How Women’s World Champions shaped chess
Women’s chess has come a long way since Vera Menchik claimed the first Women’s World Championship nearly a century ago. The 17 women world champions have shaped the game and symbolized resilience, achievement, and progress—both on and off the chessboard. The Queen’s Gambit series, based on a 1983 book by Walter Tevis of the same name, sparked global interest in chess. In the series, the main character, Beth Harmon, tries to make her name in the male-dominated game, facing social and personal struggles, from being shunned to being resented and discriminated. Beth Harmon’s struggles mirror the real-life obstacles top women chess players have faced—and still face today. A look at some of the key successes and stories of the best women in chess shows how far they’ve come and how they helped shape chess to this day. The first chess queen: Vera Menchik Vera Menchik was the first woman to break the barriers of male-domination in chess, sowing the seeds for other great women players who followed. When Vera Menchik sat down at the chessboard in 1927, little did she know she was about to leave a big mark on history, starting a tradition that has lasted until today. As the first Women’s World Chess Champion, she wasn’t just moving pieces on a board—she was making a statement in a world that barely acknowledged women could play the game at all. Photo: FIDE archive In the summer of 1927, FIDE organized the first Olympiad or, as it was called then – the Tournament of Nations. In addition to the Olympiad, a women’s tournament was organized which was won by the 21-year-old Vera Menchik (with 10.5/11, drawing with Edith Michell) which led to her being declared the first Women’s World Chess Champion. She would go on to become the dominant figure in women’s chess – the longest-reigning women’s world champion, with eight titles – until her life was tragically cut short in the German bombardment of London in 1944. She died as Vera Stevenson (she was married to Rufus Henry Streatfeild Stevenson (1878–1943), a prominent figure in British chess, serving as the Honorary Secretary of the British Chess Federation (BCF). Menchik’s era happened between two world wars, when – similar to today – much of the planet was on the edge and the cause for women’s rights (and the rights of other marginalized groups) was on the fringes of society. During this time, when FIDE was still taking shape, women did not enjoy many privileges or support in chess, but Menchik proved her worth standing shoulder to shoulder with the top male players in tournaments – defeating the likes of Yates, Euwe, Sultan Khan, Reshevsky, and Mieses. Post WW2: The Soviet women dominate Post-war, the Soviet Union became the epicenter of chess. Instead of matches which were practiced in the open (male) events, the Women’s World Champion was determined through tournaments. Lyudmila Rudenko (who was one of top swimmers in Ukraine before turning to chess!), claimed the title in the first post-war tournament, in Moscow in 1950. She lost the crown three years later to Elisaveta Bykova, who taught us all about second chances: Despite losing to Olga Rubtsova in 1956, Bykova reclaimed her title in 1958 and again in 1959, holding it until 1962. Photo: Dmitry Donskoy/Sputnik But it was Nona Gaprindashvili who really shook things up and took women’s chess to the next level. First, she claimed the title in epic style, defeating Bykova (+0 -7 =4) in 1962, at the age of just 21! This led to the launch of a chess revolution in her native Georgia which, to this day, is one of the strongest chess nations in the world, particularly in women’s chess. Gaprindashvili didn’t just dominate women’s chess—she challenged men directly, competing successfully in male-dominated events. Thanks to this, in 1978 she became the first woman in history to be awarded the title of Grandmaster. Despite losing her world crown to compatriot Maia Chiburdanidze in 1978, Gaprindashvili continued competing at the top for another two decades. Her successes also include playing at 12 chess Olympiads (11 times for the USSR and one time for her native Georgia, in 1992, in their first international appearance since gaining independence). A national hero of Georgia and a living legend of chess, Gaprindashvili (now 83) still takes part in chess events (for seniors) and in 2024 toured several countries in the world to talk about the sport. Maia Chiburdanidze and Nona Gaprindashvili Photo: NEWSGEORGIA Then, a new world champion and a new chess milestone for women: another Georgian, Maia Chiburdanidze, became World Champion in 1978, at the age of just 17 – an unprecedented success in women’s chess, matched only by Hou Yifan decades later, and still unmatched among men. After four successful defences of the world crown, her reign ended in 1991 when Chiburdanidze lost the title match to Xie Jun of China (+2-4=9). The first Chinese chess moment The chess world’s center of gravity shifted eastward in the 1990s when Xie Jun clinched the crown – becoming the first ever women’s chess champion from Asia. This victory wasn’t just personal—it signalled a new chess superpower was emerging in the east. Xie’s meteoric rise in chess stands as an example of her country’s rapid global advancement by making giant leaps in short periods. Xie Jun took up chess as a child and by age 10, she was already the champion of Beijing. By the age of 14, she was the girls’ champion of China. In 1991, at the age of 21 – Xie defeated Maia Chiburdanidze to become the first Chinese World Chess Champion. Xie Jun giving a simul at the 2024 World Championship Match Photo: Eng Chin An Then in 1993, the 23-year-old Xie achieved another milestone – the first among nearly 1.7 billion women in Asia to claim the title of Grandmaster. That year Xie successfully defended her world crown against Nana Ioseliani (winning the match 8.5–2.5). Her reign would continue for another three years
WGP Cyprus: Anna Muzychuk leads with 4/5 going into the rest day
