List of female chess players
From the Middle Ages through the 18th century, 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 18th centuries.[4]
By the 19th century, 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 20th 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 chess players of the later 20th 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.
Grandmasters
There are currently 22 female players to hold the GM title:[5][6]
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 2011, 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 Polgár 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]
International masters
As of 2009[update], 81 women hold the International Master title:[8]
A
- Aginian, Nelly (1981) Armenia - WGM
- Akhsharumova, Anna (1957) Russia, USA - WGM
- Alekhine, Grace (1876–1956) USA, United Kingdom, France
- Alexandria, Nana (1949) Georgia - WGM and IM
- Andriasian, Siranush (1986) Armenia - WIM
- Arakhamia, Ketevan (1968) Georgia - GM 2009
- Atalik, Ekaterina (1982) Russia, Turkey - WGM and IM
B
- Bain, Mary (1904–1972) USA - WIM
- Belakovskaia, Anjelina (1969) Ukraine, USA - WGM
- Belavenets, Liudmila (1940) Russia - ICCF Women's World Champion, WIM
- Bellin, Jana (1947) Czech, England - WGM
- Benedict, Clare (1871–1961) USA, Switzerland
- Benini, Clarice (1905–1976) Italy - WIM
- Beskow, Katarina (1867–1939) Sweden
- Brustman, Agnieszka (1962) Poland - WGM
- Burtman, Sharon Ellen (1968) USA - WIM
- Bykova, Elisabeth (1913–1989) Russia - Women's World Champion, WGM
C
D
E
F
G
- Galliamova, Alisa (1972) Russia - WGM and IM
- Gaprindashvili, Nona (1941) Georgia - Women's World Champion, GM 1978
- Gara, Anita (1983) Hungary - WGM and IM
- Gara, Ticia (1984) Hungary - WGM
- Gerlecka, Regina (1913–1983) Poland
- Gilbert, Ellen (1837–1900) USA
- Gilchrist, Mary Scotland
- Golubenko, Valentina (1990) Estonia, Croatia - WGM
- Graf, Sonja (1914–1965) Germany, Argentina, USA - WIM
- Gresser, Gisela (1906–2000) USA - WIM
- Guggenberger, Ilse (1942) Colombia - WIM
- Gunina, Valentina (1989) Russia - WGM and IM
H
- Hamid, Rani (1944) Bangladesh - WIM
- Harika, Dronavalli (1991) India - WGM and IM
- Harum, Gisela Austria
- Heemskerk, Fenny (1919–2007) The Netherlands - WGM
- Herman, Róża (1902–1995) Poland - WIM
- Hoang, Thanh Trang (1980) Vietnam, Hungary - GM 2007
- Holloway, Edith (1868–1956) England - WIM
- Hołuj-Radzikowska, Krystyna (1931–2006) Poland - WGM
- Hou Yifan (1994) People's Republic of China - GM 2008
- Houska, Jovanka (1980) England - WGM and IM
- Hunt, Harriet (1978) England - WGM and IM
I
J
K
- Kądziołka, Beata (1986) Poland - WGM
- Karff, Mona (1914–1998) Bessarabia (Moldova), Palestine, USA - WIM
- Keller-Hermann, Edith (1921) Germany - WGM
- Khoudgarian, Natalia (1975) Russia, Canada - WIM
- Khurtsidze, Nino (1975) Georgia - WGM and IM
- Klovāne, Astra (1944) Latvia
- Konarkowska-Sokolov, Henrijeta (1938) Poland, Serbia - WGM
- Koneru, Humpy (1987) India - GM 2002
- Kosintseva, Nadezhda (1985) Russia - WGM and IM
- Kosintseva, Tatiana (1986) Russia - WGM and IM
- Kosteniuk, Alexandra (1984) Russia - Women's World Champion, GM 2004
- Kostiuk, Tatiana (1982) Ukraine - WGM
- Kozlovskaya, Valentina (1938) Russia - WGM
- Kristol, Ljuba (1944) Russia, Israel - ICCF Women's World Champion
