German Chess Championship

The German Chess Championship has been played since 1861, and determines the national champion. Prior to 1880, three different federations organized chess activities in Germany: the Westdeutscher Schachbund (WDSB), the Norddeutscher Schachbund (NDSB) and the Mitteldeutscher Schachbund (MDSB). Each one organized its own championship. In 1880, the nationwide Deutscher Schachbund was founded, so afterwards only one German championship was played.

Starting from 1933, the Nazi Party took control of all social activities and until 1943 all chess championships were organized by the Großdeutscher Schachbund. After the end of World War II, separate championships were played in the occupied zones. Afterwards, from 1950 to 1989, two national championships were held in the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. After the reunification of Germany in 1989, a single tournament has been played.

Championships, 1861–1932






WDSB-Congresses, 1861–1880

 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

! # !!Year !! City !! Winner
 * 1
 * 1861
 * Düsseldorf
 * no masters participated
 * 2
 * 1862
 * Düsseldorf
 * Max Lange
 * 3
 * 1863
 * Düsseldorf
 * Max Lange
 * 4
 * 1864
 * Düsseldorf
 * Max Lange
 * 5
 * 1865
 * Elberfeld
 * Gustav Neumann
 * 6
 * 1867
 * Cologne
 * Wilfried Paulsen
 * 7
 * 1868
 * Aachen
 * Max Lange
 * 8
 * 1869
 * Barmen
 * Adolf Anderssen
 * 9
 * 1871
 * Krefeld
 * Louis Paulsen
 * 10
 * 1876
 * Düsseldorf
 * Wilfried Paulsen
 * 11
 * 1877
 * Cologne
 * Johannes Zukertort
 * 12
 * 1878
 * Frankfurt
 * Louis Paulsen
 * 13
 * 1880
 * Braunschweig
 * Louis Paulsen
 * }
 * Cologne
 * Johannes Zukertort
 * 12
 * 1878
 * Frankfurt
 * Louis Paulsen
 * 13
 * 1880
 * Braunschweig
 * Louis Paulsen
 * }
 * Louis Paulsen
 * }

German Congresses, 1879–1932



 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

! # !!Year !! City !! Winner
 * 1
 * 1879
 * Leipzig
 * Berthold Englisch
 * 2
 * 1881
 * Berlin
 * Joseph Henry Blackburne
 * 3
 * 1883
 * Nuremberg
 * Simon Winawer
 * 4
 * 1885
 * Hamburg
 * Isidor Gunsberg
 * 5
 * 1887
 * Frankfurt
 * George Henry Mackenzie
 * 6
 * 1889
 * Breslau
 * Siegbert Tarrasch
 * 7
 * 1892
 * Dresden
 * Siegbert Tarrasch
 * 8
 * 1893
 * Kiel
 * Carl Walbrodt Curt von Bardeleben
 * 9
 * 1894
 * Leipzig
 * Siegbert Tarrasch
 * 10
 * 1896
 * Eisenach
 * Robert Henry Barnes
 * 11
 * 1898
 * Cologne
 * Amos Burn
 * 12
 * 1900
 * Munich
 * Géza Maróczy Harry Nelson Pillsbury Carl Schlechter
 * 13
 * 1902
 * Hannover
 * Dawid Janowski
 * 14
 * 1904
 * Coburg
 * Curt von Bardeleben Carl Schlechter Rudolf Swiderski
 * 15
 * 1906
 * Nuremberg
 * Frank James Marshall
 * 16
 * 1908
 * Düsseldorf
 * Frank James Marshall
 * 17
 * 1910
 * Hamburg
 * Carl Schlechter
 * 18
 * 1912
 * Breslau
 * Oldřich Duras Akiba Rubinstein
 * 19
 * 1914
 * Mannheim
 * Alexander Alekhine
 * 20
 * 1920
 * Berlin
 * Friedrich Sämisch
 * 21
 * 1921
 * Hamburg
 * Ehrhardt Post
 * 22
 * 1922
 * Bad Oeynhausen
 * Ehrhardt Post
 * 23
 * 1923
 * Frankfurt
 * Ernst Grünfeld
 * 24
 * 1925
 * Breslau
 * Efim Bogoljubow
 * 25
 * 1927
 * Magdeburg
 * Rudolf Spielmann
 * 26
 * 1929
 * Duisburg
 * Carl Ahues
 * 27
 * 1931
 * Swinemünde
 * Efim Bogoljubow Ludwig Rödl
 * 28
 * 1932
 * Bad Ems
 * Georg Kieninger
 * }
 * Frankfurt
 * Ernst Grünfeld
 * 24
 * 1925
 * Breslau
 * Efim Bogoljubow
 * 25
 * 1927
 * Magdeburg
 * Rudolf Spielmann
 * 26
 * 1929
 * Duisburg
 * Carl Ahues
 * 27
 * 1931
 * Swinemünde
 * Efim Bogoljubow Ludwig Rödl
 * 28
 * 1932
 * Bad Ems
 * Georg Kieninger
 * }
 * 28
 * 1932
 * Bad Ems
 * Georg Kieninger
 * }