The elder of the two Muzychuk sisters took a huge step towards the title by scoring her third win in a row and now leads the Cyprus Women’s Grand Prix leg with only four rounds to go. Trailing by only half a point is China’s Zhu Jiner, who held Alexandra Goryachkina – now in third place – to a draw. With her result in this event, Zhu Jiner has already overtaken Kateryna Lagno and Nana Dzagnidze in the live ratings and is now number eight in the world. The other happy contender of the day was Germany’s Elizabeth Paehtz, who secured her first win in the event. The players will enjoy a well-deserved rest day tomorrow. For those willing to catch a breath of fresh air and get their minds off the tournament for a while, the organisers have planned a special excursion to Lefkara Village, one of Cyprus’s most picturesque and historic locations: a relaxing atmosphere to enjoy the scenic beauty and Cypriot hospitality. Let’s take a closer look at the five games. Zhu Jiner – Aleksandra Goryachkina 0.5-0.5 Leading a round-robin tournament, it always makes sense to keep rivals at bay, and that’s exactly what Zhu Jiner accomplished today. She opted for a safe line, which she had prepared at home, and achieved a quick draw. Taking into consideration her time management, it seems that she had prepared practically the whole game in advance – on move eighteen, Zhu still had her initial starting time! Goryachkina repeated 1.e4 e5 for the second time in the tournament. Zhu Jiner normally plays the Ruy Lopez (3.Bb5) but she decided to mix things up and opted for the Italian Opening (3.Bc4). Always well prepared, Goryachkina blitzed out her opening moves with Black, repeating the same type of aggressive setup she used in a 2021 game against elite GM Esipenko in the 74th Russian Championship. The key moment of the game came on move twenty-two. Goryachkina faced two choices – accept a draw by move repetition or venture into a line that the computer assesses as good for her but which at the same time is quite risky from a human point of view. On this occasion she decided to play it safe and go into the rest day undefeated: there are still four more rounds to go and anything can happen. Elisabeth Paehtz – Harika Dronavalli 1-0 The second game to finish concealed an emotional backstory. On the verge of her retirement from classical chess, 40-years-old Elizabeth Paehtz defeated Harika Dronavalli when the Indian GM confused her move order and blundered a pawn on move six. After a few moves she was in deep trouble, not only on the board but also on the clock: on move fifteen the engine was already pointing to a clear +2 decisive advantage for Paehtz, which ultimately was more than enough to bring home the point. “This is the first win against another woman in my last thirty games” exclaimed a happy very Elizabeth in the post-game press conference, at the same time confirming an open secret: this will be the last classical chess tournament for the German chess superstar. “I’m 40 years old now, and my energy levels aren’t what they used to be,” was Elizabeth’s reasoning. A must-see interview! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIL5uB46l6k Divya Deshmukh – Nana Dzagnidze 0.5-0.5 Divya used to play exclusively 1.e4, but in recent years she has expanded her repertoire to also include 1.d4 and occasionally 1.Nf3, whereas Dzagnidze has been playing the Nimzo-Indian Defence all her life. In her preparations for her first classical game against her Georgian opponent, Divya went for a sharp line, following the steps of a previous 2019 Goryachkina-Dzagnidze WGP game. But Nana was well-prepared and played the opening fast and comfortably, reaching a completely equal queenless middlegame. Certainly, White enjoyed an extra pawn but the opposite-coloured bishops signaled a draw, which was agreed on move forty-one. The 99% accuracy score by both players indicates that the extra pawn had not real significance. Stavroula Tsolakidou – Anna Muzychuk 0-1 For this important game, Anna brough back the symmetrical variation of the Semi-Tarrasch defence, a line which she has used successfully four or five times in the past, but that is not one of her main defences. Around move ten, Anna decided to sacrifice a pawn on the queenside in exchange for active piece play – a brave decision which the engine applauds. Even so, in her postgame interview Anna was surprised to see that she had enough compensation in some of the lines. “Both today’s game and also the two previous wins have been difficult games,” she explained. “When I sacrificed the pawn in the opening, I wasn’t sure that it was good, but now I see that the engine approves of the move.” Indeed, her counterplay was so dangerous that Stavroula decided to give back the pawn and trade a few pieces, but she was unable to relieve the pressure completely. When both players were under their last minute, errors started creeping in and Stavroula committed the fatal one. Moment of the day Muzychuk’s last move was 32…Rc8-c2, which doesn’t seem that dangerous but in fact hides a devious trap. The best continuation for White was either 33.Bd4 or 33.Qe1 and although Black is pressing, there is nothing concrete. However, down to her last seconds, Stavroula blundered with 33.Qf2? and had to resign after 33…Rxb2!, winning a piece, as the d1-rook is hanging. Olga Badelka – Mariya Muzychuk 0.5-0.5 A marathon game which ultimately finished in a draw after fifty-four moves. In an attempt to side-step her opponent’s opening preparation, the younger of the two Muzychuk sisters brought back the Grunfeld defence, which used to be one of her favourite weapons with Black. Without batting an eye, Badelka pushed her h-pawn forward with 3.h4 and the battle was on. Soon the game transposed into a King’s Indian structure and, after some thought, Badelka decided to trade queens and play a queenless middlegame, enjoying a
WGP Cyprus: Anna Muzychuk and Zhu Jiner jointly lead after four rounds
