The USSR Chess Championship was played from 1920 to 1991. Organized by the USSR Chess Federation, it was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners. It was held as a round-robin tournament with the exception of the 35th and 58th championships, which were of the Swiss system.

[The participants of the fourth USSR Chess Championship in 1925. Sitting (left to right): Vilner, Levenfish, Rokhlin (organizer), Gotthilf, I. Rabinovich, Bogolyubov (winner), Ilyin-Genevsky, Duz-Khotimirsky, Romanovsky, Sergeyev, Nenarokov, Verlinsky, A. Rabinovich.

Standing (left to right): von Freymann, Sozin, Eremeev (organizer), Grigoriev, Zubarev, Selezniev, Kaspersky, Kutuzov, Weinstein (organizer). | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/4th///ussr///chess///championship///1925.JPG]

Most wins

List of winners

! Edition !! Date !! Place !! Winner !! Score !! width=700| Notes this tournament was later recognized as the first USSR championship. Peter Romanovsky 14½/20 (+12−3=5) after he emigrated to Canada and was declared a nonperson. 4/5 (+4−1=0), and 3½/4 (+3−0=1) Ilya Rabinovich 12/19 (+9−4=6) Igor Bondarevsky 13½/19 (+10−2=7) 23 Mar–29 Apr 1941, Leningrad/Moscow, 13½/20 (+9−2=9) Alexander Kotov 12/18 (+10−4=4) David Bronstein 13/19 (+8−1=10) Mikhail Tal ||10/13 10/13 Alexander Zaitsev 12½/19 (+6=13) Mikhail Tal ||9½/15 (+6−2=7) 9½/15 (+6−2=7) Iosif Dorfman || 9½/15 (+4−0=11) 9½/15 (+4−0=11) Vitaly Tseshkovsky 11/17 (+6−1=10) Alexander Beliavsky 10½/17 (+6−2=9) Lev Psakhis 12½/17 (+9−1=7) Mikhail Gurevich Alexander Chernin 11/19 (+6−3=10) 11/19 (+5−2=12) Garry Kasparov 11½/17 (+6−0=11) Leonid Yudasin Evgeny Bareev Alexey Vyzmanavin 8½/13 (+4−0=9) 8½/13 (+6−2=5) 8½/13 (+5−1=7)

Publications