The Latvian Chess Champsionship () is the annual national chess tournament of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

among men and women players, which was established in 1924. It is organized by the

Latvian Chess Federation Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language, also referred to as Lettish **Latvian cuisine **Latv ...

(), previously - Latvian Chess Union (). Mikhail Tal 1961 Oberhausen

History

The first professional Latvian chess players can be traced back to the 19th century, when Latvia was a part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. They participated in chess tournaments and union congresses, organized by the Riga Chess Association which was founded in 1890. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence ( lv, Latvijas Neatkarības karš), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaim ...

and the establishment of the Latvian Chess Union in 1924, the official Latvian chess championship tradition was started as the Latvian Chess Congresses. The first Latvian Chess Congress took place in 1924 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

. After the start of the Soviet occupation of Latvia the 1940 edition was not held, but in 1941 the first Chess Championship of the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

was played. The tournament was also played once during the German occupation during WWII, in 1943. After the restoration of Latvian independence, the Latvian Championship returned in 1990. The tournament has been mostly held in the capital Riga and the village of Mežezers of

Pļaviņas Municipality Pļaviņas Municipality ( lv, Pļaviņu novads) is a former municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Aiviekste parish, Klintaine parish, Vietalva parish and Pļaviņas town the administrative centre being ...

in southern

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in n ...

Championships and winners

Multiple champions

: :

Notes

External links

Latvian Chess Federation website (tournament
* (results through 1985) * chapter "Championships of Republics" (Latvian Championships results: 1941–1990) * chapter "Turnīri - Latvijas čempionātu rezultāti" (Latvian Championships results: 1924–1993) * * * * * (results through 1979) {{Chess national championships Chess national championships Women's chess national championships Chess in Latvia

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

Recurring sporting events established in 1924