List of female chess players

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From the Middle Ages through the 1700s, chess was a popular social pastime for both men and women of the upper classes. Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I played, and Thomas Jefferson wrote several times about Benjamin Franklin's playing chess in Paris with socially important women, including the Duchess of Bourbon, who was "a chess player of about his force". [1] Chess games between men and women were a common theme of European art. [2] [3] and literature in the fourteenth through eighteenth centuries. [4]

By the 1800s, however, the chess world had become dominated by male chess players, perhaps as a result of card playing becoming socially acceptable for mixed groups. Then during the twentieth century, female players again made significant progress in breaking the male stranglehold on the game, although remaining fewer than 5% of registered tournament players.

The country of Georgia produced some of the best women chessplayers of the latter twentieth century, including the first female International Grandmaster Nona Gaprindashvili, who was awarded a special title in 1978. By the mid-1980s a number of women were competing regularly in events with men. In 1991, Susan Polgar became the first woman to earn the Grandmaster title on the same basis as the men, by earning Grandmaster norms. There are currently 14 female players to hold the GM title[5] [6]:

Name Country Birth Date Date Age Earned World Champion Peak
Rating		 Notes
Nona Gaprindashvili Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia 1941-05-03 1978 37 WCC 1962–1978 2376 First woman Grandmaster
Maia Chiburdanidze Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia 1961-01-17 1984 23 WCC 1978–1991 2550
Susan Polgar Flag of Hungary Hungary
Flag of the United States United States		 1969-04-19 1991 21 norms 1996–1999 2577 First to be awarded the title traditionally
Judit Polgár Flag of Hungary Hungary 1976-07-23 1991 15 norms – 2735 Youngest grandmaster ever at the time
Pia Cramling Flag of Sweden Sweden 1963-04-23 1992 29 norms – 2535
Xie Jun Flag of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China 1970-10-30 1995 32 norms 1991–1996,1999–2001 2573
Zhu Chen Flag of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China
Flag of Qatar Qatar		 1976-03-16 2001 25 norms 2001–2004 2539
Koneru Humpy Flag of India India 1987-03-31 2002 15 norms – 2606 Youngest female grandmaster
Antoaneta Stefanova Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 1979-04-19 2003 25 norms 2004–2006 2560
Alexandra Kosteniuk Flag of Russia Russia 1984-03-23 2004 20 EWC – 2540
Peng Zhaoqin Flag of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China 1968-05-08 2004 36 EWC – 2472
Hoang Thanh Trang Flag of Vietnam Vietnam 1980-04-25 2007 27  ?? – 2493
Kateryna Lahno Flag of Ukraine Ukraine 1989-12-27 2007 17  ?? – 2509
Xu Yuhua Flag of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China 1976-10-29 2007 30  ?? 2006–current 2517

There is also a Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title, but the requirements for achieving it are much lower. Still, chess has not regained its former social status among women. As of 2005, no woman has ever been the world champion, and only a handful have made it to the top 500 players. Even so, the strength of women players continues to climb, and by 2005 most of the top 10 women held the Grandmaster title. In September 2005, Susan Polgar's younger sister GM Judit Polgar of Hungary, then rated #8 in the world by the international chess organization FIDE, became the first woman to play for the World Championship title. [7]

Contents Top · 0–9 · A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[edit] A

[edit] B

[edit] C

[edit] D

[edit] E

  • Eidelson, Rakhil (1958) Belarus - WGM
  • Ereńska, Hanna (1946) Poland - WGM

[edit] F

  • Fatalibekova, Elena (1947) Russia - WGM
  • Fatima India, United Kingdom
  • Fierro, Martha (1977) Ecuador - WGM and IM
  • Forbes, Cathy (1968) England - WIM

[edit] G

[edit] H

[edit] I

[edit] J

  • Jovanović, Katrina (1943) Serbia - WIM

[edit] K

[edit] L

[edit] M

[edit] N

  • Nedeljković, Vera (1924) Serbia - WGM
  • Nicolau, Alexandra van der Mije (1940) Romania, The Netherlands - WGM

[edit] O

  • Obermüller, Vera (19??-1967) Poland

[edit] P

[edit] Q

[edit] R

[edit] S

[edit] T

  • Tonini, Alice Italy
  • Tranmer, Eileen (1910–1983) England - WIM

[edit] U

[edit] V

[edit] W

[edit] X

  • Xie Jun (1970) People's Republic of China - Women's World champion, GM 1994
  • Xu Yuhua (1976) People's Republic of China - Women's World champion, GM 2007

[edit] Y

[edit] Z

[edit] See also

[edit] External links