Women World Champion

Women's World Championship
by Bill Wall
The Women's World

Championship was established
exclusively for women by FIDE,
the World Chess Federation
(founded in 1924), in 1927. The
official World Chess
Championship title began in
1886, but no women took place
in any world championship title
until 1927.
In 1897, the first Women's Bill Wall

International Chess Congress
was organized in London with
20 of the best women players in
the world. The round-robin
Congress was won by Mary
Rudge (1842-1919) of Bristol, Ay, every inch a King. —
winning 18 games, drawing 1, Shakespeare
and losing none. She was the
first unofficial women's world
chess champion.
Vera Menchik (1906-1944)
On February 16, 1906, Vera

Frantsevna Menchik
(Mencikova) was born in
Moscow, Russian Empire. Her
father was Czechoslovakian
(Bohemian) and her mother was
English. She learned how to
play chess at age 9. In 1921, the
family (Vera, her sister Olga
(1907-1944), and her mother)
moved to Hastings, England
where she joined the Hastings
Chess Club in 1923 and soon
became a pupil of Geza
Maroczy (1870-1951). By 1925,
she was considered the strongest
lady player in Britain. However,
she was not British and could
not enter the national
competition.
In 1925, Vera defeated Edith

Charlotte Price (1872-1956),
British ladies' champion, twice
in matches. In January, 1926
Vera won the first British Girls'
Open Championship at the
Imperial Club in London. Her
sister, Olga, took 3rd place. In
January, 1927 Vera won the
London ladies championship
with a perfect 5-0 score. Her
sister Olga took 2nd place.
In July 1927, Vera Menchik

won the first Women's World
Championship with 10 wins and
1 draw (to Edith Mitchell in the
last round). The event took place
during the first Chess Olympiad
(July 18-30, 1927), held in
London, England. The event
was a 12-player round robin. It
was not billed in advance by
FIDE as being for the women's
world chess championship until
after the event (September
1927). At the time, it was just
called â€˜the Women's
Tournament.'
The Women's Tournament was

an alternative to a Women's
Chess Olympiad. At that time,
no one thought there was any
interest for a women's
Olympiad. The entry fee for the
Women's Tournament was one
British pound (about $40 in
today's currency). Vera Menchik
won 20 British pounds (about
$800 in today's currency) for
winning the tournament.
In 1929, she played at the

international tournament in
Carlsbad. She was the first
woman to compete in a major
international tournament of top
masters. She came in last place.
In July 1930, Menchik won the

2nd Women's World Chess
Championship with 6 wins, 1
draw, to Paula Wolf-Kalmar
(1880-1931), and 1 loss, to
Wally Henschel (1893-1988).
The event took place during the
3rd Chess Olympiad (July 13-
27, 1930), held in Hamburg,
Germany. The event was a 5-
player double round-robin
tournament. The other four
players were Wolf-Kalmar,
Henschel, Beskow, and
Stevenson.
In 1931, Vera Menchik married

Rufus Streatfeild Stevenson
(1878-1943).
In July 1931, Vera Menchik-

Stevenson won the 3rd Women's
World Chess Championship
with 8 wins and no draws or
losses. The event took place
during the 4th Chess Olympiad
(July 11-26, 1931), held in
Prague. The event was a 5-
player double round-robin. The
other four players were Wolf-
Kalmar, Henschel, Beskow, and
Stevenson.
In July 1933, Menchik won the

4th Women's World Chess
Championship with 14 straight
wins and no draws or losses.
The event took place during the
5th Chess Olympiad (July 12-
23, 1933), held in Folkestone,
England. The event was an 8-
player double round-robin. The
other players were Price,
Gilchrist, Mchell, Tonini,
Schwartzmann, D'Autremont,
and Harum.
In 1934, Menchik won the

Women's World Chess
Championship after defeating
Sonja Graf (1908-1965) in a
match, scoring 3 wins and 1
loss. The match was played in
Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The
world championship match was
arranged by the two players and
not under the auspices of FIDE.
Some sources say that this
match was not for the women's
world championship title.
In August 1935, Menchik won

the 5th Women's World Chess
Championship with 9 wins and
no draws or losses. The event
took place during the 6th Chess
Olympiad (August 16-31, 1935),
held in Warsaw, Poland. The
event was a 10-player round-
robin. The other players were
Gerlecka, Harum, Olga
Menchik, Thierry, Hermanova,
Holloway, Skjonsberg,
Kowalska, and Shannon.
In August 1937, Menchik won
the 6th Women's World Chess
Championship, scoring 14
points (2nd place winner was
Claris Benini (1905-1976), who
scored 10 points). Menchik won
14 games straight. The event
took place during the 7th Chess
Olympiad (July 31 to August 14,
1937), held in Stockholm. The
event had 26 women players
with 14 rounds.
In late 1937, Menchik won the

