The US Chess Championship is an invitational tournament organized by the

United States Chess Federation The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, The World Chess Federation (FIDE). USCF administers the official national Chess ...

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 A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...

and a

Swiss system A Swiss-system tournament is a non-eliminating tournament format that features a fixed number of rounds of competition, but considerably fewer than for a round-robin tournament; thus each competitor (team or individual) does not play all the other ...

. 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 Stillwater is the tenth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and the county seat of Payne County, Oklahoma, Payne County. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177#Oklahoma, U.S. Route 177 and Oklahoma S ...

, still as a Swiss system, under tournament director Frank K. Berry. The

Saint Louis Chess Club The Saint Louis Chess Club (previously, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis) is a chess club in the Central West End in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It was founded in 2008 by billionaire Rex Sinquefield as part of his ef ...

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

, providing qualifier spots to the

Chess World Cup The FIDE World Cup is a major chess event organized by FIDE, the international governing body. History Three different formats have been used: *In 2000 and 2002, it was a multi-stage tournament, with a group stage consisting of 24 players in fo ...

. 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 The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since 1900. The top American player usually qualifies for the U.S. Chess Championship. History The tournament was originally the ...

and the US Junior Championship. The remaining players are chosen by highest invitational rating, in addition to one organizer wildcard.

Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history. Born in Mia ...

is the current US chess champion.

By acclamation (1845–1891)

Match format (1891–1935)

George Henry Mackenzie died in April 1891 and, later that year,

Max Judd Max Judd (born Maksymilian Judkiewicz; 27 December 1851 – 7 May 1906) was an American chess player. Born in Tenczynek, Austrian Empire, he emigrated to America in 1862. He was an American cloak manufacturer. He was founder and president of th ...

proposed he,

Jackson Showalter Jackson Whipps Showalter (February 5, 1859 in Minerva, Kentucky – February 5, 1935 in Lexington, Kentucky) was a five-time U.S. Chess Champion: 1890, 1892, 1892–1894, 1895–96 and 1906–1909. Chess career U.S. Championship matches Showal ...

and

S. Lipschütz Samuel or Salomon Lipschütz (July 4, 1863 in Uzhhorod, Ungvár – November 30, 1905 in Hamburg) was a chess player and author. He was chess champion of the United States from 1892 to 1894. Biography Born in Ungvár, Ung County, Carpathian ...

contest a triangular match for the championship.

Lipschütz Lipschutz is a Jewish surname. It is a variant of Lifshitz. Notable people with this surname * Gerdi E. Lipschutz (1923–2010), New York politician * S. Lipschütz (1863–1905), US chess champion * Seymour Lipschutz (born 1931), American mathe ...

withdrew so Judd and Showalter played a match which the latter won. A claim by Walter Penn Shipley that

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.Davies, pp. 196–99 The following US Champions until 1909 were decided by matches. :

Round-robin format (1936–1998)

Swiss format (1999–2013)

Round-robin format (2014–present)

Players by number of championships

Notes

References

* *

External links

Official US Chess Championship SiteSt. Louis Chess Club, St. Louis, Missouri
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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 ...