Organized in 1947, the Tennessee Chess Association held its first Open that year over the Memorial Day weekend. From 1948 through 1955-56, the event was held over New Year’s weekend. From 1957-2018, the Championship was held over Labor Day Weekend. At the 1976 Tennessee Open the TCA voted for a Closed Championship to be determined after three Regional preliminary tourneys (West, Middle, East) with two qualifiers each for the Round-Robin Finals. This procedure was followed in 1977 and 1978. At the 1978 Tennessee Open, the TCA voted to return to the previous open format, which has not been changed again since (with the exception of the 2020 Pandemic forcing us all online to play). The Tennessee Open has been held in locations all across the state and is open for bidding every year. To submit a bid, contact the TCA Board of Directors.
The TN State Chess Champions are listed by decade for ease of viewing. Some of the material on this page is excerpted from A History of TN Chess by Peter P. Lahde.
The 1940′s
1947 – Robert Coveyou*
1948/49 – J.B. Mullinex
The 1950′s
1950 – Lawrence Noderer
1951 – Jerry Sullivan*
1952 – Lawrence Noderer
1953 – Jerry Sullivan*
1954 – Martin Southern* & Jerry Sullivan*
1954/55 – Robert Coveyou*
1955/56 – Robert Coveyou*
1956 – Jerry Sullivan*
1957 – Jerry Sullivan*
1958 – Robert Coveyou*
1959 – Robert Coveyou*
The 1960′s
1960 – Jerry Sullivan*
1961 – Robert Coveyou*
1962 – Emanuel Tsitseklis
1963 – Robert Coveyou*
1964 – James Wright*
1965 – Dave Burris*
1966 – Dave Burris*
1967 – Dave Burris*
1968 – Robert Coveyou*
1969 – James Sweets*
The 1970′s
1970 – James Wright*
1971 – Douglas Ralston
1972 – Juan Aristorenas
1973 – John Hurt*
1974 – Kenny Thomas
1975 – Kenny Thomas
1976 – Emanuel Tsitseklis
1977 – Emanuel Tsitseklis (Closed Championship for 1977)
1978 – Curt Jones* (Closed Championship for 1978)
1979 – Marty Appleberry
The 1980′s
1980 – Leonard Dickerson* & Kenny Thomas
1981 – Michael Carey & Curt Jones*
1982 – Joseph Sentef & Paul Harless
1983 – Michael Carey & Sid Pickard
1984 – Johnson Moore & Leonard Dickerson*
1985 – Charles Maddigan
1986 – Ronald Burnett*
1987 – Ronald Burnett*
1988 – Charles Schulien
1989 – Charles Schulien
The 1990′s
1990 – Curt Jones*
1991 – Danilo Sirias, Mark Ishee, & Jerry Wheeler
1992 – Rea Hayes*, Ronald Burnett*, & Richard Cale
1993 – Ronald Burnett*
1994 – Sam Palatnik
1995 – Sam Palatnik
1996 – Peter Bereolos
1997 – Sam Palatnik
1998 – Peter Bereolos, Leonard Dickerson*, & Todd Andrews*
1999 – Sam Palatnik & Todd Andrews*
The 2000′s
2000 – Sam Palatnik
2001 – Sam Palatnik
2002 – Peter Bereolos
2003 – Peter Bereolos
2004 – Peter Bereolos & Ronald Burnett*
2005 – Todd Andrews*
2006 – Todd Andrews*
2007 – Todd Andrews* & Peter Bereolos
2008 – Todd Andrews* & Ronald Burnett*
2009 – Ronald Burnett*, Patrick Tae, & David Justice
The 2010′s
2010 – Todd Andrews*
2011 – Ronald Burnett*
2012 – Ronald Burnett*, Peter Bereolos, Nicholas Tomlin, & Luke Weishaar
2013 – Kenneth Holroyd
2014 – Todd Andrews* & John Bick
2015 – Ronald Burnett*
2016 – Alex King
2017 – Ronald Burnett*, Alex King, Todd Andrews*, Yuri Barnakov, Forest Chen, & Sydney Kong
2018 – Ronald Burnett* & Yuri Barnakov
2019 – Todd Andrews*
The 2020’s
2020 – Andrew Crigger
2021 – Alexander Fishbein
2022 – Alexander Fishbein, Ronald Burnett*, Alex King, Graham Horobetz, & Todd Andrews*
2023 – Alexander Fishbein
* Member, Tennessee Chess Association Hall of Fame.