After three more or less quiet rounds, with high accuracy scores and very solid play, the participants unleashed their inner power this afternoon at the Hilton Nicosia. None less than four games ended with a decisive result in the fourth round of the Cyprus Women’s Grand Prix. Nana Dzagnidze, Harika Dronavalli, Aleksandra Goryachkina, and Anna Muzychuk all secured victories, while Zhu Jiner and Mariya Muzychuk settled for a draw, leaving Anna Muzychuk and Zhu Jiner co-leading the tournament with three points. The ceremonial first move was performed by the President of the Cyprus Chess Federation, Mr. Criton Tornaritis, who opened for Alexandra Goryachkina in her game against Greece’s top female player, Stavroula Tsolakidou. Let’s take a closer look at all five games. Nana Dzagnidze 1 – Elisabeth Paehtz 0 Nana and Elisabeth have played dozens of games together, the first one going back to the U-10 Girls European Championship in 1995. The opening was a fun one, as you rarely see a reversed Blumenfeld Gambit at this level nowadays. “Their fortunes changed slightly yesterday: Nana suffered her first loss, while Elisabeth stopped her losing streak. After the round, she said that she was feeling better and that hopefully her play will improve,” explained commentator GM Alik Gershon. Black grabbed the extra pawn and decided to hold onto it. Of course, White did have a good pawn center and excellent attacking chances with the pair of bishops in exchange. In her postgame interview, Dzagnidze explained that, playing with White, she wanted a fighting game, and that her choice of opening served this objective very well. Paehtz’s key blunder occurred on move twenty-one when she chose 21…Ra-c8 which just loses material after 22.Rb1! and all the tactics favor White. From then on, Dzagnidze wrapped up the game in style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y61yq3mJnrM Mariya Muzychuk 0.5 – Zhu Jiner 0.5 The most important game of the round was the only one to end in a draw. Playing with White, former Women’s World Champion Mariya Muzychuk wanted to pile up the pressure on the leader of the event. The opponents tested a very long theoretical line of the Mikenas-Carls variation of the English Opening, which is regularly played at the highest level by the likes of Ian Nepomniachtchi and other elite GMs. Both players were very clearly booked-up, blitzing out the opening at total ease. The middlegame turned out to be slightly better for Muzychuk enjoing a bit more space and active piece play. By invading the b-file with her rook, she managed to pick up the weak a7-pawn, converting her positional advantage into something more tangible. But Zhu Jiner remained solid and maintained the balance with precise play. At some point, she was even enjoying some attacking chances against Mariya’s king. All in all, it was a very correct game, with both players registering 98% on the accuracy score. Aleksandra Goryachkina 1 – Stavroula Tsolakidou 0 Goryachkina alternates her opening choice based on her opponents. Having a +3 score against Stavroula, she definitely wanted to go for a win. This afternoon she went for 1.e4 and Tsolakidou immediately replied with 1….c5. “The Sicilian Defence! It shows her fighting spirit today,” said WGM Anastasiya Karlovich in the commentary booth. “We always welcome the Sicilian here, the more fighting and interesting the games are, the better it is for the players, the spectators and the commentators of course,” added GM Alik Gershon. The opponents went down one of the main paths of the Rossolimo Attack, which has appeared in Cyprus several times already, including one game by Tsolakidou. Playing extremely fast, Goryachkina exchanged her two bishops for knights in order to reach a position with a strong knight on d5. Based on her speed, it became apparent that Aleksandra was playing according to her home preparation. Feeling pressure both on the board and on the clock, Tsolakidou traded-off the d5-knight and soon after sacrificed an exchange to get just a pawn in return. According to the engine, she was still worse but holding. However, low on time she lost control over the position, allowing Goryachkina to convert her extra material and score her first win of the tournament. Anna Muzychuk 1 – Divya Deshmukh 0 Anna Muzychuk chose the advance variation of the Caro-Kahn, and after including 4.h4 she exchanged bishops on d3 – a very trendy line nowadays. Divya, in her turn, exchanged quees and transisioned into an endgame which the engine assessed as quite reasonable for her. Nevertheless, it was still quite tricky and Divya spent half of her remaining time on just one move, which turned out to be a mistake (24…Nb6? instead of the superior 24…Nd-b4). Muzychuk sensed her opportunity and pushed forward, attacking her opponent’s weaknesses and putting a lot of pressure on the clock, ultimately scoring her second win in a row. In her postgame interview, Anna mentioned that she was surprised by her opponent’s opening choice. She also added that maybe Divya didn’t figure out how to react to White’s activity in the endgame. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2ywqjmmjP8 Harika Dronavalli 1 – Olga Badelka 0 No doubt willing to take her opponent out of her opening book, Harika opted for one of the most creative opening ideas I have seen in the past months. In an English Opening with 1.c4 e5, she first played 2.a3!?, startling Badelka, who took four minutes to react, and then 4.h4!? with a completely new position emerging on the board according to my database. “My opponent had only played 1…e5 against the English three or four times, so I decided to play something different,” Harika explained. MOMENT OF THE DAY Harika was kind enough to show us this moment on the board in her postgame interview. The key position occurred on move eight. Badelka blundered an exchange with the 8…Qd7? allowing 9.Bh6! Now the bishop can’t be captured because of 10.Nxf6+ winning the queen, and therefore the only move is to castle, after which White exchanges knights and wins the rook on f8. “These things can
FIDE World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad 2025 in Barranquilla, Colombia: Registration open!
