Women's World Chess Championship - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Women's World Chess Championship is played to determine the women's world champion in chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

. Like the World Chess Championship

World Chess Championship

The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....

, it is administered by FIDE.

Unlike most sports, women are able to compete against men in chess, and so some women do not compete for the women's title. Notably, the world's top rated female player for the past 20 years, Judit Polgár

Judit Polgár

Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...

(and by far the highest FIDE-rated woman in chess history), has never competed for the women's title.

Era of Menchik

The Women's World Championship was established by FIDE in 1927 as a single tournament held alongside the Chess Olympiad

Chess Olympiad

The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...

. The winner of that tournament, Vera Menchik

Vera Menchik

Vera Menchik was a British-Czech chess player who gained renown as the world's first women's chess champion. She also competed in chess tournaments with some of the world's leading male chess masters, defeating many of them, including future World Champion Max Euwe.The daughter of a Czech father...

, did not have any special rights as the men's champion did — instead she had to defend her title by playing as many games as all the challengers. She did this successfully in every other championship in her lifetime (1930, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1937 and 1939).

Dominance of the Soviet Union players (1950–1991)

Menchik died, still champion, in 1944 in a German air raid on Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

. The next championship was another round-robin tournament

Round-robin tournament

A round-robin tournament is a competition "in which each contestant meets all other contestants in turn".-Terminology:...

in 1949–50 and was won by Lyudmila Rudenko

Lyudmila Rudenko

Lyudmila Vladimirovna Rudenko was a Soviet chess player and the second Women's World Chess Champion from 1950 until 1953.She was awarded the FIDE International Master and Woman International Master titles in 1950, and the Woman Grandmaster title in 1976...

. Thereafter a system similar to that of the men's championship was established, with a cycle of Candidates events (and later Interzonals) to pick a challenger to face the reigning champion.

The first such Candidates tournament was held in Moscow, 1952. Elisabeth Bykova

Elisabeth Bykova

Elisaveta Ivanovna Bykova was a Soviet chess player and the third and fifth Women's World Chess Champion, from 1953 until 1956, and again from 1958 to 1962.In 1938 she won the women's Moscow championship and after the second world war she was a...

won and proceeded to defeat Rudenko with seven wins, five losses, and two draws

Draw (chess)

In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...

to become the third champion. The next Candidates tournament was won by Olga Rubtsova

Olga Rubtsova

Olga Nikolaevna Rubtsova was a Soviet chess player and fourth Women's World Chess Champion.She won the Soviet Women's Championship four times , and was second in the 1950 World Championship, a point behind Lyudmila Rudenko...

. Instead of directly playing Bykova, however, FIDE decided that the championship should be held between the three top players in the world. Rubtsova won at Moscow in 1956, one-half point ahead of Bykova, who finished five points ahead of Rudenko. Bykova regained the title in 1958 and defended it against Kira Zvorykina

Kira Zvorykina

Kira Alekseyevna Zvorykina is a former Soviet chess player who spent many years living in Belarus. She is a three-time winner of the Women's Soviet Championship.-Formative years:...

, winner of a Candidates tournament, in 1959.

The fourth Candidates tournament was held in 1961 in Vrnjacka Banja

Vrnjacka Banja

Vrnjačka Banja is a town, municipality, and a resort, mineral spa located in Raška District of Serbia. It contains the world's only hot spring with a temperature measuring exactly that of the human body ....

, and was utterly dominated by Nona Gaprindashvili

Nona Gaprindashvili

Nona Gaprindashvili is a Georgian chess player, the sixth women's world chess champion , and first female Grandmaster. Born in Zugdidi, Georgia , she was the strongest female player of her generation....

of Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

, who won with ten wins, zero losses, and six draws. She then decisively defeated Bykova with seven wins, no losses, and four draws in Moscow, 1962 to become champion. Gaprindashvili defended her title against Alla Kushnir

Alla Kushnir

Alla Shulimovna Kushnir is a Russian–born Israeli chess Woman Grandmaster.Kushnir was thrice Women's World Chess Championship Challenger. She lost matches for the title to Nona Gaprindashvili:* +3 –7 =3 at Riga 1965;* +2 –6 =5 at Tbilisi–Moscow 1969;...

