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 control in 1948. There have been three main eras in the history of the Women's World Championship: the Menchik era (1927–1944), the Soviet-dominated era (1950–1991), and the China-dominated era (1991–present). Vera Menchik won every Women's World Championship from 1927 to 1944. The Soviet Union won every Women's World Championship from 1950 until 1991, particularly Georgian champions Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze, who combined for ten titles in a row, five each in succession. From 1991 onwards, China has 16 of the last 21 titles, spread across six different champions, including two four-time champions Xie Jun and Hou Yifan, and the reigning five-time World Champion Ju Wenjun. The championship has not always used a matc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ju Wenjun In 2024 (cropped)
JU may refer to: Names and people * Joo (Korean name), surname and given name (including a list of people with the name) * Jū (鞠), Chinese surname * Ru (surname), romanized Ju in Wade–Giles * Ji Ju, a semi-legendary ancestor of the Zhou dynasty * Ju (writer) (born 1958), Burmese writer * Juh (c. 1825–1883), Apache leader Places * Ju (city), a city of the State of Qi during the Warring States Period of China * Ju (state), a vassal state of the Zhou Dynasty * Ju County (莒县), of Rizhao, Shandong, China * Juan de Nova Island, administered by France (FIPS code ''JU'') * Zhou (country subdivision), pronounced ''ju'' in Korean * Canton of Jura (created in 1979), newest of the 26 Swiss cantons Businesses and organizations Universities * University of Jordan, located in Amman, Jordan * Jacksonville University, a university in Jacksonville, Florida, United States * Jadavpur University, a university in Kolkata, India * Jahangirnagar University, a public university in Savar, Bangl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elisaveta 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 again from 1958 to 1962. She was awarded the titles of Woman International Master in 1950, International Master in 1953, and Woman Grandmaster in 1976. In 2013, she was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame. Career Bykova was born to a peasant family. When she was twelve, her family moved to Moscow, where she began to play chess with her brother. Her talent became apparent in 1927, when she won her school's chess championship. In 1938, she won the women's Moscow championship and after the Second World War she was a three-time winner of the Women's Soviet Chess Championship (1946, 1947 and 1950). After winning in 1952 the Women's Candidates Tournament in Moscow, in 1953 she defeated in Leningrad the reigning champion Lyudmila Ru ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Borjomi
Borjomi ( ka, ბორჯომი ) is a resort town in south-central Georgia with a population of 11,173 (as of 2024). Located 165 km from Tbilisi, it is one of the six municipalities of the Samtskhe–Javakheti region and is situated in the northwestern part of the region in the picturesque Borjomi Gorge on the eastern edge of Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. The town is noted for its mineral water industry, the Romanov summer palace in Likani and the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Borjomi mineral water is particularly well-known in Georgia as well as other countries that were part of the former Soviet Union; the bottling of mineral water is a major source of income for the area. Because of the supposed curative powers of the area's mineral springs, it is a frequent destination for people with health problems. Borjomi is also home to the most extensive ecologically-themed amusement park in the Caucasus. History In the Middle Ages, the area of what is now Borjom ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elena Akhmilovskaya
Elena Donaldson-Akhmilovskaya (born ''Elena Bronislavovna Akhmilovskaya'', ; 11 March 1957 – 18 November 2012) was a Soviet-born American chess player. She was awarded the title of Woman Grandmaster by FIDE in 1977. She won the Women Candidates' tournament in 1986 and later in the same year played a match against Maia Chiburdanidze in Sofia for the Women's World Championship title, but lost by 8½–5½. Donaldson-Akhmilovskaya was born in Leningrad in a family where all members played chess. In 1969 the family moved to Krasnoyarsk, where she started playing chess in the local Pioneers Palace chess circle. She lived in Sochi, then in Tbilisi, Georgia from 1979 until 1988, when she abruptly eloped to the United States by marrying U.S. team captain John Donaldson at the Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki, Greece. She lived in the Seattle area with her new husband, Georgi Orlov (himself an International Master), and their son after 1990. Her daughter from a previous marri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maya Chiburdanidze
Maia Chiburdanidze ( ka, მაია ჩიბურდანიძე; born 17 January 1961) is a Georgia (country), Georgian chess Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster. She is the sixth Women's World Chess Championship, Women's World Chess Champion, a title she held from 1978 to 1991, and was the youngest one until 2010, when this record was broken by Hou Yifan. Chiburdanidze is the second woman to be awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE, which took place in 1984. She has played on nine gold-medal-winning teams in the Women's Chess Olympiad. Early life and career Maia Chiburdanidze was born in Kutaisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, USSR, and started playing chess around the age of eight. She became the USSR girls' champion in 1976, and a year later she won the Women's Soviet Chess Championship, women's title. In 1977, Chiburdanidze was awarded the title of FIDE_titles#Woman_Grandmaster (WGM), Woman Grandmaster by FIDE. Chiburdanidze won outright on her deb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pitsunda
