Irina Borisivna Krush is an American chess Grandmaster. She is the only woman to earn the GM title while playing for the United States. Krush is an eight-time U.S. Women's Champion and a two-time Women's American Cup Champion.
Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk is a Russian and Swiss chess grandmaster who was the Women's World Chess Champion from 2008 to 2010 and Women's World Rapid Chess Champion in 2021. She was European women's champion in 2004 and a two-time Russian Women's Chess Champion. Kosteniuk won the team gold medal playing for Russia at the Women's Chess Olympiads of 2010, 2012 and 2014; the Women's World Team Chess Championship of 2017; and the Women's European Team Chess Championships of 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017; and the Women's Chess World Cup 2021. In 2022, due to sanctions imposed on Russian players after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she switched federations, and as of March 2023 she represents Switzerland.
Koneru Humpy is an Indian chess grandmaster. She's a runner-up of the World Championship and the winner of the World Rapid Championship 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster aged 15 years, 1 month, 27 days. Humpy is a gold medalist at the Olympiad, Asian Games, and Asian Championship. She is also the first Indian female grandmaster.
Anna Olehivna Muzychuk is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster (GM). She is the fourth woman in chess history to attain a FIDE rating of at least 2600. She has been ranked as high as No. 197 in the world, and No. 2 among women. Muzychuk is a three-time world champion in fast chess, having won the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship once in 2014 and the Women's World Blitz Chess Championship twice in 2014 and 2016. In classical chess, she was the 2017 Women's World Championship runner-up.
Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and professor at Shenzhen University. She is the second highest rated female player of all time. 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.
Tania Sachdev is an Indian chess player, who holds the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is a two-time Indian women's chess champion in 2006 and 2007, one-time Asian women's chess champion in 2007 and three-time and current Commonwealth Women's Chess Champion in 2016, 2018, and 2019. She is also a chess presenter and commentator.
Ju Wenjun is a Chinese chess grandmaster and the current Women's World Champion. In March 2017, she became the fifth woman to achieve a rating of 2600. She is a four-time Women's World Chess Champion, having won the title first in May 2018. She then defended her title in November 2018, 2020, and 2023.
Harika Dronavalli is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). She was part of the gold winning women's team at the 45th Chess Olympiad in 2024. She has won three bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship, in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Harika 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. In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions towards the field of sports.
Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina is a Russian chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (GM). She is the No. 4 ranked woman in the world by FIDE rating and is also the fourth-highest rated woman and highest rated Russian woman in chess history with a peak rating of 2611. Goryachkina was the challenger in the 2020 Women's World Championship match, which she lost in rapid tiebreaks to Ju Wenjun. She is also a three-time Russian Women's Chess Champion, which she achieved in 2015, 2017, and 2020. In August 2023, she won the FIDE Women's World Cup after defeating Nurgyul Salimova in a tie break match.
Zhansaya Abdumalik is a Kazakhstani chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (GM). She is the first Kazakhstani woman, and the 39th woman overall, to earn the GM title. Abdumalik has a peak FIDE rating of 2505 and has been ranked as high as No. 11 in the world among women. Abdumalik has been a two-time girls' World Youth Champion as well as a girls' World Junior Champion. She is also a two-time Kazakhstani women's national champion, and has represented Kazakhstan in women's events at the Chess Olympiad, World Team Chess Championship, and the Asian Nations Chess Cup. On April 20, 2022, Zhansaya became the President of the Almaty Chess Federation.
Sports in Andhra Pradesh has its own importance, where many sporting personalities were into limelight. The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) undertakes the sports development activities such as construction of stadiums, establishment of sports academies and other sporting related activities. The sports infrastructure have increased tremendously by improving infrastructure in outdoor and Indoor stadiums, play fields, sports academies, sports equipments etc. Traditional sports such as kho kho, kabaddi are played mostly in Andhra Pradesh.Most sports players from Andhra pradesh represent national level competitions and very few international competitions.
Rucha Pujari is an Indian chess player. She is currently a Woman International Master and was previously awarded the title of Woman FIDE Master in 2006.
Musunuri Rohit Lalit Babu is an Indian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2012. He is the 4th GrandMaster from Andhra Pradesh, part of the team that won India's first bronze medal in the 41st Chess Olympiad, Commonwealth gold medalist, Asian silver medalist, won the Indian Chess Championship in 2017, and Limca Book record holder. He has won 20 individual gold, 15 individual silver and 14 individual bronze medals in National as well as international tournaments.
Qiyu Zhou, also known as Nemo Zhou and her online alias akaNemsko, is a Chinese-born Canadian chess player who holds the titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) and FIDE Master (FM), and is a live streamer on Twitch. She has been an under-14 girls' World Youth Champion, a Canadian women's national champion, and a Finnish women's national champion. Zhou has a peak FIDE rating of 2367 and a career-best ranking of No. 100 in the world among women. She is the first Canadian woman to earn the Woman Grandmaster or FIDE Master titles, and has represented Canada at the Women's Chess Olympiad since 2014.
Gunay Vugar qizi Mammadzada is an Azerbaijani chess player who holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) through the International Chess Federation (FIDE). She has been an under-10 girls' World Youth Champion, and both an under-8 and an under-14 girls' European Youth Champion. Mammadzada is a two-time Azerbaijani women's national champion, which she achieved in 2017 and 2019. She has represented Azerbaijan at the Chess Olympiad, the World Team Chess Championship, and the European Team Chess Championship, winning both team and individual bronze medals at the latter in 2019. Mammadzada has a peak FIDE rating of 2483 and has been ranked as high as No. 18 in the world among women.
Pinnamaneni Lakshmi Sahithi is an Indian chess player.
Anna-Maja Kazarian is a Dutch chess player and Twitch live streamer who holds the titles of FIDE Master (FM) and Woman International Master (WIM). She was the 2020 Dutch Women's Internet Chess Champion and has also been an under-16 girls' European Youth Champion. Kazarian has a peak FIDE rating of 2320, which she achieved in 2016. She has represented the Netherlands at the Chess Olympiad and the European Team Chess Championship.
Dina Vadimovna Belenkaya is a Russian-Israeli chess player, commentator, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is a four-time St. Petersburg women's champion, and has represented St. Petersburg at the Russian Women's Team Championship and the European Chess Club Cup for Women. She has a peak FIDE rating of 2364.
Women represent a small minority of chess players at all ages and levels. Female chess players today generally compete in a mix of open tournaments and women's tournaments, the latter of which are most prominent at or near the top level of women's chess and at youth levels. Modern top-level women's tournaments help provide a means for some participants to be full-time professional chess players. The majority of these tournaments are organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and revolve around the World Championship cycle, which culminates in a match to decide the Women's World Chess Champion. Beyond those events, among the most prominent women's tournaments are women's and girls' national and continental championships.
Srija Seshadri is an Indian female chess player. FIDE awarded her the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in July 2019.
