The Chigorin Memorial is a chess tournament played in honour of Mikhail Chigorin (1850–1908), founder of the Soviet Chess School and one of the leading players of his day. The first and most important edition was the one played in 1909 in St. Petersburg. Later on, an international invitation Memorial tournament series was established, and mainly played in the Black Sea resort Sochi (from 1963 to 1990). Further irregular tournaments had been held in 1947, 1951, 1961, and 1972, played in diverse venues. From 1993 the venue returned to his hometown. The Memorial is now played as an Open event.

Mikhail Chigorin shortly before his death in 1908

St. Petersburg 1909

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Photo from the first Chigorian Memorial Tournament, 1909

President of the organising committee was Peter Petrovich Saburov, President of the St. Petersburg Chess Club. Members of the committee were Boris Maliutin, O. Sossnitzky, V. Tschudowski, Sergius A. Znosko-Borovsky and Eugene A. Znosko-Borovsky.[1] The main event lasted from 14 February to 12 March 1909.

Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
1 Akiba Rubinstein (Poland)*111½½½111½101½111114½
2 Emanuel Lasker (German Empire)0*½1½111½111011111114½
3 Rudolf Spielmann (Austrian Empire)0½*1011½1½½½10½1½½111
4 Oldřich Duras (Bohemia)000*01½0½101111111111
5 Ossip Bernstein (Russian Empire)½½11*0101111½000½½110½
6 Richard Teichmann (German Empire)½0001*0½½½½11½1½11½10
7 Julius Perlis (Austrian Empire)½00½01*½½1½11½1½001
8 Erich Cohn (German Empire)00½11½½*001½½0½½½119
9 Carl Schlechter (Austrian Empire)0½0½0½½1*10011½01½19
10 Gersz Salwe (Poland)00½00½010*½111½01119
11 Savielly Tartakower (Austrian Empire)½0½10½½01½*000½111½
12 Jacques Mieses (German Empire)00½0000½101*½111011
13 Fyodor Duz-Khotimirsky (Russian Empire)1100½00½001½*½½½1018
14 Leo Forgács (Hungary)00101½½10010½*½½½0½
15 Amos Burn (British Empire)½0½0100½½½½0½½*1½½07
16 Milan Vidmar (Austrian Empire)00001½½½1100½½0*½107
17 Abraham Speijer (Netherlands)00½0½01½00010½½½*½½6
18 Sergey von Freymann (Russian Empire)00½0½010½00011½0½*0
19 Eugene Znosko-Borovsky (Russian Empire)00000½0000½00½11½1*5

Rubinstein and Lasker won 875 rubles (each), Spielmann and Duras 475 rubles (each), Bernstein 190 rubles, Teichmann 120 rubles, Perlis 80 rubles, Cohn, Schlechter, and Salwe 40 rubles (each).[2]

1947–1972

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From 1947, there were several Chigorin memorial tournaments, but it was not until 1963 that it was established as an annual event in Sochi. These tournaments were all played on the round robin format.

YearWinnerCity
1947Mikhail BotvinnikMoscow
1951Vasily SmyslovLeningrad
1961Mark TaimanovRostov-on-Don
1972Lev PolugaevskyKislovodsk

Sochi period (1963–1990)

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Back to St. Petersburg (1993–present)

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Since 1993, the Chigorin Memorial has been played as an open Swiss system tournament. The 13th edition was not played for superstitious reasons. The winners are listed below.[citation needed][needs update]

#YearWinner
11993Alexey Dreev
21994Ildar Ibragimov
31995Vladimir Burmakin
41996Alexei Fedorov
Lembit Oll
51997Konstantin Sakaev
61998Sergey Volkov
71999Alexander Grischuk
Sergey Volkov
82000Valerij Filippov
92001Mikhail Kobalia
102002Alexander Fominyh
112004Sergey Ivanov
122005Igor Zakharevich
Roman Ovetchkin
142006Dmitry Bocharov
152007Sergei Movsesian
162008Vladimir Belov
172009Sergey Volkov
182010Eltaj Safarli
192011Dmitry Bocharov
202012Alexander Areshchenko
212013Pavel Eljanov
222014Ivan Ivanisevic
232015Kirill Alekseenko
242016Kirill Alekseenko
252017Kirill Alekseenko
262018Pouya Idani
272019Vitaly Sivuk

References

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  • The International Chess Congress: St. Petersburg 1909, New York, edition Lasker Press, 1910 (reprinted by Dover books 1971)
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