1978 USSR Chess Championship

The 1978 Soviet Chess Championship was the 46th edition of USSR Chess Championship. Held from 1–27 December 1978 in Tbilisi. Mikhail Tal and Vitaly Tseshkovsky shared the title. The qualifying tournaments took place in Daugavpils and Ashkhabad. This edition marked the debut of the future world champion Garry Kasparov in the Soviet championships.



Swiss Qualifying
The Swiss Qualifying was held in Daugavpils from 27 June to 16 July 1978 with 64 players. Garry Kasparov won gaining a direct promotion to the final.

First League
The top seven qualified for the final.

Final
The final at Tbilisi featured the qualifiers plus Tamaz Giorgadze as the local Georgian representative and the players who were entered directly for their historical performance in previous championships.