 6 months later.5 1944 Template:Sortname - 1946 Template:Sortname (2) Match victory over Herman Steiner 6 1946 Template:Sortname (6) 7 1948 Template:Sortname 8 1951 Template:Sortname - 1952 Template:Sortname (2) Match victory over Herman Steiner 9 1954 Template:Sortname - 1957 Template:Sortname (7) Match victory over Arthur Bisguier.The title was not at stake - Bisguier remained champion. 10 1957/8 Template:Sortname At 14, the youngest champion ever 11 1958/9 Template:Sortname (2) 12 1959/0 Template:Sortname (3) 13 1960/1 Template:Sortname (4) 14 1961/2 Template:Sortname (3) 15 1962/3 Template:Sortname (5) 16 1963/4 Template:Sortname (6) The only perfect score in tournament history 17 1965/6 Template:Sortname (7) 18 1966/7 Template:Sortname (8) A record eighth win (out of eight attempts) 19 1968 Template:Sortname (4) 20 1969 Template:Sortname (8) 21 1972 Template:Sortname Playoff held 9 months after the tournament, with Byrne winning over Reshevsky and Kavalek 22 1973 Template:Sortname
Template:Sortname23 1974 Template:Sortname 24 1975 Template:Sortname (2) 25 1977 Template:Sortname (3) 26 1978 Template:Sortname (2) 27 1980 Template:Sortname (4)
Template:Sortname
Template:Sortname (5)28 1981 Template:Sortname (5)
Template:Sortname29 1983 Template:Sortname (6)
Template:Sortname (2)
Template:Sortname30 1984 Template:Sortname 31 1985 Template:Sortname (2) 32 1986 Template:Sortname (2) 33 1987 Template:Sortname
Template:Sortname34 1988 Template:Sortname 35 1989 Template:Sortname (2)
Template:Sortname
Template:Sortname (3)36 1990 Template:Sortname (3) Knockout tournament 37 1991 Template:Sortname Knockout tournament 38 1992 Template:Sortname 39 1993 Template:Sortname
Template:Sortname40 1994 Template:Sortname The only person to have held both the US and Soviet championships 41 1995 Template:Sortname (2)
Template:Sortname (2)
Template:Sortname42 1996 Template:Sortname (2) 43 1997 Template:Sortname (2) 44 1998 Template:Sortname (3)
Swiss format (1999–2013)Edit
№ Year Winner(s) Notes 45 1999 Template:Sortname (2) 46 2000 Template:Sortname (3)
Template:Sortname (2)
Template:Sortname (4)47 2002 Template:Sortname (3) 48 2003 Template:Sortname (3) 49 2005 Template:Sortname citation CitationClass=web }}</ref>
50 2006 Template:Sortname 51 2007 Template:Sortname (4) 52 2008 Template:Sortname 53 2009 Template:Sortname (2) 54 2010 Template:Sortname (2) Kamsky won an Armageddon tie-break playoff against Yury Shulman 55 2011 Template:Sortname (3) <ref>Kamsky reigns supreme</ref> 56 2012 Template:Sortname (3) Switched to a round-robin tournament for this year only 57 2013 Template:Sortname (4) Kamsky won an Armageddon tie-break playoff against Alejandro Ramírez
Round-robin format (2014–present)Edit
№ Year Winner(s) Notes 58 2014 Template:Sortname (5) Kamsky won a playoff rapid against Varuzhan Akobian after Akobian qualified
by beating Template:Sortname on an Armageddon tie-break59 2015 Template:Sortname (4) 60 2016 Template:Sortname 61 2017 Template:Sortname Wesley So won a rapid playoff against Alexander Onischuk 62 2018 Template:Sortname 63 2019 Template:Sortname (5) 64 2020 Template:Sortname (2) Tournament held online via Lichess due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 65 2021 Template:Sortname (3) So won a rapid playoff against Fabiano Caruana and Samuel Sevian 66 2022 Template:Sortname (2) 67 2023 Fabiano Caruana (3) 68 2024 Fabiano Caruana (4)
Players by number of championshipsEdit
| 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 | 8 | 0 | 1936 1938 1940 1941 1942 1946 1957 1969 |
| Walter Browne | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1974 1975 1977 1980 1981 1983 |
| Larry Evans | 5 | 5 | 0 | 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 |
| Yasser Seirawan | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1981 1986 1989 2000 |
| Alexander Shabalov | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1993 2000 2003 2007 |
| Fabiano Caruana | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2016 2022 2023 2024 |
| 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 | 2 | 0 | 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 alsoEdit
- US Women's Chess Championship
- US Open Chess Championship
- US Women's Open Chess Championship
- American Chess Congress
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Top-level sport leagues in the United States Template:Chess national championships Template:Authority control