# 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
### German Congresses, 1879–1932

    #YearCityWinner 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

## German championships since 1991

       #YearCityWinner 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 33 2024  Ostfildern Dmitrij Kollars

## Women
### Congress of the German Chess Federation, 1927

| Year | City | Winner |
| 1927 | Magdeburg | Mittelmann |

### Championships of the Greater German Chess Federation, 1939–1943

| Year | City | Winner |
| 1939 | Stuttgart | Friedl Rinder |
| 1942 | Bad Oeynhausen | Edith Keller |
| 1943 | Vienna | Gertrud Jürgens |

### All-German championships, 1947–1953

| Year | City | Winner |
| 1947 | Seesen | Edith Keller |
| 1949 | Munich | Friedl Rinder |
| 1951 | Bad Klosterlausnitz | Edith Keller |
| 1952 | Schwerin | Edith Keller-Herrmann |
| 1953 | Waldkirch | Edith Keller-Herrmann |

### Championships of West Germany, 1953–1989

| Year | City | Winner |
| 1955 | Krefeld | Friedl Rinder |
| 1956 | Wolfratshausen | Friedl Rinder |
| 1957 | Lindau | Helga Axt |
| 1958 | Gießen | Helga Axt |
| 1959 | Dahn | Friedl Rinder |
| 1960 | Büdingen | Maria Scheffold |
| 1961 | Wennigsen | Helga Axt |
| 1962 | Eckernförde | Anneliese Brandler |
| 1963 | Krefeld | Hannelore Lucht |
| 1964 | Bremen | Irmgard Kärner |
| 1965 | Wangen im Allgäu | Ottilie Stibaner |
| 1968 | Fürstenfeldbruck | Ursula Wasnetsky |
| 1970 | Lauterbach | Anni Laakmann |
| 1972 | Burg | Anni Laakmann |
| 1974 | Kassel | Anni Laakmann |
| 1976 | Brilon | Anni Laakmann |
| 1978 | Delecke | Barbara Hund |
| 1980 | Schwäbisch Gmünd | Isabel Hund |
| 1982 | Porz | Barbara Hund |
| 1984 | Bad Aibling | Barbara Hund |
| 1987 | Bad Lauterberg | Ute Späte |
| 1989 | Bad Aibling | Isabel Hund |

### Open German Women's Championships since 1971

| Year | City | Winner |
| 1971 | Zell am Harmersbach | Gertrud Renz |
| 1973 | Bad Aibling | Doina Pfleger |
| 1975 | Zell am Harmersbach | Ursula Wasnetsky |
| 1977 | Weißenhäuser Strand | Maria Kuch |
| 1979 | Wittlich | Christel Neumark |
| 1981 | Brilon | Annette Borik |
| 1983 | Porz | Raissa Wapnitschnaja |
| 1986 | Zell am Harmersbach | Annette Borik |
| 1988 | Braunfels | Rita Kas-Fromm |
| 1990 | Bad Neustadt | Jordanka Mičić |
| 1992 | Bad Neustadt | Marina Olbrich |
| 1994 | Wuppertal | Ekaterina Borulya |
| 1996 | Dresden | Anita Just |
| 1998 | Weimar | Gundula David |
| 2000 | Rodewisch | Tatjana Vasilevich |
| 2002 | Bad Brückenau | Heike Vogel |
| 2004 | Osterburg (Altmark) | Sandra Krege |
| 2006 | Bad Königshofen | Petra Blažková |
| 2008 | Kerkwitz | Antje Fuchs |
| 2010 | Gladenbach | Heike Vogel |
| 2012 | Gladenbach | Antje Fuchs |

### International Open German Women's Championships since 1977

| Year | City | Winner |
| 1977 | Bad Kissingen | Marta Litinskaya |
| 1979 | Bad Kissingen | Maia Chiburdanidze |
| 1981 | Bad Kissingen | Nino Gurieli |
| 2014 | Erfurt | Christina Winterholler |
| 2015 | Bayerisch Eisenstein | Jutta Ries |
| 2016 | Bodenmais | Melanie Grund |

### Championships of the Soviet occupation zone, 1948–1949

| Year | City | Winner |
| 1948 | Bad Doberan | Gertrud Nüsken |
| 1949 | Bad Klosterlausnitz | Mira Kremer |

### Championships of the GDR, 1950–1990

| Year | City | Winner |
| 1950 | Sömmerda | Edith Keller, Gertrud Nüsken |
| 1951 | Schwerin | Mira Kremer |
| 1952 | Schwerin | Edith Keller-Herrmann |
| 1953 | Weißenfels | Gertrud Nüsken |
| 1954 | Bad Saarow | Ursula Höroldt |
| 1955 | Zwickau | Gertrud Nüsken |
| 1956 | Leipzig | Edith Keller-Herrmann |
| 1957 | Sömmerda | Edith Keller-Herrmann |
| 1958 | Schkopau | Waltraud Schameitat |
| 1959 | Leipzig | Edith Keller-Herrmann |
| 1961 | Premnitz | Waltraud Schameitat |
| 1962 | Gera | Waltraud Schameitat |
| 1963 | Aschersleben | Waltraud Nowarra |
| 1964 | Magdeburg | Gabriele Ortlepp |
| 1965 | Annaberg-Buchholz | Gabriele Just |
| 1967 | Colditz | Waltraud Nowarra, Ursula Liebert |
| 1968 | Weimar | Waltraud Nowarra |
| 1969 | Schwerin | Waltraud Nowarra |
| 1970 | Freiberg | Christina Hölzlein |
| 1971 | Strausberg | Christina Hölzlein |
| 1972 | Görlitz | Gabriele Just |
| 1973 | Erfurt | Eveline Nünchert |
| 1974 | Potsdam | Petra Feustel |
| 1975 | Stralsund | Brigitte Hofmann |
| 1976 | Gröditz | Petra Feustel |
| 1977 | Frankfurt (Oder) | Petra Feustel |
| 1978 | Torgelow | Brigitte Hofmann |
| 1979 | Suhl | Brigitte Hofmann |
| 1980 | Plauen | Ulricke Seidemann |
| 1981 | Fürstenwalde | Annett Wagner-Michel |
| 1982 | Salzwedel | Iris Bröder |
| 1983 | Cottbus | Annett Wagner-Michel |
| 1984 | Eilenburg | Iris Bröder |
| 1985 | Jüterbog | Marion Heintze |
| 1986 | Nordhausen | Carola Manger |
| 1987 | Glauchau | Iris Bröder |
| 1988 | Stralsund | Antje Riedel |
| 1989 | Zittau | Kerstin Kunze |
| 1990 | Bad Blankenburg | Gundula Nehse |

### 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).
    Elisabeth Pähtz
       YearCityWinner 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 2024  Ostfildern Fiona Sieber