The USSR Chess Championship was played from 1921 to 1991. Organized by the USSR Chess Federation, it was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners. It was held as a round-robin tournament with the exception of the 35th and 58th championships, which were of the Swiss system.
| Edition | Date | Place | Winner | Score | width=700 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4–24 Oct 1920 | Moscow | 12/15 (+9−0=6) | Known as the All-Russian Chess Olympiad at the time, this tournament was later recognized as the first USSR championship. | ||
| 2 | 8–24 Jul 1923 | Petrograd | 10/12 (+9−1=2) | |||
| 3 | 23 Aug–15 Sep 1924 | Moscow | 15/17 (+13−0=4) | |||
| 4 | 11 Aug–6 Sep 1925 | Leningrad | 14/19 (+11−2=6) | |||
| 5 | 26 Sep–25 Oct 1927 | Moscow | Fedor Bogatyrchuk Peter Romanovsky | 14½/20 (+10−1=9) 14½/20 (+12−3=5) | All of Bogatyrchuk's tournament results were erased from Soviet records after he emigrated to Canada and was declared a nonperson. | |
| 6 | 2–20 Sep 1929 | Odessa | 5½/8 (+4−1=3), 4/5 (+4−1=0), and 3½/4 (+3−0=1) | The tournament was conducted in three stages. | ||
| 7 | 10 Oct–11 Nov 1931 | Moscow | 13½/17 (+12−2=3) | |||
| 8 | 16 Aug–9 Sep 1933 | Leningrad | 14/19 (+11−2=6) | |||
| 9 | 7 Dec 1934–2 Jan 1935 | Leningrad | Grigory Levenfish Ilya Rabinovich | 12/19 (+8−3=8) 12/19 (+9−4=6) | ||
| 10 | 12 Apr–14 May 1937 | Tbilisi | 12½/19 (+9−3=7) | |||
| 11 | 15 Apr–16 May 1939 | Leningrad | 12½/17 (+8−0=9) | |||
| 12 | 5 Sep–3 Oct 1940 | Moscow | Andor Lilienthal Igor Bondarevsky | 13½/19 (+8−0=11) 13½/19 (+10−2=7) | Mikhail Botvinnik won the Absolute Championship, 23 Mar–29 Apr 1941, Leningrad/Moscow, 13½/20 (+9−2=9) | |
| 13 | 21 May–17 Jun 1944 | Moscow | 12½/16 (+11−2=3) | |||
| 14 | 1 Jun–3 Jul 1945 | Moscow | 15/17 (+13−0=4) | |||
| 15 | 2 Feb–8 Mar 1947 | Leningrad | 14/19 (+10−1=8) | |||
| 16 | 10 Nov–13 Dec 1948 | Moscow | David Bronstein Alexander Kotov | 12/18 (+7−1=10) 12/18 (+10−4=4) | ||
| 17 | 16 Oct–20 Nov 1949 | Moscow | Vasily Smyslov David Bronstein | 13/19 (+9−2=8) 13/19 (+8−1=10) | ||
| 18 | 10 Nov–12 Dec 1950 | Moscow | 11½/17 (+8−2=7) | |||
| 19 | 11 Nov–14 Dec 1951 | Moscow | 12/17 (+9−2=6) | |||
| 20 | 29 Nov–29 Dec 1952 | Moscow | 13½/19 (+9−1=9) | Botvinnik defeated Mark Taimanov in a playoff +2−1=3.[1] | ||
| 21 | 7 Jan–7 Feb 1954 | Kiev | 14½/19 (+10−0=9) | |||
| 22 | 11 Feb–15 Mar 1955 | Moscow | 12/19 (+10−5=4) | Geller defeated Vasily Smyslov in a playoff +1=6.[2] | ||
| 23 | 10 Jan–15 Feb 1956 | Leningrad | 11½/17 (+8−2=7) | Taimanov defeated Boris Spassky and Yuri Averbakh in a playoff. | ||
| 24 | 20 Jan–22 Feb 1957 | Moscow | 14/21 (+9−2=10) | |||
| 25 | 12 Jan–14 Feb 1958 | Riga | 12½/18 (+10−3=5) | |||
| 26 | 9 Jan–11 Feb 1959 | Tbilisi | 13½/19 (+8−0=11) | |||
