The 1959

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship is a chess match played to determine the Women's World Chess Champion. It has been administered by FIDE since its inception in 1927, unlike the absolute World Chess Championship, which only came under FIDE's ...

was won by

Elisabeth Bykova Elisaveta Ivanovna Bykova (or ''Elisabeth Bykova'', Russian: Елизаве́та Ива́новна Бы́кова; 4 November 1913 – 8 March 1989) was a Soviet chess player and twice Women's World Chess Champion, from 1953 until 1956, and a ...

, who successfully defended her title in a match against challenger

Kira Zvorykina Kira Alekseyevna Zvorykina (, ; September 29, 1919 – September 6, 2014) was a Soviet chess player who spent many years living in Belarus. She was a three-time winner of the Women's Soviet Championship. In 2018, she was inducted into the World C ...

1959 Candidates Tournament

The Candidates Tournament was held in

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

in May 1959 and won by Zvorykina, who earned the right to challenge the reigning champion Bykova for the title. :

1959 Championship Match

The championship match was played in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1959. Bykova won comfortably and retained her title. :

References

{{Women's World Chess Championships Women's World Chess Championships 1959 in chess 1959 in women's sport