of Russia at Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

1965 and Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

/Moscow 1969. In 1972, FIDE introduced the same system for the women's championship as with the men's: a series of Interzonal tournaments, followed by the Candidates matches. Kushnir won again, only to be defeated by Gaprindashvili at Riga 1972. Gaprindashvili defended the title one last time against Nana Alexandria

Nana Alexandria

Nana Alexandria is a Georgian chess Woman Grandmaster and International Arbiter . She was the challenger in two matches for the Women's World Chess Championship....

of Georgia at Pitsunda

Pitsunda

Pitsunda is a resort town in Gagra district of Abkhazia.The town was founded by the Greeks in the 5th century BC as a trade colony Pityus or Pitiunt. Excavations guided by Andria Apakidze unearthed remains of three 4th-century churches and a bath with superb mosaic floors...

/Tbilisi 1975.

In 1976–1978 Candidates cycle, 17-year-old Maya Chiburdanidze of Georgia ended up the surprise star, defeating Nana Alexandria, Elena Akhmilovskaya, and Alla Kushnir to face Gaprindashvili in the 1978 finals at Tbilisi. Chiburdanidze proceeded to soundly defeat Gaprindashvili, marking the end of one Georgian's domination and the beginning of another's. Chiburdanidze defended her title against Alexandria at Borjomi

Borjomi

Borjomi is a resort town in south-central Georgia with a population estimated at 14,445. It is one of the districts of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and is situated in the northwestern part of the region in the picturesque Borjomi Gorge on the eastern edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park...

/Tbilisi 1981 and Irina Levitina

Irina Levitina

Irina Solomonovna Levitina is a Russian-American chess and bridge player. In chess, she has been a World Championship Candidate and gained the title Woman Grandmaster. In contract bridge she has been five times the World Champion.-Chess career:In 1973, she tied for 2nd-5th in Menorca...

at Volgograd

Volgograd

Volgograd , formerly called Tsaritsyn and Stalingrad is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River...

1984. Following this, FIDE reintroduced the Candidates tournament system. Akhmilovskaya, who had earlier lost to Chiburdanidze in the Candidates matches, won the tournament was but was still defeated by Chiburdanidze at Sofia 1986. Chiburdanidze's final title defense came against Nana Ioseliani

Nana Ioseliani

Nana Mikhailovna Ioseliani is a Georgian woman chess player. She has held the FIDE Woman Grandmaster title since 1980, and the International Master title since 1993....

at Telavi

Telavi

Telavi is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 21,800 inhabitants . The city is located on foot-hills of Tsiv-Gombori Range at 500-800 meters above the sea level....

1988.

Post-soviet era (1991–2010)

Chiburdanidze's domination ended in Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

1991, where the young Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

star Xie Jun

Xie Jun

Xie Jun is a chess grandmaster from China. She had two reigns as Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2001. Xie is only the second woman to have two reigns, the other being Elisabeth Bykova....

defeated her, after finishing second to the still-active Gaprindashvili in an Interzonal, tying with Alisa Marić

Alisa Maric

Alisa Marić is a Serbian chess player, who holds the FIDE titles of Woman Grandmaster and International Master. She is living in Belgrade, capital of Serbia . She has dual citizenship, Serbian and American...

in the Candidates tournament, and then beating Maric in a tie-breaker match.

It was during this time that the three Polgar sisters Susan

Susan Polgar

Susan Polgar is a Hungarian-American chess Grandmaster...

(also known as Zsuzsa), Sofia (Zsófia), and Judit

Judit Polgár

emerged as dominant players. However they tended to compete in men's tournaments, avoiding the women's championship.

Susan Polgar eventually changed her policy. She won the 1992 Candidates tournament in Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

. The Candidates final - an eight game match between the top two finishers in the tournament - was a drawn match between Polgar and Ioseliani, even after two tiebreaks. The match was decided by a lottery, which Ioseliani won. She was then promptly crushed by Xie Jun (8½-2½) in the championship at Monaco

Monaco

Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

1993.

The next cycle was dominated by Polgar. She tied with Chiburdanidze in the Candidates tournament, defeated her easily in the match (5½-1½), and then decisively defeated Xie Jun (8½-4½) in Jaén 1996 for the championship.