Women's World Chess
Championship after defeating
Sonja Graf again in a match,
held in Semmering, Austria.
Menchik won 9, drew 5, and lost
2, for a score of 11.5-4.5. The
world championship match was
arranged by the two players and
not under the auspices of FIDE.
In 1939, she became manager of

the British National Chess
Centre. It was later bombed and
destroyed in a German air raid.
Vera was also serving on the
editorial staff of Chess magazine
as games editor.
In September 1939, Menchik

won the 7th Women's World
Chess Championship with 18
points (17 wins and 2 draws).
The event took place 8th Chess
Olympiad (August 24-Septemer
19, 1939), held in Buenos Aires,
Argentina. The event was a 20-
player round-robin. 2nd place
went to Sonja Graf with 16
points.
Due to the outbreak of World
War II, there was no Women's
Chess Championship until late
1949. Meanwhile, Menchik died
in London in 1944 in a German
air raid (V1 rocket hit her
home).
Menchik won every Woman's

World Championship
tournament: London 1927 (10
wins and 1 draw) Hamburg 1930
(6 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw),
Prague 1931 (8 wins),
Folkestone 1933 (14 wins),
Warsaw 1935 (9 wins),
Stockholm 1937 (14 wins), and
Buenos Aires 1939 (17 wins, 2
draws). She only lost one game
(to Henschel at Hamburg in
1930) in 83 world championship
games from 1927 to 1944. She
won 78 games, drew 4 games,
and lost only one game in 8
world championship tournament
events (not counting the one or
two matches with Sonja Graf),
for a 96.3% winning
percentage.
Vera Menchik was killed, along

with her sister Olga, her sister's
husband, and Vera's mother, in a
bombing raid on June 26, 1944,
at the age of 38. A V-1 buzz
bomb hit her home at 47 Gauden
Road in the Clapham area of
South London. At the time of
her death, she was the games
editor of Chess magazine and
women's world champion.
She was World's Women

Champion from 1927 until her
death on June 26, 1944. She has
been the longest reigning
Women's World Chess
Champion (17 years). She would
have extended it longer if she
had not been killed.
Of interest is that Vera Menchik

represented Russia in the first
Women's World Championship.
She then represented
Czechoslovakia (she could not
speak the language) in the
Women's World Championships
from 1930 to 1937. She then
represented England in the 1939
Women's World Chess
Championship.
In her lifetime, she played and

beat Conel Hugh O'Donel
Alexander (1932), Abraham
Baratz, Albert Becker (1929),
Eero Book (1938), Edgard
Colle, Max Euwe (1930), Harry
Golombek, Mir Sultan Khan,
Frederic Lazard, Jacques Mieses
(1928), Stuart Milner-Barry
(1934), Karel Opocensky, Brian
Reilly, Samuel Reshevsky
(1935), Friedrich Samisch
(1929), Philip Sergeant (1938),
Lajos Steiner (1936), George
Alan Thomas (1932), Theodore
Tylor (1933), William Winter
(1932), and Frederick Yates
(1928). All are now members of
the Menchik Club. Vera
Menchik was the first woman
who could play successfully
against the best male players.
In 2011, she was inducted in the

World Chess Hall of Fame.
Lyudmila Rudenko (1904-
1986)
On July 27, 1904 Lyudmila

Vladimirovna Rudenko was
born in Lubny, Russian Empire
(present-day Ukraine). She
learned how to play chess at age
10 from her father.
Rudenko was an excellent chess

player and an excellent
swimmer. In 1920, she won the
Odessa championship in the
women's 400 meter breaststroke.
In 1925, she took 2nd in the
Ukrainian 400 meter
breaststroke championship.
Rudenko was trained as an

economic adviser in Odessa. She
did not compete in chess
tournaments before she moved
to Moscow in 1925 to work for
an economic planning
committee of the Soviet Union.
In 1927, she participated in the

USSR Women's Chess
Championship, in which she
placed 5th.
In 1928, she won the Moscow

Women's Championship ahead
of reigning USSR Women's
Champion, Olga Rubtsova.
Rudenko scored a perfect 12-0,
winning all her games.
In 1929, she moved to

Leningrad. She won the
Leningrad Women's
Championship seven times
(1932, 1936, 1947, 1957, 1958,
1962, and 1963).
From 1941 to 1944, during the

siege of Leningrad, she
organized the evacuation of the
children of factory workers. She
gathered up over 300 children as
she could in pioneer camps and
kindergartens, and got them
safely out of Leningrad and the
suburbs.
In June 1946, Rudenko, on

board 12, defeated Rowena
Bruce (1911-1991) in both their
games in the USSR vs. Great
Britain radio chess match.
In January 1950, Rudenko won

the 8th Women's Chess
Championship, scoring 11.5
points out of 15 (9 wins, 1 loss,
and 5 draws). Her only loss was
the American player Gisela
Kahn Gresser (1906-2000). The
event was a 16-player round
robin. The 16 players were from
12 different countries, with the
four Soviet players taking the
top four spots. After the
tournament, she was awarded
the International Master (IM)
and Woman International
Master (WIM) titles. She was
the first woman awarded the IM
title.
In 1952, she won the USSR

Women's Championship, held in
Tbilisi.
In 1953, she was awarded the

Honored Master of Sports of the
USSR.
In August-September 1953,
Rudenko lost her world chess
championship title to Elisabeth
Bykova. Rudenko won 5, drew
2, and lost 7 games in the match,
held in Moscow.
In 1955, she won the Uzbekistan

women's chess championship.
Rudenko took 3rd in the
Triangular Women's World
Championship Title Match,
behind Rubtsova and Bykova.
In 1956, she won the open chess

championship of Ukraine.