- Krush, Irina (1983) Ukraine, USA - WGM and IM
- Kushnir, Alla (1941) Russia, Israel - WGM
L
M
- Mádl, Ildikó (1969) Hungary - WGM and IM
- Majdan, Joanna (1988) Poland - WGM
- Marić, Alisa (1970) USA, Serbia - WGM and IM
- Marić, Mirjana (1970) Serbia - WGM
- Marinello, Beatriz (1964) Chile - WIM
- Matveeva, Svetlana (1969) Russia - WGM and IM
- Menchik, Olga (1908–1944) Czechia, England
- Menchik, Vera (1906–1944) Czechia, England - Women's World Champion
- Michell, Edith (1872–1951) England
- Milliet, Sophie (1983) France - WGM and IM
- Mišanović, Vesna (1964) Bosnia and Herzegovina - WGM
- Mkrtchian, Lilit (1982) Armenia - WGM and IM
- Mora, Maria Teresa (1902–1980) Cuba - WIM
- Mutesi, Phiona (1993) Uganda
- Muzychuk, Anna (1990) Ukraine, Slovenia - WGM and IM
N
P
- Pähtz, Elisabeth (1985) Germany - WGM and IM
- Paridar, Shadi (1986) Iran - WGM
- Peng, Zhaoqin (1968) People's Republic of China, Netherlands - GM 2004
- Soňa Pertlová (1988–2011) Czech Republic - WIM
- Piatigorsky, Jacqueline (1911) France, USA
- Pogonina, Natalia (1985) Russia - WGM
- Polgár, Judit (1976) Hungary - GM 1991
- Polgár, Sófia (1974) Hungary, Israel - WGM and IM
- Polgar, Susan (1969) Hungary, USA - Women's World champion, GM 1991
- Pourkashiyan, Atousa (1988) Iran - WGM
- Price, Edith Charlotte (1872–1956) England
- Ptáčníková, Lenka (1976) Iceland - WGM
Q
R
- Rajlich, Iweta (1981) Poland - WGM and IM
- Reischer, Salome (1899–1980) Austria - WIM
- Reizniece-Ozola, Dana (1981) Latvia - WGM
- Richards, Heather (1983) England - WIM
- Riegler, Alessandra (1961) Italy - ICCF Women's World Champion
- Rinder, Friedl (1905–2001) Germany - WIM
- Rogule, Laura (1988) Latvia - WGM
- Roodzant, Catharina (1896–1999) The Netherlands
- Roos, Nancy (1905–1957) United States
- Rootare, Salme (1913–1987) Estonia - WIM
- Ross, Laura (1988) United States - WFM
- Rubene, Ilze (1958-2002) - WIM
- Rubtsova, Olga (1909–1992) Russia - Women's World Champion and IFCC Women's World Champion, WGM
- Rudenko, Lyudmila (1904–1986) Ukraine, Russia - Women's World Champion, WGM
- Rudge, Mary (1842–1919) England
S
- Šafranska, Anda (1960) Latvia - WGM
- Schwartzmann, Paulette (1910–19??) Latvia, France, Argentina
- Schneider, Veronika (1987) Hungary - WGM
- Sebag, Marie (1986) France - GM 2008
- Semenova, Lidia (1951) Ukraine - WGM
- Shahade, Jennifer (1980) USA - WGM
- Sheldon, Ruth (1980) England - WIM
- Skripchenko, Almira (1976) Moldova, France - WGM and IM
- Soćko, Monika (1978) Poland - GM 2008
- Srebrnič, Ana (1984) Slovenia - WGM
- Starr, Nava (1949) Latvia, Canada - WIM
- Stefanova, Antoaneta (1979) Bulgaria - Women's World Champion, GM 2003
- Stevenson, Agnes (18??–1935) England
- Stock, Lara (1992) Germany, Croatia WGM
- Sukhareva, Olga (1984) Russia - ICCF Women's World Champion
T
U
V
W
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
Y
Z
- Zatonskih, Anna (1978) Ukraine, USA - WGM and IM
- Zatulovskaya, Tatiana (1935) Azerbaijan, Russia, Israel - WGM
- Zhao Xue (1985) People's Republic of China - GM 2008
- Zhu Chen (1976) People's Republic of China, Qatar - Women's World champion, GM 2001
- Zhukova, Natalia (1979) Ukraine - WGM
- Zvorykina, Kira (1920) Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria - WGM
See also
References
External links