In 1997, Russian Alisa Galliamova

Alisa Galliamova

Alisa Galliamova is a Russian chess player, who was born to Russian father and Tatar mother. She holds the FIDE titles Woman Grandmaster and International Master. In 1988 she won the World Junior Girls Chess Championship...

and Chinese Xie Jun finished first and second, but Galliamova refused to play the final match entirely in China. FIDE eventually awarded the match to Xie Jun by default.

However, by the time all these delays were sorted out, Polgar had given birth to her first child. She requested that the match be postponed. FIDE refused, and eventually set up the championship to be between Galliamova and Xie Jun. The championship was held in Kazan

Kazan

Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...

, Tatarstan

Tatarstan

The Republic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of Russia located in the Volga Federal District. Its capital is the city of Kazan, which is one of Russia's largest and most prosperous cities. The republic borders with Kirov, Ulyanovsk, Samara, and Orenburg Oblasts, and with the Mari El, Udmurt,...

and Shenyang

Shenyang

Shenyang , or Mukden , is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing or Fengtianfu...

, China, and Xie Jun won with five wins, three losses, and seven draws.

In 2000 a knock-out event

Single-elimination tournament

A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...

, similar to the FIDE men's title and held alongside it, was the new format of the women's world championship. It was won by Xie Jun. In 2001 a similar event determined the champion, Zhu Chen

Zhu Chen

Zhu Chen is a chess Grandmaster. In 2001, she became China's second women's world chess champion after Xie Jun, and China's 13th Grandmaster.She today plays for Qatar.-Biography:...

. Another knock-out, this one held separately from the men's event, in Elista

Elista

-Twin towns/sister cities:Elista is twinned with the following sister cities. Howell, New Jersey, United States Lhasa, Tibet, China. Ulan-Ude, Buryat Republic, Russia-See also:*Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery*Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume-External links:...

, the capital of the Russian republic of Kalmykia

Kalmykia

The Republic of Kalmykia is a federal subject of Russia . Population: It is the only Buddhist region in Europe. It has also become well-known as an international chess mecca because its former President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, is the head of the International Chess Federation .-Geography:*Area:...

(of which FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov

Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov is a Kalmyk multi-millionaire businessman and politician. He was the President of the Republic of Kalmykia in the Russian Federation from 1993 to 2010, and he has been the President of FIDE , the world's pre-eminent international chess organization, since 1995...

is president), from May 21 to June 8, 2004, produced Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

n Antoaneta Stefanova

Antoaneta Stefanova

Antoaneta Stefanova is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster, and a former Women's World Chess Champion. She became the twelfth holder of that title in 2004 in a 64-player knockout tournament held in Elista, Kalmykia under the auspices of FIDE....

as champion. As with Polgar five years prior, Zhu Chen did not participate due to pregnancy.

In 2006 the title returned to China. Interestingly, the new champion Xu Yuhua was pregnant during the championship.

In 2008, the title went to Russian grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk

Alexandra Kosteniuk

Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk is a Russian chess Grandmaster and a former Women's World Chess Champion.-Chess career:Kosteniuk learned to play chess at the age of five after being taught by her father...

, who, in the final, beat Chinese prodigy Hou Yifan

Hou Yifan

Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess prodigy. She is the reigning Women's World Chess Champion, the youngest ever to win the title, as well as the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster.At the age of 12, Hou became the youngest player ever to participate in the FIDE Women's...

2½-1½ (see Women's World Chess Championship 2008

Women's World Chess Championship 2008

The Women's World Chess Championship 2008 consisted of a tournament for the Women's World Chess Championship which took place from August 28, 2008 to September 18 in Nalchik in Russia. It was won by Alexandra Kosteniuk, who beat Hou Yifan in the final by 2½ to 1½.-Participants:Players were seeded...

Yearly tournaments (2010–)

Beginning from 2010, the Women's World Chess Championship will be held annually in alternating formats. In even years a 64-player knockout

Single-elimination tournament

system will be used, in the odd years a classical match featuring only two players will be held. The 2011 edition will be contested between the 2010 champion Hou Yifan

Hou Yifan

and the winner of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2009–2011. The match will consist of 10 games. Since Hou Yifan

Hou Yifan

won the Grand Prix, her challenger will be the runner-up, Koneru Humpy.