newly created title of Woman
Grandmaster (WGM), at the age
of 72. She is the oldest female to
be granted a WGM title.
On March 4, 1986, she died in

Leningrad.
During her chess career, she

played in 17 USSR women's
chess championships.
In 2015, Rudenko was inducted

in the World Chess Hall of
Fame.
Elisabeth Bykova (1913-1989)
On November 4, 1913, Elisaveta

(Elisabeth) Ivanovna Bykova
was born in Bogolyubovo,
Vladimir Oblast, Russian
Empire. She learned how to play
chess at age 12 after the family
moved to Moscow.
In 1936, Bykova graduated from

the Institute of Economic
Planning.
In 1938, she won the women's

Moscow championship.
In June 1946, Bykova, on board

11, defeated Eileen Tranmer
(1910-1983) in both games of
the USSR vs. Great Britain radio
chess match.
In 1946, Bykova won the

Women's Soviet Championship.
She won it again in 1947 and
1950.
In January 1950, Bukova took

3rd place in the Women's World
Championship tournament, held
in Moscow. The winner was
Ludmilla Rudenko, followed by
Olga Rubtsova.

title of Woman International
Master (WIM).
In October-November 1952,
Bykova won the first Women's
Candidates Tournament in
Moscow, scoring 11.5 out of 15.
This tournament determined the
challenger for the next Women's
World Chess Championship,
and a match with Rudenko.
In September 1953, Bykova

defeated current women's world
champion Lyudmila Rudenko
for the Women's World Chess
Championship, scoring 7 wins, 5
losses, and 2 draws. The event
was held in Moscow. Bykova
was awarded the title of
International Master (IM). She
became the third Women's
World Champion.
In September 1956, Bykova lost

her women's world
championship title to Olga
Rubtsova, who had won the
1955 Women's Candidates
Tournament.
In February-March 1958,
Bykova again won the Women's
after defeating Rubtsova 8.5 to
5.5 (7 wins, 3 draws, and 4
losses). The event was held in
Moscow.
In December 1959-January
1960, Bykova defended her title
by defeating Kira Zvorykina
(who had won the 1959
Women's Candidates
Tournament), scoring 6 wins, 2
losses, and 5 draws. The event
was held in Moscow.
In September-October 1962, she

lost her title to Nona
Gaprindashvili. Nona won by a
score of 7 wins, 4 draws, and no
losses. The match was held in
Moscow.

Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
title.
On March 8, 1989, Bykova died
in Moscow.

Olga Rubtsova (1909-1994)
On August 20, 1909, Olga

Nikolaevna Rubtsova was born
in Moscow.
In 1927, Olga, at the age of 17,

won the first Soviet Women's
Chess Championship, held in
Moscow. She also won it in
1931, 1937, and 1948.
In 1936, Olga graduated as an

engineer from Bauman Moscow
Higher Technical School.
In January 1950, Olga took 2nd

place in the Women's World
Chess Championship, won by
Lyudmila Rudenko.
In October 1955, Rubtsova won

the Women's Candidates
Tournament and qualified to
play in the Women's World
Championship. The event was
held in Moscow.
Instead of directly playing

current women's world
champion Bykova in a match,
FIDE decided that the
championship should be held
between the three top women
players in the world — Bykova,
Rubtsoava, and Rudenko.
In September 1956, Olga
Rubtsova won the Women's
after finishing ahead of
Elisaveta Bykova and Lyudmila
Rudenko. in a match-
tournament, held in Moscow.
Each played an 8-game match
with each other. Rubtsova
scored 10 points, followed by
Bykova with 9.5 points, and
Rudenko with 4.5 points. She
became the fourth Women's
World Chess Champion.
In September 1958, she lost the

title after a match with Bykova.
In 1972, Olga became the first

Women's World
Correspondence Chess
Champion. The event started in
1968, which also included
Lyudmila Rudenko and
Elisabeth Bykova. She is the
only person to become world
champion at over-the-board
chess and correspondence
chess.

Woman Grandmaster title.
On December 13, 1994, Olga

Rubtsova died in Moscow.
Rubtsova is the mother of

Woman Grandmaster Elena
Fatalibekova (1947- ).

