U.S. Open Chess Championship Explained

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 championship of the Western Chess Association, and was called the Western Open. In 1934, the Western Chess Association became the American Chess Federation and the tournament became the American Chess Federation congress. In 1939, that organization merged into the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and the tournament became the U.S. Open.

In early years the tournament was usually small, and most years play was conducted as round robin. In some years it had to be divided into preliminary and final sections.It grew larger starting in 1934, necessitating use of different formats. In 1946, the Swiss System was used for preliminary rounds, and in 1947 and subsequent years the tournament was held as a single section paired by the Swiss System.

For many years, the tournament had 12 or 13 rounds and lasted two weeks. After experimentation with various less-demanding formats, in recent years it has usually been nine rounds; the 2015 tournament was nine rounds in nine days.

Tournament participation grew through the 1950s and 1960s. Milwaukee 1953 had 181 entrants, setting a new record for the tournament. Cleveland 1957 had 184 players, and San Francisco 1961 set another attendance record with 198 players. The 1963 Open at Chicago had 266 entries, making it the largest chess tournament held in the United States to that time. The tourney was slightly smaller at Boston in 1964, with a field of 229.

The 1983 Open at Pasadena was the largest ever, at 836 official entries; it also featured the participation of Viktor Korchnoi, who had played in the last two World Championship matches.

In the 2000s, the fields were over 400 to 500 entries. The tournament began in some editions to decline both in attendance and importance, and often many winners are involved in a tie for first, especially since the mid 1990s.

The cash prizes awarded were large for their time and added to the tournament's popularity. In 1962, the entry fee was $20, with a first prize of $1,000, second prize $500, third $300, fourth $200, fifth $100, sixth through tenth $50 and eleventh through fifteenth $25. The Women's Open Champion won $200, and the women's runner-up $100. Additional cash prizes were awarded to the top women, the top junior, and for the best scores in the Expert, A, B, and C classes. The 2024 guaranteed prize fund was $60,000, with $10,000 for first place.^[1]

