The National Premier Chess Championship is the annual national

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

championship of India. It was established in 1955 by the Andhra State Chess Association as a biannual event, but since 1971 it has been played yearly. The first edition was held in

Eluru Eluru ( ) is a city and the district headquarters of Eluru district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the List of municipal corporations in India#Andhra Pradesh, 14 municipal corporations ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

from 15 May to 28 May 1955 and was jointly won by Ramchandra Sapre and Dharbha Venkayya with 9/12 points. Earlier, G. S. Dikshit of

Pithapuram Pithapuram (also spelled as Pitapuram) is a Town and municipality in the Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh, India. With a history spanning over 1,500 years, it is one of the oldest towns in the state. Pitapuram served as the capital for vario ...

won the Andhra and Madras State Championships for three consecutive years, 1952–54.

Manuel Aaron Manuel Aaron (born 30 December 1935) is the first Indian people , Indian chess chess master, master in the second half of the 20th century. He dominated chess in India in the 1960s to the 1980s, was the Indian Chess Championship , national c ...

from the state of

Tamilnadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

won the Men's National title for a record 9 times, followed by Praveen Thipsay who won the title for 7 times.

Surya Shekhar Ganguly Surya Shekhar Ganguly (born 24 February 1983) is an Indian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster. His peak ELO rating was 2676 (July 2016). Ganguly became an International Master at the age of 16 and a Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster at the a ...

had won a record six consecutive National titles from 2003 to 2008. Indian Chess legend

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...

won the Nationals title for three consecutive times in 1986, 1987 and 1988. Karthik Venkataraman is the reigning Nationals Men Champion in 2024. In 1977

Rohini Khadilkar Rohini Khadilkar (born 1 April 1963 in Mumbai) is a chess player holding the title of Woman International Master (WIM). She has won the Indian women's championship five times and the Asian women's championship twice. She was the first fem ...

became the first female player to compete in that championship. Some players objected to her being in the tournament because she was female. Her father wrote to the

World Chess Federation The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the gove ...

president,

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...

, and Euwe ruled that female players could not be barred from open chess events.https://web.archive.org/web/20201118095131/https://www.espn.com/chess/story/_/id/30265331/gender-trenders-queens-gambit-how-india-women-chess-pioneers-fought-patriarchal-system-won The separate women's championship commenced in 1974. The first ten editions were dominated by the Khadilkar sisters Vasanti, Jayshree and

Rohini Rohini may refer to: People * Rohini (given name), including a list of persons and characters with the name * Rohini (actress) (born 1969), Indian actress, screenwriter, and director * Rohini (Buddha's disciple), female disciple * Rohini (goddes ...

. Rohini is the youngest and won the championship five times, Jayshree won four titles, and the eldest, Vasanti, won the championship in the inaugural year.

Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi (born 25 March 1979) is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM), the first female player in her country to achieve these titles. She has won more medals ...

won the title for a record 6 times, followed by

and

Padmini Rout Padmini Rout (born 5 January 1994) is an Indian chess player. She holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She has won the National Women's Premier Championship five times, consecutively from 2014 to 2017 and ag ...

who have each won the National Women title for a record 5 times. P. V. Nandhidhaa is the reigning Nationals Women Champion in 2024. As on 2024, the Nationals title winner receives INR 7,00,000 Cash prize followed by INR 5,50,000 and INR 4,50,000 for Second and Third positions respectively. Top Four players from both Men and Women events were selected to participate in the Chess World Cup 2025 and

Women's Chess World Cup 2025 The Women's Chess World Cup 2025 is an ongoing single-elimination chess tournament, the third edition of the Women's Chess World Cup, taking place in Batumi, Georgia, from 5 July to 29 July 2025. Unlike previous editions, the tournament is not ...

Winners- Men Champion

Winners- Women Champions

Gallery

File:NATIONAL WOMEN CHESS CHAMPIONS.jpg, Multiple National Women Chess Championship winners over the years, clicked during the closing ceremony of the 50th National Women Chess Championship- 2024. Left to Right- Nisha Mohota, Swati Ghate,

, P. V. Nandhidhaa, Mary Ann Gomes and

Bhakti Kulkarni Bhakti Kulkarni (born 19 May 1992) is an Indian chess player. She received the FIDE titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 2012 and International Master (IM) in 2019. She is the recipient of Arjuna Award for her contribution to chess Biography I ...

Notes

References

List of winners 1955-2006

* D.K. Bharadwaj (2003), A big boom in the brain game

* The Hindu new

* The Hindu news * Chessbase report of th
43rd edition
* Chessbase report of th
44th edition
* TWIC new

* The Hindu Dated June 6, 1952 (Article Chess Notes G. S. Dikshit, State Champion by T. A. Krishnamachariar) * The Hindu Dated June 6, 1952 Picture of Mr. G. S. Dikshit Madras State Chess Championship * The Hindu Dated June 29, 1952 The Madras State Tournament by T. A. Krishnamachariar * The Hindu Dated July 27, 1952 Chess Notes Facts and Figures By T. A Krishnamachariar * The Hindu Dated July 1953 ... Three In a Row for South Indian Star by V. K. Raman Menon (date unknown.. month and year known) * The Hindu Dated January 9, 1956 Chess. Andhra State Tourney Dixit Wins Title Again (from our correspondent) Kakinada * The Hindu January 29, 1956 Chess Notes The Andhra State Championship By T. A Krishnamachariar {{Chess national championships Chess national championships Women's chess national championships

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

1955 in chess 1974 in chess Recurring sporting events established in 1955 1955 establishments in India