Nona Gaprindashvili (1941- )

On May 3, 1941, Nona
Gaprindashvili was born in
Zugdidi, Soviet Georgia.
Nona, age 20, won the fourth
Women's Candidates
Tournament, held in Vrnjacka
Banja, Yugoslavia (now Serbia).
She scored 13 points (10 wins, 6
draws, no losses).
In September-October 1962,
Nona defeated Elisabeth Bykova
in the Women's World Chess
Championship, scoring 9-2 (7
wins, 4 draws, and no losses).
She thus became the fifth
women's world chess champion,
and, at age 21, the youngest up
to that time. The event was held
in Moscow.
In 1963/64, she won at

Hastings.
In 1964, she won the Women's

Soviet Championship. She also
won it in 1973, 1981, 1983, and
1985.
In September-October 1965,
Nona defeated Alla Kushnir
(1941-2013), scoring 8.5-4.5 (7
wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses), for
the Women's World
Championship title. The event
was held in Riga.
In April-May 1969, Nona

defeated Alla Kushnir, scoring
8.5-4.5 (7 wins, 5 draws, and 2
losses), for the Women's World
Championship title. The match
was played in Tbilisi and
Moscow.
In May-June 1972, Nona

defeated Alla Kushnir, scoring
8.5-7.5 (5 wins, 7 draws, and 4
losses), for the Women's World
Chess Championship title. The
match was played in Riga.
Nona defeated Nana Alexandria
(1949- ), scoring 8.5-3.5 (8
wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses), for
the 17th Women's World
was held in Pitsunda and
Tbilisi.
In 1975, she had a perfume

named after her.
In 1977, she tied for 1st place at

the Lone Pine International with
3 other grandmasters.
In 1978, Nona became the first

woman to be awarded the
Grandmaster title.
In 1978, Nona lost to Maya

Chiburdanidze, scoring 6.5-8.5
(2 wins, 4 losses, 9 draws), for
the Women's World
was played in Tbilisi.
Gaprindashvili was world
champion for 16 years.

World Senior Championship.
She also won it 2009, 2014,
2015, and 2016.
In 2013, she was inducted into
the World Chess Hall of Fame.
Her current FIDE (Elo) rating is

2316.
Maya Chiburdanidze (1961- )
On January 17, 1961, Maya

Chiburdanidze was born in
Kutaisa, Soviet Georgia. She
started playing chess at age 8.
In 1976, she became the USSR

girls' champion.
In 1976, she finished 2nd in the

Tbilisi Women's Interzonal, thus
qualifying for the 1977
candidates matches.
In 1977, she became the USSR

women's champion and was
awarded the Woman
Grandmaster (WGM) title.
In January 1978, she won the

women's candidates tournament
after defeating Alla Kushnir in
the finals. She was awarded the
International Master (IM) title.
In 1978, Maya defeated Nona

Gaprindashvili in the Women's
World Championship Match,
scoring 8.5-6.5 (4 wins, 9 draws,
and 2 losses). The event was
held in Tbilisi, Georgia. She
became the 6th women's world
champion, and, at age 17, the
youngest world chess champion
up to that time.
In 1981, Maya tied with Nana
Alexandria in the Women's
both scoring 8-8 (4 wins, 4
losses, and 8 draws). With a tie,
Chburdanidze retained her title.
The match was held in Borsomi
and Tbilisi. Maya had little time
to study chess before the match,
as she was in medical school.
In 1984, Maya defeated Irina

Levitina (1954- ) in the
Match, scoring 8.5-5.5 (5 wins,
6 draws, and 2 losses). The
match was held in Volgograd.

grandmaster (GM) title. She is
the second woman, after
Gaprindashvili, to be awarded
the GM title.
In 1986, Maya defeated Elena

Akhmilovskaya (1957-2012) in
the Women's World
Championship Match, scoring
8.5-5.5 (4 wins, 9 draws, and 1
loss). The match was played in
Sofia, Bulgaria.
In 1988, Maya defeated Nana

Ioseliani (1962- ) in the
match was held in Telavi, Soviet
Georgia.
In 1991, Maya lost to Xie Jun of

China in the Women's World
6.5-8.5 (2 wins, 9 draws, and 4
losses). The match was played
in Manila. Maya had been world
champion for 13 years.

Xie Jun (1970- )
On October 30, 1970, Xie Jun

was born in Baoding, Hebei,
China.
Xie Jun was a strong player of

Chinese chess (xiangqi) in early
childhood and was selected by
the Chinese government to
switch to international, or
western-sytle, chess.
In 1984, she became Chinese

girls' chess champion. In 1988,
she tied for 2nd-4th places at the
World Junior Girls'
Championship, held in
Adelaide.
In 1988, she tied for 2nd place

in the women's world junior
chess championship.
In 1990, China hosted the

second part of the Women's
Candidates Final Chess match.
The players were Yugoslav GM
Alisa Maric and GM Xie Jun.
Xie Jun won and went on to be
the challenger for the women's
world championship match. In
1991, Xie Jun defeated Maya
Chiburdanize in the Women's
scoring 8.5-6.5 (4 wins, 9 draws,
and 2 losses). The match was
held in Manila.
In 1993, she defeated Nana

Ioseliani in the Women's World
8.5-2.5 (7 wns, 3 draws, and 1
loss). The match was held in
Monaco.
In the summer of 1994, Xie Jun

was awarded the Grandmaster
(GM) title.
In 1996, Xie Jun lost to Susan

Polgar in the Women's World
4.5-8.5 (2 wins, 5 draws, and 6
losses). The match was played
in Jaen, Spain.
In 1997, Alisa Galliamova of