Winners

No.	Year	Location	Champions
1	1900		Louis Uedemann
2	1901		Nicholas MacLeod
3	1902		Louis Uedemann
4	1903		Max Judd
5	1904		Stasch Mlotkowski
6	1905		Edward F. Schrader
7	1906		George H. Wolbrecht
8	1907		Einar Michelsen
9	1908		Edward P. Elliot
10	1909		Oscar Chajes
11	1910		George. H. Wolbrecht
12	1911		Charles Blake
13	1912		Edward P. Elliot
14	1913		Bradford B. Jefferson
15	1914		Bradford B. Jefferson
16	1915		Jackson Showalter
17	1916		Edward Lasker
18	1917		Edward Lasker
19	1918		Bora Kostić
20	1919		Edward Lasker
21	1920		Edward Lasker
22	1921		Edward Lasker
23	1922		Samuel Factor
24	1923		Stasch Mlotkowski, Norman Whitaker
25	1924		Carlos Torre
26	1925		Abraham Kupchik
27	1926		Leon Stolzenberg
28	1927		Albert Charles Margolis
29	1928		Leon Stolzenberg
30	1929		Herman H. Hahlbohm
31	1930		Samuel Factor, Norman Whitaker
32	1931		Samuel Reshevsky
33	1932		Reuben Fine
34	1933		Reuben Fine
35	1934		Reuben Fine, Samuel Reshevsky
36	1935		Reuben Fine
37	1936		Israel A. Horowitz
38	1937		David Polland
39	1938		Israel A. Horowitz, Isaac Kashdan
40	1939		Reuben Fine
41	1940		Reuben Fine
42	1941		Reuben Fine
43	1942		Herman Steiner, Daniel Yanofsky
44	1943		Israel A. Horowitz
45	1944		Samuel Reshevsky
46	1945		Anthony Santasiere
47	1946		Herman Steiner
48	1947		Isaac Kashdan
49	1948		Weaver W. Adams
50	1949		Albert Sandrin Jr.
51	1950		Arthur Bisguier
52	1951		Larry Evans
53	1952		Larry Evans
54	1953		Donald Byrne
55	1954		Larry Evans, Arturo Pomar
56	1955		Nicolas Rossolimo, Samuel Reshevsky (Rossolimo awarded title on tie-break)
57	1956		Arthur Bisguier
58	1957		Bobby Fischer, Arthur Bisguier (Fischer awarded title on tie-break)
59	1958		Eldis Cobo Arteaga
60	1959		Arthur Bisguier
61	1960		Robert Byrne
62	1961		Pal Benko
63	1962		Antonio Medina Garcia
64	1963		William Lombardy, Robert Byrne
65	1964		Pal Benko
66	1965		Pal Benko, William Lombardy
67	1966		Pal Benko, Robert Byrne
68	1967		Pal Benko
69	1968		Bent Larsen
70	1969		Pal Benko, Arthur Bisguier, Milan Vukcevich
71	1970		Bent Larsen
72	1971		Walter Browne, Larry Evans
73	1972		Walter Browne
74	1973		Norman Weinstein, Duncan Suttles, Walter Browne, Greg DeFotis, Ruben Rodríguez (Weinstein awarded title on tie-break)
75	1974		Pal Benko, Vlastimil Hort
76	1975		Pal Benko, William Lombardy
77	1976		Anatoly Lein, Leonid Shamkovich
78	1977		Leonid Shamkovich, Andy Soltis, Timothy Taylor
79	1978		Joseph Bradford
80	1979		Florin Gheorghiu
81	1980		John Fedorowicz, Florin Gheorghiu
82	1981		Florin Gheorghiu, Larry Christiansen, Jeremy Silman, Nick de Firmian, John Meyer
83	1982		Andrew Soltis, William Martz
84	1983		Larry Christiansen, Viktor Korchnoi
85	1984		Roman Dzindzichashvili, Sergey Kudrin
86	1985		Yasser Seirawan, Boris Spassky, Joel Benjamin
87	1986		Larry Christiansen
88	1987		Lev Alburt
89	1988		Dmitry Gurevich
90	1989		Lev Alburt
91	1990		Yasser Seirawan
92	1991		Michael Rohde, Vladimir Akopian
93	1992		Gregory Kaidanov
94	1993		Alexander Shabalov
95	1994		Georgi Orlov, Dmitry Gurevich, Ben Finegold, Smbat Lputian, Leo Kaushansky, Albert Chow
96	1995		Alex Yermolinsky
97	1996		Gabriel Schwartzman
98	1997		Alex Yermolinsky
99	1998		Judit Polgár, Boris Gulko
100	1999		Alex Yermolinsky, Alexander Goldin, Eduardas Rozentalis, Alexander Shabalov, Gabriel Schwartzman, Michael Mulyar
101	2000		Alex Yermolinsky
102	2001		Aleksander Wojtkiewicz, Joel Benjamin, Alexander Stripunsky, Fabian Doettling
103	2002		Gennadi Zaichik, Evgeniy Najer
104	2003		Alexander Shabalov
105	2004		Alexander Onischuk, Rodrigo Vásquez, Aleksander Wojtkiewicz, Ildar Ibragimov,, Renier González, Marcel Martinez
106	2005		Vadim Milov, Joel Benjamin
107	2006		Yury Shulman
108	2007		Boris Gulko, Sergey Kudrin, Benjamin Finegold, Alexander Shabalov, Michael A. Rohde, Michael A. Mulyar, Anton Paolo Del Mundo
109	2008		Alexander Shabalov, Rade Milovanović, Enrico Sevillano
110	2009		Dmitry Gurevich, Sergey Kudrin, Alex Lenderman, Alex Yermolinsky, Jacek Stopa, Jesse Kraai
111	2010		Alejandro Ramirez
112	2011		Aleksandr Lenderman
113	2012		Manuel León Hoyos, Dmitry Gurevich, John Daniel Bryant
114	2013		Josh Friedel, Mackenzie Molner, Julio Sadorra
115	2014		Conrad Holt
116	2015		Alexander Shabalov
117	2016		Alexander Shabalov
118	2017		Aleksandr Lenderman
119	2018		Timur Gareyev
120	2019		Illia Nyzhnyk
121	2021		Aleksandr Lenderman
122	2022		Aleksey Sorokin, Elshan Moradiabadi
123	2023	Grand Rapids, Michigan	Andrew Tang, Aleksey Sorokin
124	2024	Norfolk, Virginia	Semen Khanin, Jianchao Zhou

See also

• U.S. Women's Open Chess Championship
• U.S. Women's Chess Championship
• U.S. Chess Championship
• American Chess Congress

References

• (History and winners list of the tournament through 1966.)
• McCrary, John. "Early Predecessors of the U.S. Chess Federation". World Chess Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
• Web site: 2016 . 2016 US Chess Yearbook . uschess.org . June 28, 2018 . (winners list)
• (winners and location list 1939-1979)
• Web site: US Open Tournament Index . January 31, 2016.
• (details of the 1962 Open)
• 2007 results at uschess.org

Notes and References

1. Web site: 124th Annual U. S. Open Chess Championship .