US Chess Championship

By acclamation (1845–1891)

:{| class="sortable wikitable" ! 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.

:{|class="sortable wikitable" ! !! Year !! Winner !! Loser !! Result !! Notes |- | 1 || 189192 || || || +7−4=3 || The final game was delayed until January 1892 because Judd was ill. |- | 2 || 1892 || || || +7−1=7 || |- | 3 || 1894 || (2) || || +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 || || || +5−3=1 || Can be considered a match extension or a new match. |- | 5 || 1895 || (3) || || +7−4=3 || |- | 6 || 1896 || (4) || || +7−4=4 || |- | 7 || 1896 || (5) || || +7−2=4 || |- | 8 || 1897 || || || +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 || (2) || || +7−2=2 || Contrary to the 1897 match, the title of US champion was clearly at stake in 1898. |- | 10 || 1909 || || || +7−2=3 || Title reverted to Showalter after Pillsbury's death in 1906. |- | 11 || 1923 || (2) || || +5−4=9 || Marshall declined to play in the invitational tournament that began in 1936. |}

Round-robin format (1936–1998)

:{| class="sortable wikitable" ! № !! Year !! Winner(s) !! Notes |- | 1 || 1936 || || |- | 2 || 1938 || (2) || |- | 3 || 1940 || (3) || |- | - || 1941 || (4) || Match victory over I.A. Horowitz |- | 4 || 1942 || (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 || || |- | - || 1946 || (2) || Match victory over Herman Steiner |- | 6 || 1946 || (6) || |- | 7 || 1948 || || |- | 8 || 1951 || || |- | - || 1952 || (2) || Match victory over Herman Steiner |- | 9 || 1954 || || |- | - || 1957 || (7) || Match victory over Arthur Bisguier.The title was not at stake - Bisguier remained champion. |- | 10 || 1957/8 || || At 14, the youngest champion ever |- | 11 || 1958/9 || (2) || |- | 12 || 1959/0 || (3) || |- | 13 || 1960/1 || (4) ||

(5) ||

|- | 28 || 1981 || (5)

(3) || |- | 36 || 1990 || (3) || Knockout tournament |- | 37 || 1991 || || Knockout tournament |- | 38 || 1992 || || |- | 39 || 1993 ||

Swiss format (1999–2013)

:{| class="sortable wikitable" |- ! № !! Year !! Winner(s) !! Notes |- | 45 || 1999 || (2) || |- | 46 || 2000 || (3) (2) (4) || |- | 47 || 2002 || (3) || |- | 48 || 2003 || (3) || |- | 49 || 2005 || || Tournament was played in 2004, but called the 2005 Championship for legal reasons |- | 50 || 2006 || || |- | 51 || 2007 || (4) || |- | 52 || 2008 || || |- | 53 || 2009 || (2) || |- | 54 || 2010 || (2) || Kamsky won an Armageddon tie-break playoff against Yury Shulman |- | 55 || 2011 || (3) || |- | 56 || 2012 || (3) || Switched to a round-robin tournament for this year only |- | 57 || 2013 || (4) || Kamsky won an Armageddon tie-break playoff against Alejandro Ramírez |}

Round-robin format (2014–present)

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

Notes

References

• {{Cite book
• {{cite magazine | author-link=Isaac Kashdan

References

1. (20 September 1959). "FISCHER, SMYSLOV PLAY IN DEADLOOK; American and Russian Draw in 7th-Round Adjourned Game of Chess Event". [[New York Times]].
2. Soltis, Andy. (2012). "The United States Chess Championship, 1845–2011". McFarland.
3. "D. REGULATIONS FOR SPECIFIC COMPETITIONS / 01. FIDE Individual World Championship Cycles / 02. Continental Championships and Zonal Tournaments / FIDE Handbook".
4. "The United States Chess Federation - US Chess Invitational Requirements"%20Each%20player%20must%20play%20at%20least,be%20against%20players%20of%20strength%20as%20noted%20below:?adlt=strict&toWww=1&redig=3FAADAA6DBCB4630BFA04AE490D40E60).
5. Davies, pp. 196–99
6. Andrew Soltis, ''The United States Chess Championship'', Second Edition, McFarland, 1997, p. 32.
7. Andrew Soltis, ''The United States Chess Championship'', Second Edition, McFarland, 1997, p. 33.
8. In an objectively [[draw (chess). drawn]] [[Chess endgame. endgame]] against [[Arnold Denker]], the flag on Reshevsky's [[chess clock. 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. {{ISBN. 0-679-13042-X. Arnold S. Denker, ''My Best Chess Games 1929–1976'', Dover, 1981, p. 121. {{ISBN. 0-486-24035-5.
9. "U.S. Chess Championship (23 November- 5 December)".
10. "Kamsky reigns supreme".