FIDE and the Colombian Chess Federation (FECODAZ) are pleased to invite all national chess federations to participate in the World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad, set to take place in Barranquilla, Colombia, from August 16 to August 23, 2025. This vibrant Caribbean city will become the world’s chess capital, welcoming young talents from across the globe. With its stunning coastal scenery, rich cultural heritage, and warm hospitality, Barranquilla promises an unforgettable experience. Don’t miss this prestigious event—the countdown has begun! All FIDE member federations have the right to send one team as the invited team. Each team shall consist of 4 players, with boys and girls represented and also the captain. The registration deadline is on June 15, 2025. The 9-round Swiss tournament is scheduled, but if less than 40 teams are registered only 7 rounds will be played. Each match between teams will be played across four boards. The pairings, scoring and tiebreak regulations are in accordance with the Pairing Rules for the Chess Olympiad. The time control is 45 minutes with an increment of 10 seconds per move starting from move one. Regulations for World Youth U16 Olympiad (PDF) FIDE World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad official website coming soon: youtholympiad2025.fide.com E-mail: youtholympiad@fide.com
Al Ain Chess and Mind Games Club Wins UAE Cup Rapid Chess Team Championship
From left to right: ACMG CEO Hisham Al Taher, GM Volodar Murzin, UAE Chess Federation President Taryam Matar Taryam and GM Vladislav Artemiev. The Al Ain Chess and Mind Games Club (ACMG1) team of GMs Vladislav Artemiev and Volodar Murzin emerged victorious at the UAE Cup Rapid Chess Team Championship held over the weekend from March 15-16, 2025 at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club in Dubai, UAE. A record 116 teams with players representing 33 countries participated in the 9-round Swiss tournament with rapid time control of ten minutes plus two second increments per move. Each team was composed of two players with fourteen top ranked GMs and ten IM battling for the title. Prizes were sponsored by National Paint and Sidrat Alsalwa Beauty Centre. A large number of fans were in the venue from 9:30pm to midnight following the action live. The champions, Al Ain team, won seven matches and drew two, scoring 16 points. Artemiev, 27, achieved a perfect score of 9 out of 9 while the reigning World Rapid Chess Champion, Murzin, 19, won seven and lost two games. ACMG1 team won the top prize of AED 12,000 out of a total AED 40,000 prize pool. Al Ain Chess and Mind Games Club, the reigning FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team champions, are set to defend their title at the third edition of this event in London, scheduled for June 10-16, 2025. Visit chess-results.com for round by round results and standings. The runner-up Shams team receiving their prize. From left are Hisham Al Taher, GM Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova, UAE Chess Federation president Taryam Matar Taryam and IM Mokhliss El Adnani of Morocco. The Shams team of GM Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova and IM Mokhliss El Adnani of Morocco finished second place with 15 match points and took a prize of AED 8,000. Iordachescu registered a 7-2-1 win-draw-loss score while El Adnani won five, drew two and lost two games. The third place finishers Sharjah team receiving their prize. From left are Hisham Al Taher, GM Bassem Amin of Egypt, UAE Chess Federation president Taryam Matar Taryam and GM Saleh A.R. Salem of the UAE. The Sharjah team of GM Saleh A.R. Salem of the UAE and GM Bassem Amiin of Egypt finished third netting 14 match-points and received AED 6,000 for their efforts. Salem scored six wins and suffered three losses while Amin notched 7 wins, one draw and one loss. The Sharjah team prevailed in the tie break over Al Ain Chess and Mind Games ACMG2 and Signature Club Master with similar 14 match points apiece. ACMG2 was composed of GMs Danil Dubov (second from right) and Parham Maghsoodloo (second from left). Dubov, known for his bold attacking style, won seven games but lost to Salem and Artemiev. At left is Tournament Director IA Abdulrahim Mahdi. Playing for Signature Club Master were GM Farrukh Amonatov of Tajikistan and GM Asghar Golizadeh of Iran. Rounding up the top ten teams are We Chess, Sharjah Coaches, Al Ain ACMG3, EKCC1 and Signature Club Nexus finishing with 13 match points each. Fourth to tenth places received AED 2,500, AED 2,000, AED 1,700, AED 1,300, AED 1,100, AED 1,000 and AED 900, respectively. Special awards were also presented at the event. Gold medal for the greatest number of teams went to Chess Lab Academy as Participating Chess Club/Academy, silver to Chess Signature Academy, and bronze to Master Move Academy. Ajman Twins won Best Family Team, Tatar Ladies became Best Women’s Team, UAE Ladies won best Emirati Women’s Team, AlQasimia University 1 won Best Emirati Men’s Team, Night Riders won Best Boys’ Team Under 14, The Twins won Best Girls’ Team Under 14 and DCPD won Best Special Needs Team. UAE Chess Federation president Taryam Matar Taryam graced the closing ceremonies to award prizes together with Al Ain Chess and Mind Games Club CEO Hisham Al Taher. IA Abdulrahim Mahdi (UAE) served as a tournament director. CA Majed Al Abduli (UAE) with a team of eight arbiters officiated the event, while Mohamed Abdull Chief Arbier was a technical director. Photos: Rayjan Solano Official website: https://asianchess.com/
