The first Swedish Champion was Gustaf Nyholm, who won two matches against winners of national tournaments: Berndtsson in Göteborg and Löwenborg in Stockholm in 1917. Until 1931 Swedish Chess Championships were decided by match play. In the 1930s, Gideon StÃÂ¥hlberg held the title in spite of results of the national tournaments. Since 1939, only the tournament is played as an official Swedish Championship.