Russia won the 1997 Women's
Candidates tournament, with
Xie Jun as runner-up. In August,
1998, China hosted the
Women's Candidates Final
Match between Russian GM
Alisa Galliamova and GM Xie
Jun. Galliamova refused to play
as she objected that the entire
match was scheduled to be
played in China. However,
China was the only country to
bid for the match. The match
was declared forfeited to Xie
Jun.
In 1999, FIDE ruled that Susan

Polgar had forfeited her
Women's World Champion title
and arranged a new title match
between the two Candidates
finalists, Xie Jun and Alisa
Galliamova. Xie Jun won the
match was played in Kazan,
Tatarstan and Shenyang, China.
Thus, Xie Jun regained her title.
In November-December 2000,
Xie Jun won the 61-player
knock-out Women's World
Chess Championship. The event
was held in New Delhi, India.
Xie Jun defeated Qin Kanying
(1974- ) in the final, scoring 2.5-
1.5.
In 2001, Xie Jun, reigning

champion, put her active chess
career on hold at the time and
decided not to defend her title.
Susan Polgar (1969- )
On April 19, 1969, Zsuzsanna

(Zsuzsa or Susan) Polgar was
born in Budapest. At age 4, she
won her first chess tournament,
the Budapest Girls' Under-11
Championship, scoring 10-0.
In 1982, at the age of 12, she

won the first World Under-16
(Girls) Championship, held in
Le Havre, France.
In 1984, at age 15, she was the

top-rated female chess player in
the world.
In 1986, Susan Polgar became

the first woman in history to
qualify for the "men's" World
Chess Championship.
In January 1991, she became the
first woman to earn the
Grandmaster title in the
conventional way of achieving
three Grandmaster norms and an
Elo rating over 2500.
In 1992, she won both the

Women's World Blitz and the
Women's World Rapid
Championship. She also won the
Women's Interzonal in
Shanghai.
In 1993, China hosted the

Women's Candidates
Tournament, which was won by
Susan Polgar.
In 1993, she entered the

cycle, but was eliminated at the
candidates' final match with
Nana Ioseliani.
In 1994, Susan Polgar tied for

1st place with Chiburdanidze in
the 9-player double-round robin
Candidates tournament at
Tilburg, the Netherlands.
In 1995, Susan Polgar won the

playoff from the Candidates,
which qualified her as
challenger in the women's world
championship.
In early 1996 Susan Polgar

defeated Xie Jun in the
match was played in Jaen,
Spain.
In November 1998, she was
scheduled to play and defend her
title against Xie Jun of China.
However, Susan requested a
postponement because she was
pregnant and FIDE was unable
to find a satisfactory sponsor.
Other objections by Susan was
that she was not given enough
time to recuperate, the prize
fund was too small, and the
match was to be held entirely in
China, the home country of her
challenger. When Susan Polgar
refused to play under these
conditions, FIDE declared that
she had forfeited her title.
Susan Polgar sued in the Court

of Arbitration for Sport in
Luasanne, Switzerland. In
March 2001, the case was
settled. She has not participated
in subsequent Women's World
Championship cycles.
Zhu Chen
On March 13, 1976, Zhu Chen

was born in Wenzhou, China.
In 1988, Zhe Chen became the

first Chinese player to win an
international chess competition
when she won the World Girls
Under-12 Championship in
Romania.
In 1994, she won the World

Junior Girls Chess
Championship. She won it again
in 1996. In 1994, she also won
the World Women Under-20
Championship.
Zhu Chen won the Women's
after winning the 64-player
knock-out tournament, held in
Moscow. She beat Alexandra
Kosteniuk in the final by 5 to 3
(5 wins, 3 losses, no draws). She
became China's second women's
world chess champion after Xie
Jun. She was also awarded the
full Grandmaster title.
In 2004, as the reigning

champion, she declined to
defend her title due to a jammed
schedule and her pregnancy.
In 2006, she obtained Qatari

citizenship and since then plays
for Qatar. She had married
grandmaster Mohammad Al-
Modiahki of Qatar and moved
there, where she still lives.
Antoaneta Stefanova (1979- )
On April 19, 1979, Antoaneta

Stefanova was born in Sofia,
Bulgaria. She learned chess at
the age of 4.
In 1989, she won the under-10

girls' section at the World Youth
Chess Championships in
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
In 1992, she won the European

under-14 girls championship.
In 1995, she won the Bulgarian

women's championship.
In June 2002, she won the 3rd
European Individual Women's
Championship in Varna,
Bulgaria.
In July 2002, she was awarded

the full Grandmaster title.
In June 2004, she won the 64-

player Women's World Chess
Championship knockout
tournament, held in Elista,
Kalmykia (and home to Kirsan
Ilyumzhinov, the president of
FIDE). She beat Ekaterina
Kovalevskaya (1974- ) in the
final, scoring 2.5 to 0.5,
becoming the 10th Women's
World Champion.

Women's World Chess
Championship 64-player
knockout tournament, held in
Ekaterinburg, Russia. She was
knocked out in the 2nd round by
Iweta Radziewicz.

