Czechoslovak Chess Championship Explained

The Czechoslovak National Chess Championship was a chess competition to determine the best Czechoslovak chess player.

History

The first Czechoslovak championships were held in Prague in 1919. After a break caused by World War II, the championships were held until 1992.

Twelve tournaments were organized within international open tournaments;the best Czech or Czechoslovak player then won the title - such tournaments are marked with an asterisk in the following list and the overall ranking of the eventual champion in the tournament is added in brackets.^[1]

List of winners

Year	City	Winner
1919
1921		Karel Hromádka, Ladislav Prokeš, Karel Treybal^[2]
1923		Max Walter
1925		Richard Réti
1927		Karel Opočenský
1929		Karel Opočenský
1931		Leo Zobel
1933		Salo Flohr
1936	Poděbrady )	Salo Flohr (1st)
1938		Karel Opočenský
1946		Luděk Pachman
1948		Emil Richter
1950	Gottwaldov (now Zlín)	Miroslav Filip
1952		Miroslav Filip
1953		Luděk Pachman
1954		Miroslav Filip
1955		Ján Šefc
1956		Ladislav Alster
1957		Luděk Pachman
1959		Luděk Pachman
1960		Jiří Fichtl
1961		Luděk Pachman
1962		Lubomír Kaválek
1963		Luděk Pachman
1964		Vlastimil Jansa
1965		Josef Augustin
1966	Harrachov )	Luděk Pachman (3rd)
1967		Július Kozma
1968		Lubomír Kaválek
1969	Luhačovice )	Vlastimil Hort (3rd)
1970		Vlastimil Hort
1971	Luhačovice )	Vlastimil Hort (1st)
1972		Vlastimil Hort
1973	Luhačovice )	Jan Smejkal (1st)
1974		Vlastimil Jansa
1975	Brno )	Vlastimil Hort (1st)
1976		Eduard Prandstetter
1977	Děčín )	Vlastimil Hort (3rd)
1978		Eduard Prandstetter
1979		Jan Smejkal
1980		Jan Ambrož
1981	Hradec Králové )	Ľubomír Ftáčnik (2nd)
1982		Ľubomír Ftáčnik
1983	Bratislava )	Ľubomír Ftáčnik (2nd)
1984		Vlastimil Jansa
1985	Trenčianske Teplice )	Ľubomír Ftáčnik (2nd)
1986		Jan Smejkal
1987	Námestovo )	Eduard Meduna (2nd)
1988		Pavel Blatný
1989	Prague )	Ľubomír Ftáčnik (2nd)
1990		Pavel Blatný
1991		Igor Gažík
1992		Vítězslav Rašík

During World War II only the Championships of Bohemia and Moravia were held.

Multiple winners

7 titles: Luděk Pachman (1946–1966)
6 titles: Vlastimil Hort (1969–1977)
5 titles: Ľubomír Ftáčnik (1981–1989)
3 titles: Miroslav Filip (1950–1954), Vlastimil Jansa (1964–1984), Karel Opočenský (1927–1938), Jan Smejkal (1973–1986)

Bibliography

MODR, Břetislav - VESELÝ, Jiří: 100 let organizovaného šachu v českých zemích. Příbram, 2005. 223 p.

Notes

http://www.chess.cz/www/souteze/mcr-muzi/historie.html History of the championship
Ken Whyld, Guinness, Chess, The Records, 1986, p.96.