The Nicaraguan Chess Championship is currently organized by Fenanic (), the national chess federation of Nicaragua. After the first championship was held as a match in 1956, subsequent editions have been held as tournaments in multiple categories, with the winner of the top category becoming the national champion.
National championship winners {| class="sortable wikitable" ! Year !! National champion || Notes |- | 1956 || || Arellano beat Gustavo Montalván in a series of seven games. |- | 1958 || Julio Ramírez de Arellano || |- | 1959 || Julio Ramírez de Arellano || |- | 1960 || Julio Ramírez de Arellano || |- | 1961 || Julio Ramírez de Arellano || |- | 1962 || Julio Ramírez de Arellano || |- | 1964 || Julio Ramírez de Arellano || |- | 1965 || Julio Ramírez de Arellano || |- | 1966 || Julio Ramírez de Arellano || |- | 1967 || Julio Ramírez de Arellano || |- | 1968 || Julio Ramírez de Arellano || |- | 1969 || Gustavo Jorge Aleman || |- | 1970 || || |- | 1971 || Gustavo Jorge Aleman || |- | 1972 || Miguel Chávez || |- | 1973 || Narciso Salas Chávez || Benjamín Zapata was leading the tournament but was disqualified in the penultimate round for showing up to play while intoxicated. |- | 1974 || Carlos J. Lau || Lau finished third in the tournament, while Julio Ramírez de Arellano and Francisco Castillo Tamariz tied for first and began a playoff match for the title. When they protested that the chess clock they were using was not working properly, FENANIC disqualified them both and awarded the title to Lau.
| 1975 || René Pilarte Tijerino || |- | 1976 || Francisco Castillo Tamariz || |- | 1977–1980 || – || Not held because of the Nicaraguan Revolution. |- | 1981 || Edmundo Dávila Castellón || Mexican IM Roberto Navarro won the tournament off-contest. Dávila Castellón won the national championship as the Nicaraguan with the best result. |- | 1982 || Danilo Canda || Canda won on tiebreaks ahead of Dávila Castellón. |- | 1983 || Martín Guevara || |- | 1984 || Martín Guevara || |- | 1985 || Martín Guevara || |- | 1986 || Martín Guevara || |- | 1987 || José Luis Fonseca || |- | 1988 || Martín Guevara || |- | 1989 || ? || Martín Guevara finished second. |- | 1990 || Martín Guevara || |- | 1991 || René Lacayo || |- | 1992 || Martín Guevara || |- | 1993 || Martín Guevara || |- | 1994 || Carlos Dávila ||
| 1995 || Carlos Dávila || |- | 1996 || Carlos Dávila || |- | 1997 || René Pilarte Tijerino ||
| 1998 || Carlos Dávila ||
| 1999 || Rodolfo Izabá || |- | 2000 || René Lacayo || |- | 2001 || Carlos Guevara || |- | 2002 || René Lacayo || |- | 2003 || René Lacayo || |- | 2004 || Félix Espinoza || Espinoza won on tiebreaks over Carlos Dávila. |- | 2005 || Carlos Dávila || |- | 2006 || Carlos Dávila || |- | 2007 || Carlos Dávila || Dávila beat Jorge Luis Picado in a playoff for first. |- | 2008 || Félix Espinoza || |- | 2009 || Maximiliano Rocha || Rocha beat Martin Guevara and William Bravo in a three-way playoff for first. |- | 2010 || René Lacayo || Lacayo finished ahead of José Luis Fonseca on tiebreaks. |- | 2011 || René Lacayo || |- | 2012 || William Bravo || Salvadoran IM won the tournament off-contest. Bravo, who finished second, won the national championship as the Nicaraguan with the best result. |- | 2013 || Marcos Ortiz || |- | 2014 || Carlos Guevara || Guevara won on tiebreaks ahead of Ricardo García and Marcos Ortiz. |- | 2015 || William Bravo ||
| 2016 || Juan José Pineda ||
| 2017 || René Lacayo ||
| 2018 || René Lacayo || |- | 2019 || René Lacayo || |- | 2020 || René Lacayo ||
References