Maaja Ranniku (born 1 March 1941 in

Abja-Paluoja Abja-Paluoja is a Populated places in Estonia, town in Mulgi Parish, Viljandi County, in southern Estonia. Before 2017, it was the administrative centre of Abja Parish. Abja-Paluoja was first mentioned in 1505. Abja-Paluoja gained town rights in ...

- died 24 October 2004 in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

) was an Estonian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player (represented the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

until 1991). She was twice the winner of the Women's Soviet Championship: in 1963 (after beating at tiebreak

Tatiana Zatulovskaya Tatiana Zatulovskaya ( he, טטיאנה זטולובסקיה; russian: Татьяна Яковлевна Затуловская, ; 8 December 1935 – 2 July 2017) was an Israeli (formerly Soviet and Russian) chess player. She was three-time Sov ...

4-2) and 1967. She was awarded the title of

Woman International Master 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 ...

in 1964. Maaja Ranniku participated to many Estonian Championships, winning the women's title 10 times (1961, 1963, 1967, 1973, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1988, and 1991). At the 1964 women's Candidates Tournament, played in

Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...

, she placed 6th in a field of 18 players. In 1992 she played with the Estonian team at the

30th Chess Olympiad The 30th Chess Olympiad ( tl, Ika-30 Olimpiyadang pang-ahedres), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as wel ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, scoring 6½ points out of 11 games played. She had many good results in international tournaments: * 1969 : first place at

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

* 1971 : first place at Braşov * 1973 : second place at

Vrnjačka Banja Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 10,065 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 27,527 inhabitants. Vrnja ...

* 1978 : third place at the women's zonal tournament in Frunze A photograph of her is publishe
here

References

External links

Biography
(in Estonian) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranniku, Maaja 1941 births 2004 deaths Estonian female chess players Soviet female chess players Chess Woman International Masters 20th-century chess players