The first edition was held in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh from 15 May to 28 May 1955 and was jointly won by Ramchandra Sapre and Dharbha Venkayya with 9/12 points.
[1] Earlier, G. S. Dikshit of Pithapuram won the Andhra and Madras State Championships for three consecutive years, 1952–54.
[2] Manuel Aaron from the state of Tamilnadu won the Men's National title for a record 9 times.
Indian Chess legend Viswanathan Anand won the Nationals title for three consecutive times in 1986, 1987 and 1988.
Followed by Rohini Khadilkar and Padmini Rout who have each won the National Women title for a record 5 times.