"In chess, at least, the brave inherit the earth."
- GM Edmar Mednis (1937-2002)
History
The first recognized bout for the U.S. Championship was also the first organized chess event in the United States. On December 1, 1845, Charles Stanley played Eugene Rousseau (Then considered the strongest player in the U.S., with Stanley considered the challenger) at the Sazerac Coffee House in New Orleans, Louisiana. The prize fund was $1000.00 and the rules stated that the first to win fifteen games was the winner. Charles Stanley emerged victorious with 15 wins, 8 losses, 8 draws and became the first U.S. Champion.
Then in 1857, the First American Chess Congress was held in New York, and a young Paul Morphy burned through the field against some stiff competition. He finished with 5 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses and then proceeded to decline the $300 prize money, after stating that playing chess for money demonstrated a lack of class and that he did not want to be considered a professional chess player.
Morphy held the title for a very long time due to the fact that another American Chess Congress was not held until December 4, 1871. An even longer wait was in store for the third, which was not held until February of 1890. After this point they started to be held with greater regularity--although the formats varied widely from elimination tournaments like the Chess Congress to arranged matches--until 1909, when Frank Marshall took the crown from Jackson Showalter in a match and held it for 27 years with only one challenger in 1923, Edward Lasker, whom Marshall defeated 5-4.
In 1936, the first U.S. Championship Tournament was held in New York. Sammy Reshevsky, who was to be champion many more times, placed first. Then, the following year, he was joined by the first U.S. Women's Champion, Adele Rivero1. From this point forward, the title bouts for both women and men were held on a highly regular basis.
The 1950's and 60's were dominated on the men's side by one Robert J. Fischer, who would eventually go on to dominate the world as the first official World Champion from the United States. This same period was dominated even more completely in women's chess by Gisela Kahn Gresser. Gresser was a nine-time champion, and the first woman entered into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame. She was also the first woman to gain widespread national attention in chess, and as such is recognized as a pioneer in popularizing the sport for women.
These days both chess championships are attempted to be held every year, but of late are often beset with political issues and funding problems, so the location and quality of venues vary greatly as well as the frequency and validity of the matches. Quite recently, the Women's Champion, Anna Hahn, was finagled out of her rightful place in the 2004 Chess Olympiad owing to a number of political issues, and an early and hastily constructed 2004 Women's Championship is planned in an attempt to add an air of validity to this issue.
United States Chess Champions - Men2
- 1845-57 Charles Stanley
- 1857-71 Paul Morphy
- 1871-90 George H. MacKenzie
- 1890-91 Jackson Showalter
- 1891-94 Solomon Lipschutz
- 1894 Jackson Showalter
- 1894-95 Albert Hodges
- 1895-97 Jackson Showalter
- 1897-06 Harry Nelson Pillsbury
- 1906-09 Jackson Showalter
- 1909-36 Frank J. Marshall
- 1936 Samuel Reshevsky
- 1938 Samuel Reshevsky
- 1940 Samuel Reshevsky
- 1942 Samuel Reshevsky
- 1944 Arnold Denker
- 1946 Samuel Reshevsky
- 1948 Herman Steiner
- 1951 Larry Evans
- 1954 Arthur Bisguier
- 1957-58 Bobby Fischer
- 1958-59 Bobby Fischer