WGP Cyprus: Zhu Jiner maintains the lead while Anna Muzychuk scores her first win
The third round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Cyprus was played this afternoon at Hilton Nicosia. The ceremonial first move was performed by His Excellency Liu Yantao, the Chinese Ambassador, who opened the game for Zhu Jiner, and by His Excellency Mr. Manish, the Indian Ambassador, who played for Harika on the same board. With accuracy scores in the high nineties across most games, the round featured many fighting draws, proving that this will be a closely contested event. The only decisive result of the round was Anna Muzychuk’s victory over Nana Dzagnidze, ending in checkmate on move 83—the longest game of the tournament so far. Let’s take a closer look at all five games. Divya Deshmukh 0.5 – Aleksandra Goryachkina 0.5 Despite having faced each other only four times, Goryachkina has been a tough opponent for Divya, winning three games and drawing one. However, Divya has made substantial progress in recent months and, playing with White, was eager to improve her record. Goryachkina defended with the Berlin variation in the Ruy Lopez, one of her regular setups with Black. Both players had obviously done their homework as they blitzed out twelve moves of theory. Suddenly, Divya slowed down, spending nearly forty minutes on her fourteenth move! Possibly fearing some complications, the young Indian went for a solid continuation with a massive piece trade. The resulting rook and opposite-color bishops endgame was completely equal and after further simplifications a draw was agreed on move forty-two. The 99% accuracy game score is a testament to the no-risk approach taken by both players. Stavroula Tsolakidou 0.5 – Mariya Muzychuk 0.5 The Greek International Master is rapidly becoming a fan favourite player to follow. All her games are exciting, and today’s encounter was no exception. In two previous classical games, Stavroula had already defeated Mariya Muzychuk, while the other ended in a draw. After a close shave yesterday against Harika, Stavroula opened with 1.d4 and went for the very new 9.Rg1 in Semi-Slav Anti-Moscow Gambit. Visibly surprised, Mariya spent nearly fifteen minutes figuring out her reponse. Although it took her some time, to her credit Mariya nailed all of the twenty difficult computer moves, while Stavroula was blitzing out her own preparation. Tsolakidou was very impressed with her opponent’s play. “I prepared all the line at home with my coach,” said Stavroula in her postgame interview. “It’s amazing that Mariya was able to find all the computer defensive moves, but my coach did warn me to be prepared for this scenario.” Muzychuk achieved an impressive 100% accuracy score: she played a complicated game like a top-level computer, finding her way to a draw in the complications. Check out the Stavroula’s interview for mind-boggling lines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIaxFrxKw7w Zhu Jiner 0.5 – Harika Dronavalli 0.5 Having faced each other on six occasions, with six draws recorded, this matchup would prove to be very equal and the 98% accuracy score confirmed this prediction. Facing Harika’s Winawer French, the leader of the tournament advanced her h-pawn “a la Kasparov”. Harika reacted correctly with the precise maneuver 9…b6, trading off the light squared bishops and subsequently the queens on the a6-f1 diagonal. The resulting endgame had the bishop vs knight imbalance but both players kept it close to the vest with absolutely no mistakes and a draw was agreed on move forty-one. With this result Zhu Jiner keeps the lead going into the fourth round. Olga Badelka 0.5 – Elisabeth Paehtz This was the first time that IM Olga Badelka faced GM Elisabeth Paehtz in classical chess. The game opened as an English Defence and remained quite balanced until Badelka launched a fierce kingside pawn storm. True to classical principles, Paehtz counterattacked in the centre by sacrificing a couple of pawns for active piece counterplay. At one moment, Badelka had three extra pawns, but Paehtz’s activity was immense, based mainly on her active dark-squared bishop in the middle of the board, which ultimately allowed her to force a perpetual check. “The game was tremendously complicated,” Olga explained in her post-game interview. “In fact, I was very worried about the safety of my own king.” Although she missed some small opportunities in her calculations, Olga was satisfied with the draw and the chance to play against the best female players in the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnCO5CK_XkA Anna Muzychuk – Nana Dzagnidze 1-0 A classic matchup! Anna and Nana have played no less than twenty-six classical games against each other, with a total score of seven wins for Dzagnidze, three wins for Muzychuk and sixteen draws. These two players know each other in and out! The Georgian GM decided to abandon her favorite defence, the Najdorf Sicilian, in favor of the rare O’Kelly variation, in an attempt to surprise her opponent and take her “out of the book”. After three or four minutes of thought, Anna Muzychuk returned the favour by playing 3.Be2 instead of one of the more popular moves, and only seven moves the position was totally new, with no major game references in the databases. “Knowing Anna, who is such a hard-working person, and normally prepares for so many hours the day before the game, during the morning, she checks everything! She probably spent so much time preparing all the options, but I don’t think 2…a6 was one of them,” explained commentator WGM Anastasiya Karlovich on the live stream. As the game progressed, the position in a Marozcy pawn structure was mostly equal, although it was always Muzychuk who was pressing. In the ending, Dzagnidze had to defend a queen ending a pawn down, a draw according to the engines, but it still accuracy was needed. Moment of the Day After defending the ending correctly for more than 50 moves, Dzagnidze blundered right at the end. It has to be said that both players were nearly out of time, essentially only playing with the 30-second increment. In this position, Dzagnidze played 83…Kg8, which loses after 84.f5! Qh1 and now 85.Qe8+ Kg7 86.f6 checkmate! The correct move, which