World Rapid Chess
Championship.
In 2012, she was the runner-up

of the Women's World Chess
Championship, losing to Anna
Ushenina in the final on the tie-
break.
Xu Yuhua (1976- )
On October 29, 1976, Xu Yuhua

was born in Jinhua, China.
title.
In March 2006, Xu Yuhua won

the Women's World Chess
Championship 64-player knock-
out tournament, held in
Ekaterinburg, Russia. She
defeated Alisa Galliamova
(1972- ) in the final, scoring 2.5
to 0.5. She was the 11th
Women's World Chess
Champion. She is China's 3rd
women's world chess champion,
after Xie Jun and Zhu Chen.
After this event, she was
awarded the full Grandmaster
title.

Women's World Chess
Championship 64-player knock-
out tournament. She got
knocked out in the 2nd round by
Svetlana Matveeva.
In 2009, she won the 2nd FIDE

Women Grand Prix, held in
Nanjing.
Her current FIDE rating is

2465.
Alexandra Kosteniuk (1984- )
On April 23, 1984, Alexandra

Kosteniuk was born in Perm,
Soviet Union. She learned to
play chess at the age of 5.

Under-10 Girls Championship.
In 1996, she won both the
European and the World Under-
12 Girls Championships.
In 1996, she won the Russian

women's championship in rapid
chess.

Woman Grandmaster title.

International Master title.
In 2001, she reached the final of

the World Chess Championship,
but was defeated by Zhu Chen,
losing 3-5.

women's championship.
In November 2004, she was

awarded the International
Grandmaster title, becoming the
10th woman to receive the GM
title.
In 2005, she won the Russian

Women's Championship, held in
Samara, Russia.
In 2006, she became the first

Chess960 (Fischer random)
women's world champion. She
won it again in 2008.
Kosteniuk won the 64-player
Chess Championship after
beating 14-year-old Hou Yifan
in the final, scoring 2.5-1.5 (1
wins and 3 draws). The event
was held in Naichik, Russia. She
was the 12th Women's World
Chess Champion.
Some of the women chess

players expected to play in
Naichuk boycotted the
tournament to protest the war
that was then going on in nearby
Georgia.
In 2010, as the reigning world

champion, she was eliminated in
the 3rd round by Ruan Lufei in
Championship. That event was
won by Hou Yifan.
In 2013, she became the first

woman to win the Swiss Chess
Championship. In the same year,
she won the women's Swiss
Championship.

Swiss Championship again.
Hou Yifan (1994- )
On February 27, 1994, Hou

Yifan was born in Xinghua,
China.
In 2006, at the age of 12, she

participated in the FIDE
in Yekaterinburg.
In January 2007, she was

awarded the title of Woman
Grandmaster.
In June 2007, she became

China's youngest National
Women's Champion ever.
In August 2008, Hou Yifan was

awarded the Grandmaster (GM)
title at the age of 14 years, 6
months, and 2 days, the
youngest ever female to qualify
for the GM title.
Kosteniuk won the 64-player
Chess Championship after
beating 14-year-old Hou Yifan
in the final, scoring 2.5-1.5 (1
wins and 3 draws). The event
was held in Naichik, Russia.
In December 2010, she won the

64-player knock-out Women's
World Chess Championship in
Atakya, Hatay Province, Turkey
at the age of 16. She beat
Humpy Konera in the semi-
final, and Ruan Lufel in the
final, scoring 5-3. That made
Hou Yifan, age 16, the youngest
world chess champion, male or
female, in history.
In November 2011, she defeated

Koneru Humpy of India in the
Women's World Chess
Championship, scoring 5.5-2.5
(3 wins and 5 draws). The match
was held in Tirana, Albania.
Humpy had qualified by
winning the FIDE women's
Grand Prix series.
In 2012, she was eliminated in

the second round of the 64-
player knock-out Women's
World Chess Championship,
held in Khanty Mansiysk,
Western Siberia, Russia. The
event was won by Anna
Ushenina.
In September 2013, she defeated

women's world champion Anna
Ushenina in the Women's World
Chess Championship Match,
held in Taizhou, China. Hou
Yifan scored 5.5 to 1.5.
In 2015, she opted not to play in

the 2015 Women's World Chess
Championship due to a prior
chess tournament commitment
to play an event in Hawaii.
In March 2016, Hou Yifan

defeated women's world
champion Mariya Muzychuk in
Championship Match, held in
Lviv, Ukraine. She scored 6 to
3.
In 2017, Hou Yifan decided not

to enter the Women's World
Chess Championship because of
dissatisfaction with FIDE's
system. She wanted FIDE to
restructure the Women's World
Championship system the same
way the men's cycle is
structured.
Anna Yuriyivna Ushenina

(1985- ) On August 30, 1985,
Anna Yuriyivna Ushenina was
born in Kharkiv, Ukraine. She
learned chess at age 7.
In 2000, she became the

Ukrainian Girls' (under 2)
champion at age 15.