Championships in Nazi Germany, 1933–1943

 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

! # !!Year !! City !! Winner
 * 1
 * 1933
 * Bad Pyrmont
 * Efim Bogoljubow
 * 2
 * 1934
 * Bad Aachen
 * Carl Carls
 * 3
 * 1935
 * Bad Aachen
 * Kurt Richter
 * 4
 * 1937
 * Bad Oeynhausen
 * Georg Kieninger
 * 5
 * 1938
 * Bad Oeynhausen
 * Erich Eliskases
 * 6
 * 1939
 * Bad Oeynhausen
 * Erich Eliskases
 * 7
 * 1940
 * Bad Oeynhausen
 * Georg Kieninger
 * 8
 * 1941
 * Bad Oeynhausen
 * Paul Felix Schmidt  Klaus Junge
 * 9
 * 1942
 * Bad Oeynhausen
 * Ludwig Rellstab
 * 10
 * 1943
 * Vienna
 * Josef Lokvenc
 * }
 * 9
 * 1942
 * Bad Oeynhausen
 * Ludwig Rellstab
 * 10
 * 1943
 * Vienna
 * Josef Lokvenc
 * }
 * }

West and East Germany championships






West Germany championships, 1953–1989

 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

! # !!Year !! City !! Winner
 * 1
 * 1953
 * Berlin
 * Wolfgang Unzicker
 * 2
 * 1955
 * Frankfurt am Main
 * Klaus Darga
 * 3
 * 1957
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Paul Tröger
 * 4
 * 1959
 * Nürnberg
 * Wolfgang Unzicker
 * 5
 * 1961
 * Bad Pyrmont
 * Klaus Darga
 * 6
 * 1963
 * Bad Pyrmont
 * Wolfgang Unzicker
 * 7
 * 1965
 * Bad Aibling
 * Wolfgang Unzicker, Helmut Pfleger
 * 8
 * 1967
 * Kiel
 * Robert Hübner, Hans Besser
 * 9
 * 1969
 * Königsfeld
 * Manfred Christoph
 * 10
 * 1970
 * Völklingen
 * Hans-Joachim Hecht
 * 11
 * 1971
 * Berlin
 * Svetozar Gligorić (international)
 * 12
 * 1972
 * Oberursel
 * Hans Günther Kestler
 * 13
 * 1973
 * Dortmund
 * Hans-Joachim Hecht, Ulf Andersson  Boris Spassky (international)
 * 14
 * 1974
 * Menden
 * Peter Ostermeyer
 * 15
 * 1975
 * Mannheim
 * Walter Browne (international)
 * 16
 * 1976
 * Bad Pyrmont
 * Klaus Wockenfuss
 * 17
 * 1977
 * Bad Lauterberg
 * Anatoly Karpov (international)
 * 18
 * 1978
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Ludek Pachman
 * 19
 * 1979
 * Munich
 * Boris Spassky, Yuri Balashov Ulf Andersson (international)
 * 20
 * 1980
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Eric Lobron
 * 21
 * 1981
 * Bochum
 * Lubomir Kavalek (international)
 * 22
 * 1982
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Manfred Glienke
 * 23
 * 1983
 * Hannover
 * Anatoly Karpov (international)
 * 24
 * 1984
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Eric Lobron
 * 25
 * 1987
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Vlastimil Hort, Ralf Lau
 * 26
 * 1988
 * Bad Lauterberg
 * Bernd Schneider
 * 27
 * 1989
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Vlastimil Hort, Eckhard Schmittdiel
 * }
 * Manfred Glienke
 * 23
 * 1983
 * Hannover
 * Anatoly Karpov (international)
 * 24
 * 1984
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Eric Lobron
 * 25
 * 1987
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Vlastimil Hort, Ralf Lau
 * 26
 * 1988
 * Bad Lauterberg
 * Bernd Schneider
 * 27
 * 1989
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Vlastimil Hort, Eckhard Schmittdiel
 * }
 * 27
 * 1989
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Vlastimil Hort, Eckhard Schmittdiel
 * }


