USSR Chess Championship

The USSR Chess Championship was the principal individual competition of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. USSR is the English abbreviation for that state, which existed until 1991. The series contains 58 numbered championships from 1920 through 1991.

Alexander Alekhine won the first edition, held in Moscow in 1920, and Artashes Minasian won the last, also in Moscow, in 1991. Between them, many world champions and title contenders competed alongside powerful masters who had limited opportunities to play abroad. That depth made numerous editions exceptionally difficult.

The format was not identical throughout the series. Round robins, in which every entrant meets every other entrant, were most common, but some championships used Swiss systems, qualifying stages, or playoffs. In a Swiss tournament nobody is eliminated, and each round generally pairs players on similar scores without requiring everyone to meet.

It was an individual national championship, not a world title or a team competition. It should also be distinguished from representative matches such as USSR vs. Rest of the World 1970, where several players contributed points to two collective teams.