Woman International Master
(WIM) title.

title.

she won the 64-player knock-out
Women's World Chess
Championship, held in Khanty
Mansiysk, Russia. She defeated
Antoaneta Stefanove in the first
set of tie-breaks in the final
round. After the tournament, she
was awarded the Grandmaster
(GM) title.
In 2013, she lost her title after

losing a match with Hou Yifan.
In 2015, she was eliminated in

the second round of the
Knockout tournament for being
late. She had just played a draw
against Marie Sebag of France
and had gone to lunch. She was
late in returning for the first tie-
break game, which she lost by
forfeit. FIDE has a zero
tolerance rule of no lateness
(even by a few seconds) at all
for a game, otherwise, an
automatic forfeit.
In June 2016, she won the

European Women's
Championship.
He current FIDE rating is 2449.
Mariya Olegivna Muzychuk

(1992- )
On September 21, 1992, Mariya

(Maria) Olegivna Muzychuk
was born in Lviv, Ukraine. She
learned chess at a very early
age.
In 2002, she won the under-10

girls' section of the European
Youth Chess Championship,
held in Peniscola, Spain.

Woman International Master
(WIM) title.

Woman Grandmaster (GM)
title.


Ukrainian Chess Championship.
She also won it in 2013.
In March-April 2015, she won

the 64-player knock-out
Women's World Chess
Championship, held in Sochi,
Russia. She defeated Russian
Natalia Pogonina (1985- ) in the
final round. She score 2.5-1.5.
As a result of this victory, she
was awarded the title of
Grandmaster (GM).
In 2016, she lost her world title
against Hou Yifan in the
Women's World Chess
Championship, scoring 3-6.
In 2017, she decided not to

participate in the Women's
World Chess Championship in
Tehran because of the
requirement to wear a hijab.
Her current FIDE rating is

2546.
Tan Zhongyi (1991- )
On May 29, 1991, Tan Zhongyi

was born in Chongqing, China.
In 2000, as an 8-year-old, she
won the World Youth Under-10
Girls Chess Championship, held
in Oropesa del Mar, Spain. In
2001, as a 9-year-old, she again
won the World Youth Under-10
Girls Chess Championship, held
in Oropesa del Mar, Spain. In
2002, she won the World Youth
Under-12 Girls Chess
Heraklion on the island of
Crete.
In September 2008, Tan

Zhongyi (2387) played in the
Women's Knockout Chess
Championships, held in Nalchik,
Russia. She was knocked out in
round 2 by Grandmaster Pia
Cramling (2544). The winner of
that event was Alexandra
Kosteniuk of Russia, who
knocked out Hou Yifan of China
in the final round.
World University Chess
Guimaraes, Portugal. In 2013,
she won the 3rd China Women
Masters Tournament. In 2014,
she won the Asian Women's
Blitz Championship, held in
Sharjah, UAE.
In 2015, she won the Chinese

Women's Chess Championship
in Xinghua, China. Also in
2015, she won the 5th China
Women Masters Tournament. In
August 2015, she won the Asian
Women's Rapid Championship,
held in Al Ain, UAE.

gold medal for board 4 at the
42nd Chess Olympiad, held in
Baku.
In the 2017 Women's World

Chess Championship, a 64-
player knock-out tournament,
9th seed Tan Zhongyi (2502)
defeated GM Anna Muzychuk
(sister of former women's world
chess champion Maria
Muzychuk) in the final round.
They finished the classical
games 2-2 with one win each.
The match then went into a
rapid tie-break. Tan won the
two-game tie-break by drawing
the first game with Black and
winning the second game with
White. This also earned her the
title of Grandmaster. The
tournament was played in
Teheran, Iran, from February
10-28, 2017. Her coach was Yu
Shaoteng. She became the 16th
Women's World Champion and
China's fifth Women's World
Chess Champion (after Xie Jun,
Zhu Chen, Xu Yuhua, and Hou
Yifan.
To get there, Tan knocked out

ex-World Women's champion
Anna Ushenina, top-seed Ju
Wenjun, Harika Dronavalli of
India (she took 3rd place for the
3rd time in a row), and, finally,
Anna Muzychuk. In 6 rounds,
Tan had to play and survive 4
tie-breaks and 2 Armageddon
games. In the first round, Tan
knocked out Sabina-Francesa
Foisor of the United States.
Foisor returned to the U.S. and
on April 9, 2017, she won the
U.S. Women's Chess
Championship in St, Louis.
Sabina-Francesca may not have

been in the right frame of mind
during the tournament, as her
mother, International Master
Cristina Foisor, a 5-time
Romanian chess champion, and
twice World Championship
Candidate, had died a few weeks
before the championship.
To get to the final round, Tan

had to play 28 tough games, but
Muzychuk easily won all her
matches, scoring 9 out of 10
without a single tie-break. The
final tie-break game took place
in the Espinas Palace Hotel.
The Women's World Chess

Championship attracted
worldwide attention because the
participants were made to wear a
hibab, or headscarf, during play.
Another issue was that the
Iranians failed to pay the prize-
fund.
Nazi Paikidze, the 2016 U. S.

women's champion, publically
protested FIDE's decision to
grant the championship to a
country where women are
forced to follow the rules of
wearing a hijab, and decided not
to participate. Irinia Krush also
declined to participate,
concerned about personal safety.
Mariya Muzychuk from Ukraine
and Koneru Humpy of India also
decided not to play because they
did not think Tehran was a
suitable venue.
In 2018, Tan Zhongyi will

defend her title against Ju
Wenjun (1991- ). Ju Wenjun
won the 2016 FIDE Women's
Grand Prix (a series of 6
tournaments) and earned the
challenger spot for the Women's
2018. Ju Wenjun is the second
highest rated woman in the
world, after Hou Yifan.
Here is a list of Women's World

