Elisabeth Pähtz (born January 8, 1985, sometimes spelt Elisabeth Paehtz) is a German chess Grandmaster.4th FIDE Council Meeting: List of decisions
FIDE, 6 December 2022Paehtz, Elisabeth
FIDE, accessed 6 December 2022 She has been among the strongest German female chess players since her youth. In 2002, Pähtz became the World Youth Champion of the girls' under-18 age group, and in 2005, the World Junior Girls Champion. She won the 2018 European Women's Championship in

rapid chess Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, bli ...

. In 2021, she scored what was reported to be her third grandmaster norm; however, the validity of one of her earlier presumed norms was in doubt.https://perlenvombodensee.de/2022/01/14/elisabeth-paehtz-und-der-gm-titel/ "Elisabeth Pähtz und der GM-Titel", 14 January 2022 After a lengthy process, FIDE made an individual decision on her case in December 2022, making Pähtz the first German woman to earn the

FIDE title FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

of Grandmaster (GM).

Early life

Pähtz was born in 1985 in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

, Germany. Her father, Thomas Pähtz, is a chess grandmaster and played chess with his daughter from a young age on. At the age of nine years she won her first German championship, in the under-11 age group. In 1999 she became Germany's women's chess champion. She served as one of four advisors on the World team in the 1999

Kasparov versus The World Kasparov versus the World was a game of chess played in 1999 over the Internet. It was a , in which a World Team of thousands decided each move for the black pieces by plurality vote, while Garry Kasparov conducted the white pieces by himself. M ...

chess match. Pähtz attended the Sport High School Dresden until 2004 where she was awarded her '' Abitur'' diploma in 2005. She plays - among others - for the Dresdner Sport Club 1898 in the German women's league and for the SC Kreuzberg in the German chess men's league. As one of the strongest German female talents, Pähtz was the subject of media interest when growing up and was featured in a multitude of television shows. After High School she enlisted in the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

, as part of the army's sports promotion group. In September 2015 she

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

Italian GM Luca Shytaj. They separated in 2018.

International career

In 2002 Pähtz became the World Youth Champion of the girls' under-18 age group, and in 2005 the World Junior Girls Champion. She has played for Germany in 10 women's

chess olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 an ...

s between 1998 and 2016. She also played for Germany in the women's

World Team Chess Championship The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads ...

in 2007, scoring +2 =6 -0 for which she won the individual bronze medal on board one. She has also played for Germany in nine women's

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

s between 1999 and 2015. She won the individual bronze medal on board two in 2001 with a score of +3 =4 -1 at León, Spain. In 2017 she won the bronze medal in the women's

World Rapid Chess Championship The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under fast chess, rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE recogn ...

in Riyadh. Pähtz won the 2018 European Women's Championship in rapid chess and was the runner-up in the respective blitz chess tournament. Her performance in classic chess was also very strong and she entered the top 10 in the women's

FIDE world rankings The International Chess Federation (FIDE) governs international chess competition. Each month, FIDE publishes the lists "Top 100 Players", "Top 100 Women", "Top 100 Juniors" and "Top 100 Girls" rankings of countries according to the average rating ...

in September 2018. In 2019 she won the bronze medal in the women's

European Individual Chess Championship The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organised by the European Chess Union. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis. Apart from determining the European champions (open and women's), ...

. In November 2021 she finished second in the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss Tournament, scoring a grandmaster

norm Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envi ...

. Three norms are needed to become a grandmaster, and Pähtz has a previous norm from 2011, and another possible norm from 2016. Her 2016 result was initially considered to be a GM norm by the tournament's referee and the then-leader of the FIDE Title Commission, Werner Stubenvoll. However, after Pähtz' 2021 norm and the official application for a GM title in early 2022, Stubenvoll reversed his position, and the Title Commission recommended not to accept her 2016 result as a norm, as she only had two GM opponents instead of the three required for a norm.Elisabeth Paehtz: 'For every kilo I gained, I gained ten Elo points'
Chessbase, November 10, 2021 It was reported in May 2022 that the FIDE Council deferred the decision whether Pähtz will receive the grandmaster title or not. After a decision in December 2022, Pähtz was awarded the title.

References

External links

Elisabeth Paehtz
chess games at 365Chess.com *
Press Conference with Elisabeth Paehtz

Personal web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pahtz, Elisabeth 1985 births Living people Chess grandmasters Female chess grandmasters German female chess players World Youth Chess Champions World Junior Chess Champions Sportspeople from Erfurt