Russian Chess Championship
The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms throughout history. In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first Russian champion until his student, Mikhail Chigorin, defeated him in a match held in St. Petersburg in 1879. Chigorin won with seven wins, four losses, and two draws.
In 1899 the format of the championship was changed to a round-robin tournament known as the All-Russian Masters' Tournament. These were the winners:
# Year City Winner 1 1899 Moscow Mikhail Chigorin 2 1900/1901 Moscow Mikhail Chigorin 3 1903 Kiev Mikhail Chigorin 4 1905/1906 St. Petersburg Gersz Salwe 5 1907/1908 Lodz Akiba Rubinstein 6 1909 Vilna Akiba Rubinstein 7 1912 Vilna Akiba Rubinstein 8 1913/1914 St. Petersburg Alexander Alekhine & Aron Nimzowitsch
For champions after the formation of the USSR, see USSR Chess Championship. The Russian championship continued to exist as the championship of the RSFSR.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Championship was re-established as a national championship. Prior to 2004, the championship was usually organized as a Swiss-style tournament, also it was occasionally staged as a knockout, e.g. in 1997. From 2004 onwards, the tournament has reverted to a round robin, with the strongest players in the country directly seeded into the final (called the Superfinal), while others must progress through qualifying tournaments.
Year City Winner 1992 Orel Alexei Gavrilov 1993 Tyumen Alexei Bezgodov 1994 Elista Peter Svidler 1995 Elista Peter Svidler 1996 Elista Alexander Khalifman 1997 Elista Peter Svidler 1998 St. Petersburg Alexander Morozevich 1999 Moscow Konstantin Sakaev 2000 Samara Sergey Volkov 2001 Elista Alexander Motylev , on tiebreak over Alexander Lastin 2002 Krasnodar Alexander Lastin 2003 Krasnoyarsk Peter Svidler , on tiebreak over Alexander Morozevich 2004 Moscow Garry Kasparov 2005 Moscow Sergei Rublevsky 2006 Moscow Evgeny Alekseev , after a playoff match with Dmitry Jakovenko 2007 Moscow Alexander Morozevich