 * [[Image:Hajo Hecht.jpg|left|160px|thumb|Hans-Joachim Hecht]]

East Germany championships, 1950–1990

 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

! # !!Year !! City !! Winner
 * 1
 * 1950
 * Sömmerda
 * Rudolf Elstner
 * 2
 * 1951
 * Schwerin
 * Georg Stein
 * 3
 * 1952
 * Binz
 * Berthold Koch
 * 4
 * 1953
 * Jena
 * Reinhart Fuchs
 * 5
 * 1954
 * Meerane
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 6
 * 1955
 * Zwickau
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 7
 * 1956
 * Leipzig
 * Reinhart Fuchs
 * 8
 * 1957
 * Sömmerda
 * Burkhard Malich
 * 9
 * 1958
 * Schkopau
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 10
 * 1959
 * Leipzig
 * Wolfgang Pietzsch
 * 11
 * 1961
 * Premnitz
 * Lothar Zinn
 * 12
 * 1962
 * Gera
 * Wolfgang Pietzsch
 * 13
 * 1963
 * Aschersleben
 * Günther Möhring
 * 14
 * 1964
 * Magdeburg
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 15
 * 1965
 * Annaberg-Buchholz
 * Lothar Zinn
 * 16
 * 1967
 * Colditz
 * Wolfgang Pietzsch
 * 17
 * 1968
 * Weimar
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 18
 * 1969
 * Schwerin
 * Lutz Espig
 * 19
 * 1970
 * Freiberg
 * Friedrich Baumbach
 * 20
 * 1971
 * Strausberg
 * Lutz Espig
 * 21
 * 1972
 * Görlitz
 * Manfred Schöneberg
 * 22
 * 1973
 * Erfurt
 * Burkhard Malich
 * 23
 * 1974
 * Potsdam
 * Rainer Knaak
 * 24
 * 1975
 * Stralsund
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 25
 * 1976
 * Gröditz
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 26
 * 1977
 * Frankfurt/Oder
 * Lothar Vogt
 * 27
 * 1978
 * Eggesin
 * Rainer Knaak
 * 28
 * 1979
 * Suhl
 * Lothar Vogt
 * 29
 * 1980
 * Plauen
 * Hans-Ulrich Grünberg
 * 30
 * 1981
 * Fürstenwalde
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 31
 * 1982
 * Salzwedel
 * Rainer Knaak
 * 32
 * 1983
 * Cottbus
 * Rainer Knaak, Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 33
 * 1984
 * Eilenburg
 * Rainer Knaak
 * 34
 * 1985
 * Jüterbog
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 35
 * 1986
 * Nordhausen
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 36
 * 1987
 * Glauchau
 * Raj Tischbierek
 * 37
 * 1988
 * Stralsund
 * Lutz Espig, Thomas Pähtz
 * 38
 * 1989
 * Zittau
 * Hans-Ulrich Grünberg
 * 39
 * 1990
 * Bad Blankenburg
 * Raj Tischbierek, Thomas Pähtz
 * }
 * 1983
 * Cottbus
 * Rainer Knaak, Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 33
 * 1984
 * Eilenburg
 * Rainer Knaak
 * 34
 * 1985
 * Jüterbog
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 35
 * 1986
 * Nordhausen
 * Wolfgang Uhlmann
 * 36
 * 1987
 * Glauchau
 * Raj Tischbierek
 * 37
 * 1988
 * Stralsund
 * Lutz Espig, Thomas Pähtz
 * 38
 * 1989
 * Zittau
 * Hans-Ulrich Grünberg
 * 39
 * 1990
 * Bad Blankenburg
 * Raj Tischbierek, Thomas Pähtz
 * }
 * Hans-Ulrich Grünberg
 * 39
 * 1990
 * Bad Blankenburg
 * Raj Tischbierek, Thomas Pähtz
 * }
 * }