Pitsunda or Bichvinta ( ka, ბიჭვინთა, ; ; ) is a resort town in the Gagra District of Abkhazia/Georgia. Founded by Greek colonists in the 5th century BC, Pitsunda became an important political and religious centre of the region in the antiquity and the Middle Ages. Since Soviet times it has been one of the main resorts of Abkhazia. History Pityus (Ancient Greek: ''Pityus'', Πιτυοῦς, genitive ''Pityuntos'', Πιτυοῦντος) was a large and wealthy Greek city in the antiquity. Pliny wrote in AD 77 that the city had been sacked by the Heniochi. A Roman fort was founded at Pityus in the first half of the 2nd century and a detachment of Legio XV Apollinaris was stationed there. The city was surrounded by a defensive wall, the castellum had a second line of defence built in mid-3rd century AD. Excavations guided by Andria Apakidze unearthed, in 1952, remains of three 4th-century churches and a bath with high-quality mosaic floors. The former "Great Pi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nana Alexandria
Nana Alexandria ( ka, ნანა გიორგის ასული ალექსანდრია, ''Nana Giorgis asuli Aleksandria''; born 13 October 1949) is a Georgian chess player. A three-time Soviet women's champion, she was the challenger in two matches for the Women's World Chess Championship. Career Alexandria was USSR women's champion in 1966, 1968 (jointly), and 1969 making her 3-times USSR champion by the age of 20. She was the Women's World Championship challenger in 1975 and 1981. In 1975 she lost to Nona Gaprindashvili (+3 =1 −8). In 1981 she drew with Maia Chiburdanidze (+4 =8 −4), who retained her title as champion. Alexandria played for the Soviet national team in the Women's Chess Olympiads of 1969, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1982, and 1986. She was one of the contributing players of the USSR team that dominated the Women's Olympiads of the 1980s. FIDE awarded her the Woman International Master (WIM) title in 1966 and the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, located on the banks of the Kura (Caspian Sea), Kura River. With around 1.2 million inhabitants, it contains almost one third of the country's population. Tbilisi was founded in the fifth century Anno Domini, AD by Vakhtang I of Iberia and has since served as the capital of various Georgian kingdoms and republics. Between 1801 and 1917, then part of the Russian Empire, it was the seat of the Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917), Caucasus Viceroyalty, governing both the North Caucasus, northern and the South Caucasus, southern sides of the Caucasus. Because of its location at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, and its proximity to the lucrative Silk Road, throughout history, Tbilisi has been a point of contention ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Riga
Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planning Region, Riga metropolitan area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 847,162 (as of 2025). The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava (river), Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea. Riga's territory covers and lies above sea level on a flat and sandy plain. Riga was founded in 1201, and is a former Hanseatic League member. Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture in 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden. Riga hosted the 2006 Riga summit, 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, the 2013 World Women's Curling Championship, and the 2006 IIHF Wo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alla Kushnir
Alla Shulimovna Kushnir (; ; 11 August 1941 – 2 August 2013) was a Soviet-born Israeli chess player. She was awarded the FIDE titles of Woman International Master (WIM) in 1962 and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 1976. In 2017, she was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame. Biography Alla Kushnir immigrated from the Soviet Union to Israel in 1974. Chess career Kushnir was thrice Women's World Chess Championship Challenger consecutively. She lost matches for the title to Nona Gaprindashvili: * +3 –7 =3 at Riga 1965; * +2 –6 =5 at Tbilisi–Moscow 1969; * +4 –5 =7 at Riga 1972. In tournaments, she took 1st-3rd at Sukhumi Candidates Tournament (joint Milunka Lazarević and Tatiana Zatulovskaya) 1964, won at Beberjik 1967, won at Subotica (Candidates Tournament) 1967, 2nd at Belgrad 1968, tied for 1st-2nd (with Nikolau) at Sinaia 1969, tied for 2nd-3rd (with Vobralova, won by Ivánka) at Wijk aan Zee 1971, won at Belgrad 1971 (ahead Gaprindashvili), won at Moscow 19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Georgia (country)
Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region on the coast of the Black Sea. It is located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia, and is today generally regarded as part of Europe. It is bordered to the north and northeast by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. Georgia covers an area of . It has a Demographics of Georgia (country), population of 3.7 million, of which over a third live in the capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city, Tbilisi. Ethnic Georgians, who are native to the region, constitute a majority of the country's population and are its titular nation. Georgia has been inhabited since prehistory, hosting the world's earliest known sites of winemaking, gold mining, and textiles. The Classical antiquity, classical era saw the emergence of several kingdoms, such as Colchis and Kingdom of Iberia, Iberia, that formed the nucleus of the modern Georgian state. In the early fourth centu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |