The Dutch Chess Championship was officially established in 1909, although unofficial champions stretch back to the 1870s.
| Year | City | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1873 | Henry (H.W.B.) Gifford | ||
| 2 | 1874 | Adrianus (A.A.G.) de Lelie | ||
| 3 | 1875 | Henry (H.W.B.) Gifford | ||
| 4 | 1876 | Julius (J.G.C.A.) de Vogel | ||
| 5 | 1877 | The Hague | Ansel Polak Daniels | |
| 6 | 1878 | Amsterdam | Maarten van 't Kruijs | |
| 7 | 1879 | Rotterdam | Charles (C.E.A.) Dupré | |
| 8 | 1880 | Gouda | Henry Edward Bird | |
| 9 | 1881 | The Hague | Levi Benima | |
| 10 | 1882 | The Hague | Christiaan Messemaker | |
| 11 | 1883 | Rotterdam | Levi Benima | |
| 12 | 1884 | Gouda | Christiaan Messemaker | |
| 13 | 1885 | The Hague | Dirk van Foreest | |
| 14 | 1886 | Dirk van Foreest | ||
| 15 | 1887 | Amsterdam | Dirk van Foreest | |
| 16 | 1888 | Rotterdam | Rudolf Loman | |
| 17 | 1889 | Gouda | Arnold van Foreest | |
| 18 | 1890 | The Hague | Rudolf Loman | |
| 19 | 1891 | Utrecht | Rudolf Loman | |
| 20 | 1892 | Amsterdam | Robbert van den Bergh | |
| 21 | 1893 | Arnold van Foreest Rudolf Loman | ||
| 22 | 1894 | Rotterdam | Rudolf Loman | |
| 23 | 1895 | Adolf Georg Olland | ||
| 24 | 1896 | Dirk Bleijkmans | ||
| 25 | 1897 | Utrecht | Rudolf Loman | |
| 26 | 1898 | The Hague | Jan Diderik Tresling | |
| 27 | 1899 | Amsterdam | Henry Ernest Atkins | |
| 28 | 1900 | Groningen | Gerard Oskam | |
| 29 | 1901 | Adolf Georg Olland | ||
| 30 | 1902 | Rotterdam | Arnold van Foreest | |
| 31 | 1903 | Paul Saladin Leonhardt | ||
| 32 | 1904 | Dirk Bleijkmans | ||
| 33 | 1905 | Frank James Marshall | ||
| 34 | 1906 | Arnhem | Bernard Wolff Beffie | |
| 35 | 1907 | Utrecht | Jan Willem te Kolsté | |
| 36 | 1908 | Haarlem |
The official championship was established in 1909 as a biennial, twelve-player, round-robin tournament.As of 1970, the top five finishers were seeded into the next championship, one player was nominated by the selection committee and six came from preliminary qualifying tournaments. Three regional qualifying tournaments of eight to twelve players each were held over four weekends. Grandmasters were not required to qualify to play in the championship.[1] In 1970, annual championships were instituted. In 1935 a championship for women was established.