FIDE WGP Cyprus: Zhu Jiner leads after two rounds
The second round of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Cyprus began punctually this afternoon at 15:00 at the Hilton Nicosia. The ceremonial first move was performed by Valeriya Avksenteva, Deputy Executive Director of main sponsor Freedom24. She opened the game for Mariya Muzychuk, who faced Divya Deshmukh. Although only one game ended in a decisive result, with Zhu Jiner emerging as the new leader of the tournament, all five were quite entertaining in their own right. Let’s take a closer look at all five games. Mariya Muzychuk 0.5 – Divya Deshmukh 0.5With a 99% accuracy score, the first game to finish was the encounter between former Women’s World Champion Mariya Muzychuk and up-and-coming young Indian star Divya Deshmukh. Although a bit under the radar with a cold, Divya equalised comfortably in the Steinitz variation of the French defence. The opponents followed a 2023 game between Caruana and Carlsen until move nine, when Divya tried 9…cxd4 instead of the main line 9…Be7. It looked like Divya had it all worked out in her home preparation – she hardly spent any time finding the precise follow-up manoeuvre 12…Nb8 and then 13…Nc6, fighting for the d4-square. After the subsequent exchange of queens, Muzychuk also allowed the four rooks to be traded, resulting in an absolutely equal light-squared bishop endgame. A draw was agreed on move forty. “Most of the game was prepared before-hand but in the end, I had to do some serious calculations to make the draw. I am sure that there must be many different ways to achieve it,” said Divya in a conversation with us after the game. Nana Dzagnidze 0.5 – Olga Badelka 0.5 The Austrian International Master is playing in her first Grand Prix cycle. Unfortunately, being drawn number six on the cross table, she has been forced to play two consecutive games with Black in her first two challenges. In today’s game against seasoned Grand Master Nana Dzagnidze, she went for the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, a somewhat risky choice as Nana herself played this defence successfully yesterday against Goryachkina. Moreover, although Dzagnidze has been around forever, this was the first classical game between them. Dzagnizde surprised her opponent with the move 9.Bg5 and Badelka went into the tank for more than twenty minutes, trying to figure out the right setup. Although she managed to force the exchange of queens, the ending was better for Dzagnidze: a healthier pawn structure and better placed minor pieces. The engine was suggesting a +1.5 White’s advantage around move twenty. But, low on time, Dzagnidze started to lose the thread of the game and gave Badelka some breathing space. Displaying excellent defensive technique, Badelka neutralized her opponent’s advantage and a draw was finally agreed in a close-to-equal position on move forty-three. Elisabeth Paehtz 0 – Zhu Jiner 1 Playing with White, and in an attempt to recover from yesterday’s defeat, Paehtz opted for the 5.Qb3 line in the popular Ragozin defence. Zhu Jiner chose to deviate from mainline theory by playing 5…a5 instead of 5…c5, but then went into the tank for more than fifteen minutes when Paehtz pinned her knight with 7.Bg5. The game progressed in a principled manner, ending up in a middlegame position in which Black enjoyed more active short-term options with her bishop pair, but White had the superior pawn structure. It would all boil down to the weakness of the isolated d-pawn: would it hold or not? And indeed, the d5-pawn finally fell but in exchange for the a2-pawn and the game headed into an equal rook and bishop ending, with four pawns apiece. A draw should have been the logical result but Zhu Jiner kept setting little traps and finally Paehtz fell for one of them. Nonetheless, even a piece down the engine still considered the position to be a draw, but it was very tricky to hold and eventually Paehtz blundered, allowing Black to create a passed pawn. Elisabeth fought for another 24 moves, but had to resign in the end. In her postgame interview, Zhu Jiner showed us some of the key lines that she considered to pick up her second point. https://youtu.be/qtijlstyqKQ Aleksandra Goryachkina 0.5 – Anna Muzychuk 0.5 A perfect game by both contenders! Playing White for the second time in a row, the former Women’s World Championship challenger opened with 1.e4 instead of 1.d4, which she used unsuccessfully yesterday against Dzagnidze. Anna Muzychuk, the younger of the two sisters, and former World Blitz and Rapid World Champion, defended with the Two Knights variation of the Sicilian Defence. Displaying excellent opening preparation, Goryachkina opted for a secondary