Chess Champions and their
years of reign:
Vera Menchik (1927-1944)

Lyudmila Rudenko (1950-
1953)
Elisaveta Bykova (1953-1956)
Olga Rubtsova (1956-1958)
Elisaveta Bykova (1958-1962)
Nona Gaprindashvili (1962-
1978)
Maya Chiburdanidze (1978-
1991)
Xie Jun (1991-1996)
Susan Polgar (1996-1999)
Xie Jun (1999-2001)
Zhu Chen (2001-2004)
Antoaneta Stefanova (2004-
2006)
Xu Yuhua (2006-2008)
Aleandra Kosteniuk (2008-
2010)
Hou Yifan (2010-2012)
Anna Ushenina (2012-2013)
Hou Yifan (2013-2015)
Mariya Muzychuk (2015-2016)
Hou Yifan (2016-2017)
Tan Zhongyi (2017- )
Here is a list of the Women's

World Chess Championships:
London 1927 — Menchik

Hamburg 1930 — Menchik
Prague 1931 — Menchik
Folkestone 1933 — Menchik
Rotterdam 1934 — Menchik in
a 4-game match with Graf
Warsaw 1935 — Menchik
Stockholm 1937 — Menchik
Semmering 1937 — Menchik in
a 16-game match with Graf
Buenos Aires 1939 — Menchik
Moscow 1950 — Rudenko
Moscow 1953 — Bykova
Moscow 1956 — Rubtsova
Moscow 1962 — Gaprindashvili
Riga 1965 — Gaprindashvili
Tbilisi/Moscow 1969 —
Gaprindashvili
Riga 1972 — Gaprindashvili
Pitsunda/Tbilisi 1975 —
Gaprindashvili
Tbilisi 1978 — Chiburdanidze
Borjomi/Tbilisi 1981 —
Chiburdanidze
Volgograd 1984 —
Chiburdanidze
Sofia 1986 — Chiburdanidze
Telavi 1988 — Chiburdanidze
Manila 1991 — Xie Jun
Monaco 1992 — Xie Jun
Jaen 1996 — Susan Polgar
Kazan/Shenyang 1999 — Xie
Jun
New Delhi 2000 — Xie Jun
Moscow 2001 — Zhu Chen
Elista 2004 — Stefanova
Yekaterinburg 2006 — Xu
Yuhua
Nalchik 2008 — Kosteniuk
Hatay 2010 — Hou Yifan
Tirana 2011 — Hou Yifan
Khanty-Mansiysk 2012 —
Ushenina
Taizhou 2013 — Hou Yifan
Sochi 2015 — Muzychuk
Lviv 2016 — Hou Yifan
Tehran 2010 — Tan Zhongyi
Return to Main Page
Please
report broken or duplicate links
to the Webmaster.
Official Website
Copyright 2017 by William D.
Wall
All Rights Reserved

Women World Champion

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Women World Champion

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Women's World Championship

The Women's World

In 1897, the first Women's Bill Wall

Vera Menchik (1906-1944)

On February 16, 1906, Vera

In 1925, Vera defeated Edith

In July 1927, Vera Menchik

The Women's Tournament was

In 1929, she played at the

In July 1930, Menchik won the

In 1931, Vera Menchik married

In July 1931, Vera Menchik-

In July 1933, Menchik won the

In 1934, Menchik won the

In August 1935, Menchik won

In late 1937, Menchik won the

In 1939, she became manager of

In September 1939, Menchik

Menchik won every Woman's

Vera Menchik was killed, along

She was World's Women

Of interest is that Vera Menchik

In her lifetime, she played and

In 2011, she was inducted in the

On July 27, 1904 Lyudmila

Rudenko was an excellent chess

Rudenko was trained as an

In 1927, she participated in the

In 1928, she won the Moscow

In 1929, she moved to

From 1941 to 1944, during the

In June 1946, Rudenko, on

In January 1950, Rudenko won

In 1952, she won the USSR

In 1953, she was awarded the

In 1955, she won the Uzbekistan

In 1956, she won the open chess

In 1976, she was awarded the

On March 4, 1986, she died in

During her chess career, she

In 2015, Rudenko was inducted

Elisabeth Bykova (1913-1989)

On November 4, 1913, Elisaveta

In 1936, Bykova graduated from

In 1938, she won the women's

In June 1946, Bykova, on board

In 1946, Bykova won the

In January 1950, Bukova took

In 1950, she was awarded the

In September 1953, Bykova

In September 1956, Bykova lost

In September-October 1962, she

In 1976, she was awarded the

In 2013, she was inducted in the

Olga Rubtsova (1909-1994)

On August 20, 1909, Olga

In 1927, Olga, at the age of 17,

In 1936, Olga graduated as an

In January 1950, Olga took 2nd

In October 1955, Rubtsova won

Instead of directly playing

In September 1958, she lost the

In 1972, Olga became the first

In 1976, she was awarded the