Midwest Open

The 1948 through 1950 tournaments were named the “Nebraska Open”. It was renamed the “Midwest Open” starting in 1951. The Nebraska/Midwest Open served as Nebraska’s championship through 1980. Afterward, a state closed was held to determine the Nebraska champion.

Year, Location Champion Champion’s Residence
1948 – North Platte Lee Magee Omaha
1949 – Omaha Al Ludwig Omaha
1950 – Hastings Lee Magee Omaha
1951 – North Platte Jack Spence Omaha
1952 – Omaha Lee Magee Omaha
1953 – Lincoln Lee Magee, John Penquite, Al Ludwig Omaha, Des Moines, Omaha
1954 – North Platte Aleks Liepnieks Lincoln
1955 – Omaha Lee Magee Omaha
1956 – Lincoln Aleks Liepnieks Lincoln
1957 – Omaha J. Ragan Missouri
1958 – Lincoln T. Weinberger New York
1959 – Omaha Jack Spence Omaha
1960 – Lincoln E. Czapski, W. Grombacher, M. Masoon Lincoln, Chicago, Lincoln
1961 – Lincoln Aleks Liepnieks Lincoln
1962 – Lincoln Anton Sildmets Lincoln
1963 – Lincoln Robert Walker California
1964 – Lincoln Dennis Fritzinger Lincoln
1965 – Lincoln George Gant New York
1966 – Omaha Richard McLellan Omaha
1967 – Lincoln Randy Mills Lawrence, Kansas
1968 – Lincoln Randy Mills Lawrence, Kansas
1969 – Lincoln Randy Mills Lawrence, Kansas
1970 – Lincoln G. Nowak, John Tomas Wisconsin, Omaha
1971 – Lincoln John Frankle Des Moines
1972 – Omaha Ascher, Watson, McLellan, R. Anderson Denver, Denver, Omaha, Omaha
1973 – Lincoln Elliott Winslow, Dan Reynolds St. Louis, Omaha
1974 – Lincoln Dan Reynolds, Loren Schmidt, Rich Chess Omaha, Lincoln, Omaha
1975 – Lincoln John Milton, Mike Blankenau Omaha, Omaha
1976 – Omaha Rich Chess Omaha
1977 – Lincoln Loren Schmidt, Rod Malpert Lincoln, Lincoln
1978 – Lincoln Mike Matthews, Bob Holliman Lincoln, Kansas City, MO
1979 – Omaha Rich Perry, Bob Grande, Tom Cook Omaha, Omaha, Council Bluffs
1980 – Omaha Rich Perry Omaha
1981 – Omaha Paul Waldowski Bellevue
1982 – Lincoln Michael Brooks Kansas City, Missouri
1983 – Columbus Allen Savage Des Moines
1984 – Lincoln Paul Waldowski Bellevue
1985 – Omaha Ionut Buzbuchi New York
1986 – Lincoln John Drexel Omaha
1987 – Omaha Rich Chess Omaha
1988 – Lincoln Kevin Fleming Lincoln
1989 – Omaha Michael Brooks Kansas City, Missouri
1990 – Omaha Dimitri Gurevich New York
1991 – Council Bluffs Paul Rohwer Omaha
1992 – Omaha Maurice Dana, Mike Blankenau Kansas, Omaha
1993 – Omaha Paul Rohwer Omaha
1994 – Omaha Jim Ellis Winsconsin
1995 – Omaha Bruce Draney, Michael Dreiger Omaha, Omaha
1996 – Omaha Joe Kruml Lincoln
1997 – Lincoln Ron Luther Kansas City, Missouri
1998 – Lincoln Matt Cushing Lincoln
1999 – Omaha Mike Blankenau, Tom Dorsch, Herman Chiu Omaha, San Francisco, Oregon
2000 – Lincoln Roger Simond Lincoln
2001 – Lincoln Matt Cushing Lincoln
2002 – Lincoln Keaton Kiewra Lincoln
2003 – Omaha David Ballash, Doug Grande Washington DC, Omaha
2004 – Lincoln Alber Zhou, Doug Given Omaha, Lincoln
2005 – Columbus Jason Mueller Arizona
2006 – Rising City Gary Colvin, Kent Nelson, Carlos Cardenas Lincoln, Lincoln, Grand Island
2007 – Omaha Collin Bleak New York
2008 – Lincoln Mirko Zelko, Jiri Olejnicek Omaha, Czech Republic
2009 – Omaha Douglas Taffinder California
2010 – Omaha John Linscott Lincoln
2011 – Omaha Ben Fabrikant, Joseph Cheng Yue-Wan Lincoln, Lincoln
2012 – Omaha Joe Knapp Omaha
2013 – Omaha Joe Knapp, John Linscott Omaha, Lincoln
2014 – Omaha Nick Karlow Missouri
2015 – Omaha Robert Keating Iowa
2016 – Omaha Valeriy Kosokin Iowa
2017 – Omaha Bob Holliman Kansas City, Missouri
2018 – Omaha Joe Knapp Omaha
2019 – Omaha Rich Perry Texas
2020-2022 No event, COVID
2023 – Omaha Gregory Revesz Omaha
2024 – Omaha Justin Sarkar New York