line, first with 4.Bd3 and then trading knights on c6, a system that has recently become quite trendy. Although the choice of opening might have come as a surprise for Muzychuk, she reacted in a very principled way, developing her pieces comfortably and securing a safe, symmetrical position. However, Goryachkina conserved a small but nagging advantage: a slightly superior dark-squared bishop and, more importantly, a big advantage on the clock. On move twenty, Muzychuk had only thirty minutes left against Goryachkina’s full hour. To her credit, Anna defended superbly, neutralizing any intent of aggression, and traded down to a no-risk, bishop ending. A draw was agreed on move forty-two. Harika Dronavalli 0.5 Stavroula Tsolakidou 0.5 Definitely the most entertaining game of the round! Harika went for the Rossolimo Attack – an enterprising option bearing in mind that Stavroula won her game yesterday with precisely this opening. Playing the sharp 6.Qxd4 line, Black was forced to weaken her kingside, but theory maintains that Black is more than OK: a solid pawn structure and bishop pair. Indeed, even Carlsen defeated Vachier-Lagraeve in 2019 in this line. After fifteen minutes of thought, and definitely out of her opening preparation, Harika threw a spanner into the works with 11.b4, an unbalancing move with pros and cons for both sides. Stavroula offered a three-fold repetition on move twenty-one but Harika decided to play on. With fifteen moves to
Zhu Jiner and Stavroula Tsolakidou strike first in WGP Nicosia
The first round of the Cyprus WGP was highly entertaining. Except for the encounter between the Muzychuk sisters, which ended in a quick draw, the four remaining games were fought to the bitter end, resulting in two important wins for Stavroula Tsolakidou and Zhu Jiner. The fourth leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024-25 kicked off this afternoon at 15:00 in the fantastic Hilton Nicosia. Evgenii Tiapkin, executive director of main sponsor Freedom24, performed the ceremonial first move for Stavroula Tsolakidou. One of the toughest events of the six that compose the Grand Prix, Cyprus features leg 2 winner Aleksandra Goryachkina, former Women’s World Champions Anna and Mariya Muzychuk, side-by-side with young powerhouses such as China’s Zhu Jiner and Greece’s own Stavroula Tsolakidou. If the fighting spirit displayed this afternoon at the Hilton Nicosia is a prelude to the rest of the tournament, glorious afternoons of great chess await us. Let’s take a closer look at all five games. Aleksandra Goryachkina 1/2-1/2 Nana Dzagnidze Thanks to her two excellent results in Shymkent and Monaco, Goryachkina currently leads the Grand Prix and is widely considered the favourite here: a strong performance in Cyprus would practically secure her spot in the next women’s Candidates Tournament. Starting off the tournament with White against Georgia’s Nana Dzagnidze, with whom she has a +3 =8 record with no defeats, couldn’t be better. But Dzagnidze is a very experienced player, and her international rating of 2513 is no small feat. She tends to play with strength and focus: defeating her takes a lot of energy and commitment. Goryachkina began with the Queen’s Gambit, one of her usual openings, against which Dzagnidze had prepared a line in the Accepted Variation, in which she faces an isolated queen’s pawn. Although Goryachkina developed a small initiative during the first moves, Dzagnidze neutralized White’s attack and ultimately exchanged queens. The endgame seemed to favour the Georgian GM very slightly but, low on time, she wasn’t able to capitalize, and the game petered out into a draw. Both players performed this afternoon at the highest level with an all-around 98% accuracy score. Anna Muzychuk 1/2-1/2 Mariya Muzychuk The Muzychuk sisters have faced each other in classical chess on twenty-one occasions in the past. Except for a single win by Anna in the 2002 U-12 Ukrainian Girls Championship, all the other games have ended in draws, and this afternoon’s encounter was no exception. Today they battled it out in a 99% accuracy Najdorf Sicilian, more specifically a line that features eleven master games that all end in equal endgings and subsequent draws: for example, a 2009 bout between elite GM’s Akopian and Miroshnichenko. Although the tournament rules forbid draws before 40 moves have been played, a three-fold repetition is one of the few exceptions to the rule, and a peaceful outcome was signed on move twenty-seven. Divya Deshmukh 1/2-1/2 Harika Dronavalli As per rules, players of the same federation must face each other in the first round. Both Indian players, playing in their second tournament of the cycle, decided to go for a fight, but proceeded with caution trying not to overstep. The result? A long, 50-move, 98% accuracy draw, more than enough for both players to be content with their over-the-board efforts. In their previous three encounters, Harika was dominating with two wins and one draw but today she had to settle for a half-point. For most of the game, in a well-known solid line of the Ruy Lopez Berlin, fan-favourite Divya nurtured a very small edge with White. But the pawn structure was symmetrical and Harika managed to force some interesting exchanges – it soon became clear that the talented young player from Nagpur wasn’t getting anywhere. Moreover, her experienced opponent finally obtained the bishop pair and, for a moment, entertained the idea to press for the advantage, but to no avail. Divya kept things