Koneru Humpy is an Indian chess player best known for winning the FIDE Women's rapid chess championship in 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, beating Judit Polgár's previous record by three months. In October 2007, Koneru became the second female player, after Polgár, to exceed the 2600 Elo rating mark, being rated 2606.
Zhao Xue is a Chinese chess player. She is the 24th Chinese person to achieve the title of Grandmaster. Zhao was a member of the gold medal-winning Chinese team at the Women's Chess Olympiad in 2002, 2004 and 2016, and at the Women's World Team Chess Championship in 2007, 2009 and 2011. She has competed in the Women's World Chess Championship in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018, reaching the semifinals in 2010.
Nana Dzagnidze is a Georgian chess player. She was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2008. Dzagnidze was a member of the gold medal-winning Georgian team in the Women's Chess Olympiad in 2008 and European women's individual champion in 2017.
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The winner of the Candidates earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent World Champion.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French chess grandmaster who is the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2819, Vachier-Lagrave is the seventh-highest rated player in history.
Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time. Once a chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship.
The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE.
Tatiana Anatolyevna Kosintseva is a Russian chess player. She was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2007. Kosintseva is a two-time European women's champion and three-time Russian women's champion. She was a member of the gold medal-winning Russian team at the Women's Chess Olympiads of 2010 and 2012, and at the Women's European Team Chess Championships of 2007, 2009 and 2011.
Evgenij Miroshnichenko is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2002.
Ju Wenjun is a Chinese chess grandmaster. She is the current Women's World Chess Champion. In March 2017 she became the fifth woman to achieve a rating of 2600. She is a three-time World Champion having won the title in May 2018, November 2018 and 2020. She is scheduled to play a match to defend her world title in 2023.
Harika Dronavalli is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). She has won three bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship, in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Dronavalli was honored with the Arjuna Award for the year 2007–08 by the government of India. In 2016, she won the FIDE Women's Grand Prix event at Chengdu, China and rose up from world no. 11 to world no. 5 in FIDE women's ranking. Vladimir Kramnik, Judit Polgar and Viswanathan Anand are her chess inspirations. In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the field of sports.
The FIDE Grand Prix is a biennial series of chess tournaments, organized by FIDE and its commercial partner Agon. Each series consist of three to six chess tournaments, which form part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship or Women's World Chess Championship.
The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2009–2011 was a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, which formed part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2011. The winner of the Grand Prix was to challenge Hou Yifan—the 2010 world champion— in the third quarter of 2011. As Hou Yifan also won the Grand Prix, Koneru Humpy as the runner-up qualified for the championship match.
Elina Danielian is an Armenian chess grandmaster and six-time Armenian women's champion. She has represented Armenia twelve times during the Women's Chess Olympiads (1992–2014). She played in the gold medal-winning Armenian team at the 5th Women's European Team Chess Championship in Plovdiv 2003. In 2021 she won the European Individual Chess Championship.
The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–12 was a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, which formed part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2013. The winner of the Grand Prix, Hou Yifan, will challenge the 2012 Women's World Chess champion.
The FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14 was a series of six chess tournaments exclusively for women, which formed part of the qualification cycle for the Women's World Chess Championship 2015. The winner of the Grand Prix was decided in the last stage in Sharjah, UAE, when rating favorite and reigning world champion Hou Yifan overtook second seeded Koneru Humpy to win her third straight Grand Prix cycle. For the third time running, Koneru Humpy finished runner-up to Hou Yifan.
Bela Khotenashvili is a Georgian chess grandmaster. She competed in the Women's World Chess Championship in 2012, 2015 and 2017.
Olga Alexandrovna Girya is a Russian chess player. She holds the title of Grandmaster (GM), which FIDE awarded her in 2021. She was a member of the gold medal-winning Russian team in the 2014 Women's Chess Olympiad and in the 2017 Women's World Team Chess Championship. Girya competed in the Women's World Chess Championship in 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018. She won the Russian Women's Chess Championship in 2019.
The 2018 Women's World Chess Championship Match was a match held between Tan Zhongyi, the 2017 Women's World Chess champion, and her challenger Ju Wenjun to determine the new women's world chess champion. Ju Wenjun qualified by winning the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2015–16.
The 2023 Women's World Chess Championship is an upcoming chess match for the Women's World Chess Championship title. It is contested by the defending champion Ju Wenjun and her challenger, the winner of the 2022-23 Candidates tournament.