Women's World Champions

Name	Years	Country
Vera Menchik Vera Menchik Vera Menchik was a British-Czech chess player who gained renown as the world's first women's chess champion. She also competed in chess tournaments with some of the world's leading male chess masters, defeating many of them, including future World Champion Max Euwe.The daughter of a Czech father...	1927–1944	Soviet Union / Czechoslovakia / United Kingdom
Lyudmila Rudenko Lyudmila Rudenko Lyudmila Vladimirovna Rudenko was a Soviet chess player and the second Women's World Chess Champion from 1950 until 1953.She was awarded the FIDE International Master and Woman International Master titles in 1950, and the Woman Grandmaster title in 1976...	1950–1953	Soviet Union
Elisabeth Bykova Elisabeth Bykova Elisaveta Ivanovna Bykova was a Soviet chess player and the third and fifth Women's World Chess Champion, from 1953 until 1956, and again from 1958 to 1962.In 1938 she won the women's Moscow championship and after the second world war she was a...	1953–1956	Soviet Union
Olga Rubtsova Olga Rubtsova Olga Nikolaevna Rubtsova was a Soviet chess player and fourth Women's World Chess Champion.She won the Soviet Women's Championship four times , and was second in the 1950 World Championship, a point behind Lyudmila Rudenko...	1956–1958	Soviet Union
Elisabeth Bykova Elisabeth Bykova Elisaveta Ivanovna Bykova was a Soviet chess player and the third and fifth Women's World Chess Champion, from 1953 until 1956, and again from 1958 to 1962.In 1938 she won the women's Moscow championship and after the second world war she was a...	1958–1962	Soviet Union
Nona Gaprindashvili Nona Gaprindashvili Nona Gaprindashvili is a Georgian chess player, the sixth women's world chess champion , and first female Grandmaster. Born in Zugdidi, Georgia , she was the strongest female player of her generation....	1962–1978	Soviet Union Georgia
Maya Chiburdanidze	1978–1991	Soviet Union Georgia
Xie Jun Xie Jun Xie Jun is a chess grandmaster from China. She had two reigns as Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2001. Xie is only the second woman to have two reigns, the other being Elisabeth Bykova....	1991–1996	People's Republic of China
Susan Polgar Susan Polgar Susan Polgar is a Hungarian-American chess Grandmaster...	1996–1999	Hungary
Xie Jun Xie Jun Xie Jun is a chess grandmaster from China. She had two reigns as Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2001. Xie is only the second woman to have two reigns, the other being Elisabeth Bykova....	1999–2001	People's Republic of China
Zhu Chen Zhu Chen Zhu Chen is a chess Grandmaster. In 2001, she became China's second women's world chess champion after Xie Jun, and China's 13th Grandmaster.She today plays for Qatar.-Biography:...	2001–2004	People's Republic of China
Antoaneta Stefanova Antoaneta Stefanova Antoaneta Stefanova is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster, and a former Women's World Chess Champion. She became the twelfth holder of that title in 2004 in a 64-player knockout tournament held in Elista, Kalmykia under the auspices of FIDE....	2004–2006	Kingdom of Bulgaria
Xu Yuhua	2006–2008	People's Republic of China
Alexandra Kosteniuk Alexandra Kosteniuk Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk is a Russian chess Grandmaster and a former Women's World Chess Champion.-Chess career:Kosteniuk learned to play chess at the age of five after being taught by her father...	2008–2010	Russia
Hou Yifan Hou Yifan Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess prodigy. She is the reigning Women's World Chess Champion, the youngest ever to win the title, as well as the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster.At the age of 12, Hou became the youngest player ever to participate in the FIDE Women's...	2010–	People's Republic of China

External links

http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/wcc-womn.htm - WCC for Women (Interzonal, Candidates, World Championship)
http://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa04c20.htm - a history of women's world chess champions
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2910 - chessbase report on 2006 championship, includes listing of all past champions (with dates)

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