under control and a three-fold repetition was recorded on move fifty. Zhu Jiner 1-0 Olga Badelka A six-event cycle that runs over several months is bound to produce replacements. Players that may fall ill, or run into other commitments, vacate their spots for other contenders, under the specific rules of the competition. Both Zhu Jiner and Olga Badelka fall into this category. Although Nicosia is the fourth of the six tournaments, and all players are set to play three, funnily enough, for both of them this is their first event! Olga Badelka has replaced Regina Theissl-Pokorna and will play in Cyprus and her home country Austria, while Zhu Jiner is replacing China’s own Lei Tingjie and will add the India and Austria legs to Cyprus. Even though the game began as a Ruy Lopez, it soon developed into a slow Italian opening. Going into the middlegame, it seemed that Badelka had equalised comfortable but a couple of minor inaccuracies – 15…Bxf3 and above all 20…Nh7 landed her in a very difficult position. Zhu Jiner had the two bishops against her opponent’s two knights, plays a superior pawn structure. To top it all, Badelka was slowly spending all her time, in an attempt to defend against her opponent’s attack. With excellent combinatorial play, the Chinese prodigy won a couple of pawns and opened up the gate to her opponent’s king, forcing the Austrian to resign on move forty-seven. In her postgame interview, Zhu Jiner gave us her thoughts on her fine performance. https://youtu.be/S92m9mKCaXY?si=jP-JmXJ89DH-ZL4p Stavroula Tsolakidou 1-0 Elisabeth Paehtz The other victory of the day went to Greece’s top-ranked female player, Stavroula Tsolakidou. The twenty-four-year-old player from Kavala, who actually turns twenty-five during this event, gave a fine performance against another very experimented GM, Elisabeth Paehtz, representing Germany. Both players went down a rabbit hole in an extensively pre-analysed variation of the Sicilian Rossolimo Attack. On move thirteen, with both opponents having used hardly any time on the clocks, Paehtz offered a draw by means of a three-fold repetition attempt. Eager to continue the fight, Stavroula went into the tank, considered her options, and
European Individual Championship 2025 begins in Eforie Nord, Romania
The European Individual Chess Championship 2025 has officially commenced in Eforie Nord, Romania. The event is being held from March 15–26 at Ana Hotels Europa. Nearly 400 players from 40 European federations have registered for the tournament, including 103 Grandmasters, 77 International Masters, and 71 FIDE Masters. The top seeds are: Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2692)Alexey Sarana (SRB, 2689)Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 2676)Pavel Eljanov (UKR, 2666)Shant Sargsyan (ARM, 2666)Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2665)David Anton Guijarro (ESP, 2663)David Navara (CZE, 2663)Radoslaw Wojtaszek (POL, 2659)Benjamin Gledura (HUN, 2658) The starting list of players can be found here. The European Individual Chess Championship 2025 serves as a qualification event for the FIDE World Chess Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the ECU Board decision, 20 players will qualify. The tournament features a total prize fund of €100,000, with €20,000 awarded to the winner. The competition is an 11-round Swiss tournament, with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, plus 30 minutes until the end of the game, with a 30-second increment per move starting from move one. The opening ceremony took place in the playing venue with the attendance by the Vice President of the Romanian Chess Federation Mr. Alin Berescu, Secretary General of the Romanian Chess Federation Mr. Gabriel Grecescu, and ECU Tournament Director Mr. Petr Pisk who addressed the distinguished guests. The first round started at 15:00 (local time). Live games with live video broadcast and commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic and WIM Lena Govedarica can be followed through the ECU TV and ECU YouTube channel. Photos: Florin Ardelean Official website: https://www.eicc2025.com/
Fair Play Commission leadership update
The leadership of the FIDE Fair Play Commission has changed. The current Commission’s Councilors Andrew Howie and Vincent Geeraets will take over the roles of Chair and Secretary, respectively. Both are experienced fair play specialists, committed to strengthening FIDE’s efforts in ensuring a fair and secure chess environment. In recent years, FIDE has made significant strides in fair play: enhancing detection methods, conducting training, establishing titles and providing control routines at major events. These efforts will continue with even greater intensity. We sincerely thank Bojana Bejatović and Yuri Garrett for their contributions to the Commission’s work. Moving forward, our priorities include expanding the use of advanced fair play detection tools, training and streamlining the work with arbiters, and strengthening collaboration with federations, tournament organizers, and online platforms. We will organize round table discussions with key stakeholders to align on best practices and further reinforce fair play policies in a professional and cost-efficient manner. FIDE maintains a zero-tolerance policy for cheating in all its events. We want to serve the chess community in the best possible way, and our mission remains clear: to prevent, detect and catch cheaters, ensuring that chess competitions are fair and secure for all.