| 27 | 26 Jan–26 Feb 1960 | Leningrad | 14/19 (+12−3=4) | |||
| 28 | 11 Jan–11 Feb 1961 | Moscow | 13½/19 (+9−1=9) | |||
| 29 | 16 Nov–12 Dec 1961 | Baku | 14½/20 (+10−1=9) | |||
| 30 | 21 Nov–20 Dec 1962 | Yerevan | 14/19 (+10−1=8) | |||
| 31 | 23 Nov–27 Dec 1963 | Leningrad | 12/19 (+6−1=12) | Stein defeated Boris Spassky and Ratmir Kholmov in a playoff. | ||
| 32 | 25 Dec 1964–27 Jan 1965 | Kiev | 15/19 (+11−0=8) | |||
| 33 | 21 Nov–24 Dec 1965 | Tallinn | 14/19 (+10−1=8) | |||
| 34 | 28 Dec 1966 – 2 Feb 1967 | Tbilisi | 13/20 (+8−2=10) | |||
| 35 | 7–26 Dec 1967 | Kharkiv | 10/13 10/13 | The tournament was a 126-player Swiss. | ||
| 36 | 30 Dec 1968–1 Feb 1969 | Alma-Ata | Lev Polugaevsky Alexander Zaitsev | 12½/19 (+7−1=11) 12½/19 (+6=13) | Polugaevsky defeated Zaitsev in a playoff +2−1=3.[3] | |
| 37 | 6 Sep–12 Oct 1969 | Moscow | 14/22 (+6−0=16) | Petrosian defeated Polugaevsky in a playoff held in Feb 1970 by +2=3.[4] | ||
| 38 | 25 Nov–28 Dec 1970 | Riga | 16/21 (+12−1=8) | |||
| 39 | 15 Sep–17 Oct 1971 | Leningrad | 15/21 (+9−0=12) | |||
| 40 | 16 Nov–19 Dec 1972 | Baku | 15/21 (+9−0=12) | |||
| 41 | 1–27 Oct 1973 | Moscow | 11½/17 (+7−1=9) | |||
| 42 | 30 Nov–23 Dec 1974 | Leningrad | 9½/15 (+6−2=7) 9½/15 (+6−2=7) | |||
| 43 | 28 Nov–22 Dec 1975 | Yerevan | 10/15 (+6−1=8) | |||
| 44 | 26 Nov–24 Dec 1976 | Moscow | 12/17 (+8−1=8) | |||
| 45 | 28 Nov–22 Dec 1977 | Leningrad | 9½/15 (+4−0=11) 9½/15 (+4−0=11) | A playoff, held in 1978, was drawn +1−1=4.[5] | ||
| 46 | 1–28 Dec 1978 | Tbilisi | Mikhail Tal Vitaly Tseshkovsky | 11/17 (+5−0=12) 11/17 (+6−1=10) | ||
| 47 | 29 Nov–27 Dec 1979 | Minsk | 11½/17 (+6−0=11) | |||
| 48 | 25 Dec 1980–21 Jan 1981 | Vilnius | Lev Psakhis Alexander Beliavsky | 10½/17 (+8−4=5) 10½/17 (+6−2=9) | ||
| 49 | 27 Nov–22 Dec 1981 | Frunze | Garry Kasparov Lev Psakhis | 12½/17 (+10−2=5) 12½/17 (+9−1=7) | ||
| 50 | 2–28 Apr 1983 | Moscow | 9½/15 (+5−1=9) | |||
| 51 | 2–28 Apr 1984 | Lviv | 12½/17 (+8−0=9) | |||
| 52 | 22 Jan–19 Feb 1985 | Riga | Viktor Gavrikov Mikhail Gurevich Alexander Chernin | 11/19 (+4−1=14) 11/19 (+6−3=10) 11/19 (+5−2=12) | ||
| 53 | 4–28 Feb 1986 | Kiev | 11/17 (+6−1=10) | |||
| 54 | 4–29 Mar 1987 | Minsk | 11/17 (+7−2=8) | Beliavsky defeated Valery Salov in a playoff +2=2.[6] | ||
| 55 | 25 Jul–19 Aug 1988 | Moscow | Anatoly Karpov Garry Kasparov | 11½/17 (+6−0=11) 11½/17 (+6−0=11) | ||
| 56 | 22 Sep–16 Oct 1989 | Odessa | 9/15 (+5−2=8) | |||
| 57 | 18 Oct–3 Nov 1990 | Leningrad | Alexander Beliavsky Leonid Yudasin Evgeny Bareev Alexey Vyzmanavin | 8½/13 (+5−1=7) 8½/13 (+4−0=9) 8½/13 (+6−2=5) 8½/13 (+5−1=7) | ||
| 58 | 1–13 Nov 1991 | Moscow | 8½/11 (+7−1=3) | Minasian won this Swiss-style tournament on tiebreak over Elmar Magerramov. |