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Russian Chess Championship

The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms.

Imperial Russia

In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first Russian champion until his student, Mikhail Chigorin, defeated him in a match held in St. Petersburg in 1879. Chigorin won with seven wins, four losses, and two draws.

In 1899 the format of the championship was changed to a round-robin tournament known as the All-Russian Masters' Tournament. The winners were:

# Year City Winner
1 1899 Moscow Mikhail Chigorin
2 1900/1901 Moscow Mikhail Chigorin
3 1903 Kiev Mikhail Chigorin
4 1905/1906 St. Petersburg Gersz Salwe
5 1907/1908 Łódź Akiba Rubinstein
6 1909 Vilna Akiba Rubinstein
7 1912 Vilna Akiba Rubinstein
8 1913/1914 St. Petersburg Alexander Alekhine & Aron Nimzowitsch

RSFSR

After the formation of the USSR the USSR Chess Championship was established as the national championship. However the Russian championship continued to exist as the championship of the RSFSR. The first two USSR championships in 1920 and 1923 were also recognized as RSFSR championships; the modern numbering of Russian championships begins with these two tournaments. The cities Moscow and Leningrad held their own championships and their players were ineligible to play in the RSFSR championship. However, some did participate as outside competitors: for example, Taimanov finished with the same number of points as Tarasov in the 1960 championship, but only Tarasov was awarded the title as Taimanov was from Leningrad.

Rashid Nezhmetdinov held the record of five wins of the Russian Chess Championship.

# Year City Winner
1 1920 Moscow Alexander Alekhine
2 1923 Petrograd Peter Romanovsky
3 1928 Moscow Peter Izmailov
4 1934 Moscow Sergey Belavenets
5 1935 Gorky Alexander Tolush
6 1946 Sverdlovsk Isaac Boleslavsky
7 1947 Kuibyshev Nikolay Novotelnov
8 1948 Saratov Nikolay Aratovsky, Georgy Ilivitsky
9 1949 Yaroslavl Peter Dubinin, Georgy Ilivitsky
10 1950 Gorky Rashid Nezhmetdinov
11 1951 Yaroslavl Rashid Nezhmetdinov
12 1952 Tula Lev Aronin, Nikolai Krogius
13 1953 Saratov Rashid Nezhmetdinov
14 1954 Rostov-na-Donu Leonid Shamkovich
15 1955 Leningrad Anatoly Lutikov
16 1956 Kislovodsk Leonid Shamkovich
17 1957 Krasnodar Rashid Nezhmetdinov
18 1958 Sochi Rashid Nezhmetdinov
19 1959 Voronezh Anatoly Lutikov
20 1960 Perm Vitaly Tarasov, Mark Taimanov (off contest)
21 1961 Omsk Lev Polugaevsky
22 1963 Chelyabinsk Anatoly Lein
23 1964 Kazan Nikolai Krogius
24 1966 Saratov Igor Zakharov, Anatoly Lein, Vladimir Sergievsky
25 1968 Grozny Alexander Zaitsev
26 1970 Kuibyshev Anatoly Karpov
27 1971 Penza Oleg Dementiev, Valery Zilberstein
28 1972 Rostov-na-Donu Vitaly Tseshkovsky
29 1973 Omsk Valeri Korensky, Jurij Rusakov, Vitaly Tseshkovsky
30 1974 Tula Nukhim Rashkovsky
31 1976 Novosibirsk Nukhim Rashkovsky
32 1977 Volgograd Valerij Zhuravliov, Lev Psakhis
33 1979 Sverdlovsk Alexander Panchenko
34 1980 Kazan Alexander Petrushin
35 1981 Vladimir Pavel Zarubin
36 1982 Stavropol Anatoly Vaisser, Valery Chekhov
37 1984 Briansk Gennady Tunik
38 1985 Sverdlovsk Alexander Petrushin
39 1986 Smolensk Veniamin Shtyrenkov
40 1987 Kursk Andrei Kharitonov
41 1988 Voronezh Ratmir Kholmov, Vadim Ruban
42 1989 Gorky Alexey Vyzmanavin
43 1990 Kuibyshev Andrei Kharlov, Vladimir Kramnik, Ruslan Sherbakov, Maxim Sorokin
44 1991 Smolensk Sergei Rublevsky

Post-USSR

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Championship was re-established as a national championship, and players from Moscow and St. Petersburg were allowed to participate. Prior to 2004, the championship was organized as a Swiss-style tournament except for 1997 and 1999, where a knockout format was used. In 2004, the tournament reverted to a round robin with the strongest players in the country directly seeded into the final (called the Superfinal) held in Moscow while others progress through qualifying tournaments.

# Year City Winner Reference
45 1992 Orel Alexei Gavrilov  
46 1993 Tyumen Alexei Bezgodov  
47 1994 Elista Peter Svidler  
48 1995 Elista Peter Svidler
49 1996 Elista Alexander Khalifman
50 1997 Elista Peter Svidler  
51 1998 St. Petersburg Alexander Morozevich  
52 1999 Moscow Konstantin Sakaev
53 2000 Samara Sergey Volkov  
54 2001 Elista Alexander Motylev, on tiebreak over Alexander Lastin  
55 2002 Krasnodar Alexander Lastin  
56 2003 Krasnoyarsk Peter Svidler, on tiebreak over Alexander Morozevich  
57 2004 Moscow Garry Kasparov  
58 2005 Moscow Sergei Rublevsky  
59 2006 Moscow Evgeny Alekseev, after a playoff match with Dmitry Jakovenko  
60 2007 Moscow Alexander Morozevich  
61 2008 Moscow Peter Svidler, after a playoff with Evgeny Alekseev and Dmitry Jakovenko  
62 2009 Moscow Alexander Grischuk  
63 2010 Moscow Ian Nepomniachtchi, after a playoff with Sergey Karjakin  
64 2011 Moscow Peter Svidler  
65 2012 Moscow Dmitry Andreikin, after a rapid playoff with Sergey Karjakin, Dmitry Jakovenko, Vladimir Potkin, Evgeny Alekseev and Peter Svidler  
66 2013 Nizhny Novgorod Peter Svidler, after a playoff match with Ian Nepomniachtchi  
67 2014 Kazan Igor Lysyj  
68 2015 Chita Evgeny Tomashevsky  

Women

# Year City Winner
1. 1992  ? Svetlana Prudnikova
2. 1993  ? Ludmila Zaitseva
3. 1994 Elista Ekaterina Kovalevskaya
4. 1995 Elista Julia Demina
5. 1996 Elista Ludmila Zaitseva
6. 1997 Elista Alisa Galliamova
7. 1998 Elista Svetlana Prudnikova
8. 1999 Moscow Julia Demina
9. 2000 Elista Ekaterina Kovalevskaya
10. 2001 Elista Olga Zimina
11. 2002 Elista Tatiana Kosintseva
12. 2003 Elista Irina Slavina Turova
13. 2004 Kazan Tatiana Kosintseva
14. 2005 Samara Alexandra Kosteniuk
15. 2006 Gorodets Ekaterina Korbut
16. 2007 Moscow Tatiana Kosintseva
17. 2008 Moscow Nadezhda Kosintseva
18. 2009 Moscow Alisa Galliamova
19. 2010 Moscow Alisa Galliamova
20. 2011 Moscow Valentina Gunina
21. 2012 Moscow Natalia Pogonina
22. 2013 Nizhny Novgorod Valentina Gunina
23. 2014 Kazan Valentina Gunina
24. 2015 Chita Aleksandra Goryachkina
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