German championships since 1991

 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

! # !!Year !! City !! Winner
 * 1
 * 1991
 * Bad Neuenahr
 * Vlastimil Hort
 * 2
 * 1993
 * Bad Wildbad
 * Thomas Luther, Thomas Pähtz
 * 3
 * 1994
 * Binz
 * Peter Enders
 * 4
 * 1995
 * Binz
 * Christopher Lutz
 * 5
 * 1996
 * Dudweiler
 * Matthias Wahls
 * 6
 * 1996
 * Nussloch
 * Rustem Dautov, Artur Yusupov
 * 7
 * 1997
 * Gladenbach
 * Matthias Wahls
 * 8
 * 1998
 * Bremen
 * Jörg Hickl
 * 9
 * 1999
 * Altenkirchen
 * Robert Hübner
 * 10
 * 2000
 * Heringsdorf
 * Robert Rabiega
 * 11
 * 2001
 * Altenkirchen
 * Christopher Lutz
 * 12
 * 2002
 * Saarbrücken
 * Thomas Luther
 * 13
 * 2004
 * Höckendorf
 * Alexander Graf
 * 14
 * 2005
 * Altenkirchen
 * Artur Yusupov
 * 15
 * 2006
 * Osterburg
 * Thomas Luther
 * 16
 * 2007
 * Bad Königshofen
 * Arkadij Naiditsch
 * 17
 * 2008
 * Bad Wörishofen
 * Daniel Fridman
 * 18
 * 2009
 * Saarbrücken
 * Arik Braun
 * 19
 * 2010
 * Bad Liebenzell
 * Niclas Huschenbeth
 * 20
 * 2011
 * Bonn
 * Igor Khenkin
 * 21
 * 2012
 * Osterburg
 * Daniel Fridman
 * 22
 * 2013
 * Saarbrücken
 * Klaus Bischoff
 * 23
 * 2014
 * Verden an der Aller
 * Daniel Fridman
 * 24
 * 2015
 * Saarbrücken
 * Klaus Bischoff
 * 25
 * 2016
 * Lübeck
 * Sergey Kalinitschew
 * 26
 * 2017
 * Apolda
 * Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
 * 27
 * 2018
 * Dresden
 * Rainer Buhmann
 * 28
 * 2019
 * Magdeburg
 * Niclas Huschenbeth
 * 29
 * 2020
 * Magdeburg
 * Matthias Blübaum
 * 30
 * 2021
 * Magdeburg
 * Jonas Rosner
 * 31
 * 2022
 * Magdeburg
 * Leonardo Costa
 * 32
 * 2023
 * Ostfildern
 * Vitaly Kunin
 * }
 * Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
 * 27
 * 2018
 * Dresden
 * Rainer Buhmann
 * 28
 * 2019
 * Magdeburg
 * Niclas Huschenbeth
 * 29
 * 2020
 * Magdeburg
 * Matthias Blübaum
 * 30
 * 2021
 * Magdeburg
 * Jonas Rosner
 * 31
 * 2022
 * Magdeburg
 * Leonardo Costa
 * 32
 * 2023
 * Ostfildern
 * Vitaly Kunin
 * }
 * 32
 * 2023
 * Ostfildern
 * Vitaly Kunin
 * }
 * }

German championships since 1991
The German Women's Championship is held every odd-numbered year as a 9-round Swiss tournament (DFEM). In even-numbered years an international open tournament is held (IODFEM).
 * Paehtz elisabeth 20070616 juedischesmuseum.jpg
 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

!Year !! City !! Winner
 * 1991
 * Beverungen
 * Anke Koglin
 * 1993
 * Bad Mergentheim
 * Marina Olbrich
 * 1995
 * Krefeld
 * Tatiana Grabuzova
 * 1997
 * Ottweiler
 * Marina Olbrich
 * 1999
 * Chemnitz
 * Elisabeth Pähtz
 * 2001
 * Krefeld
 * Jessica Nill
 * 2003
 * Altenkirchen
 * Annemarie Sylvia Meier
 * 2005
 * Bad Königshofen
 * Sandra Krege
 * 2007
 * Osterburg
 * Ljubov Kopylov
 * 2009
 * Hockenheim
 * Polina Zilberman
 * 2011
 * Bonn
 * Sarah Hoolt
 * 2013
 * Bad Wiessee
 * Hanna Marie Klek
 * 2015
 * Bad Wiessee
 * Zoya Schleining
 * 2017
 * Bad Wiessee
 * Jana Schneider
 * 2019
 * Magdeburg
 * Marta Michna
 * 2020
 * Magdeburg
 * Carmen Voicu-Jagodzinsky
 * 2021
 * Magdeburg
 * Elena Köpke
 * 2022
 * Magdeburg
 * Lara Schulze
 * 2023
 * Ostfildern
 * Kateryna Dolzhykova
 * }
 * Magdeburg
 * Marta Michna
 * 2020
 * Magdeburg
 * Carmen Voicu-Jagodzinsky
 * 2021
 * Magdeburg
 * Elena Köpke
 * 2022
 * Magdeburg
 * Lara Schulze
 * 2023
 * Ostfildern
 * Kateryna Dolzhykova
 * }
 * 2023
 * Ostfildern
 * Kateryna Dolzhykova
 * }