- 1959-60 Bobby Fischer
- 1960-61 Bobby Fischer
- 1961-62 Larry Evans
- 1962-63 Bobby Fischer
- 1963-64 Bobby Fischer
- 1965 Bobby Fischer
- 1966 Bobby Fischer
- 1968 Larry Evans
- 1969 Samuel Reshevsky
- 1972 Robert Byrne
- 1973 John Grefe, Lubomir Kavalek
- 1974 Walter Browne
- 1975 Walter Browne
- 1977 Walter Browne
- 1978 Lubomir Kavalek
- 1980 Walter Browne, Larry Evans, Larry Christiansen
- 1981 Walter Browne, Yasser Seirawan
- 1983 Walter Browne, Larry Christiansen, Roman Dzindzichashvili
- 1984 Lev Alburt
- 1985 Lev Alburt
- 1986 Yasser Seirawan
- 1987 Nick de Firmian, Joel Benjamin
- 1988 Michael Wilder
- 1989 Roman Dzindzichashvili, Yasser Seirawan, Stuart Rachels
- 1990 Lev Alburt
- 1991 Gata Kamsky
- 1992 Patrick Wolff
- 1993 Alexander Shabalov, Alex Yermolinsky
- 1994 Boris Gulko
- 1995 Nick de Firmian, Patrick Wolff, Alexander Ivanov
- 1996 Alex Yermolinsky
- 1997 Joel Benjamin
- 1998 Nick de Firmian
- 1999 Boris Gulko
- 2000 Joel Benjamin, Alexander Shabalov, Yasser Seirawan
- 2002 Larry Christiansen
- 2003 Alexander Shabalov
- 20053 Hikaru Nakamura
- 2006 Alexander Onischuk
- 2007 Alexander Shabalov
- 2008 Yury Shulman
- 2009 Hikaru Nakamura
- 2010 Gata Kamsky
- 2011 Gata Kamsky
United States Chess Champions - Women2
- 1937 Adele Rivero
- 1938-39 Mona May Karff
- 1940 Adele Rivero
- 1941 Mona May Karff
- 1942-43 Mona May Karff
- 1944-45 Gisela Kahn Gresser
- 1946-47 Mona May Karff
- 1948-50 Gisela Kahn Gresser, Mona May Karff
- 1951-52 Mary Bain
- 1953 Mona May Karff
- 1954 Gisela Kahn Gresser
- 1955-56 Gisela Kahn Gresser, Nancy Roos
- 1957-58 Gisela Kahn Gresser, Sonja Graf
- 1959-61 Lisa Lane
- 1962-63 Gisela Kahn Gresser
- 1964 Sonja Graf
- 1965 Gisela Kahn Gresser
- 1966 Gisela Kahn Gresser. Lisa Lane
- 1967-68 Gisela Kahn Gresser
- 1969-71 Gisela Kahn Gresser
- 1972-73 Eva Aronson, Marilyn Koput
- 1974 Mona May Karff
- 1975 Diane Savereide
- 1976 Diane Savereide
- 1977 Diane Savereide, Rachel Crotto
- 1978 Diane Savereide, Rachel Crotto
- 1979-80 Rachel Crotto
- 1981-83 Diane Savereide
- 1984-85 Diane Savereide
- 1986 Inna Izrailov
- 1987-88 Anna Achsharumova
- 1989 Alexey Root
- 1990 Elena Donaldson
- 1991 Esther Epstein, Irina Levitina
- 1992 Irina Levitina
- 1993 Elena Donaldson, Irina Levitina
- 1994 Elena Donaldson
- 1995 Anjelina Belakovskaia, Sharon Burtman
- 1996 Anjelina Belakovskaia
- 1997 Esther Epstein
- 1998 Irina Krush
- 1999 Anjelina Belakovskaia
- 2000 Elina Groberman, Camilla Baginskaite
- 2001-02 Jennifer Shahade
- 2003 Anna Hahn
- 2004 Jennifer Shahade
- 2005 Rusadan Goletiani
- 2006 Anna Zatonskih
- 2007 Irina Krush
- 2008 Anna Zatonskih4
- 2009 Anna Zatonskih
- 2010 Irina Krush
- 2011 Anna Zatonskih
1 Lamentably, very little information is known about the early Women's Championships aside from the names of the victors.
2 All years which contain multiple names were shared championships.
3 Due to the messed up cycles between 2003-2005, there was no 2004 men's champion. Shabalov continued to hold the title until the 2005 championship in November of 2004.
4In 2008 the U.S. Women's Championship was returned to its own event. For several years prior, there was a combined championship with a mixed field and the woman who scored highest in that field got the title.
Resources:
U.S. Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess 4th ed.
http://www.uschess.org
http://www.chessmuseum.org
http://chess.about.com
http://www.angelfire.com/games/SBChess/Morphy/Morphy.html
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lab/7378
http://www.goddesschess.com/patronessofchess/gresser.html
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/