Maia Chiburdanidze is a Georgian chess Grandmaster. She is the sixth 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.
Nona Gaprindashvili is a Georgian chess Grandmaster. She was the women's world chess champion from 1962 to 1978, and in 1978 she was the first woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title of Grandmaster. Noted for her aggressive play style, Gaprindashvili has been recognized with entry into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Presidential Order of Excellence in 2015.
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.
Nino Khurtsidze was a Georgian chess player. She was awarded the FIDE titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 1993 and International Master (IM) in 1999. She won the World Girls U-20 Chess Championship in 1993 and 1995. Khurtsidze also won the World Girls U-16 Chess Championship of 1991 in Guarapuava, Brazil, the European U-20 Girls Championship in 1992, the Men's Georgian Chess Championship in 1998 and the women's Georgian championship five times.
Elena Donaldson-Akhmilovskaya 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.
Nana Ioseliani is a Georgian chess player. She was awarded by FIDE the Woman Grandmaster title in 1980 and the International Master title in 1993.
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.
Nana Alexandria 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.
Hoàng Thanh Trang is a Vietnamese-born Hungarian chess grandmaster. She was Asian women's champion in 2000 and European women's champion in 2013. Hoang competed in the Women's World Chess Championship in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018.
The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE since 1957, where national women's teams compete at chess for gold, silver and bronze medals. Since 1976 the Women's Chess Olympiad has been incorporated within Chess Olympiad events, with simultaneous women's and open tournaments.
The Women's World Chess Championship 2008 took place from August 28, 2008 to September 18 in Nalchik, Russia. It was won by Alexandra Kosteniuk, who beat Hou Yifan in the final by 2½ to 1½.
Bella Khotenashvili is a Georgian chess grandmaster. She competed in the Women's World Chess Championship in 2012, 2015 and 2017.
Ana Matnadze is a Georgian-Spanish chess player. FIDE awarded her the titles Woman Grandmaster (WGM), in 2002, and International Master (IM), in 2006. Matnadze was European and world girls champion in her age category.
Nazí Paikidze, sometimes also referred to as Nazí Paikidze-Barnes, is a Russian-born Georgian–American chess player. She holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM), which FIDE awarded her in 2012 and 2010 respectively. Paikidze was twice world girls' champion and four-time European girls' champion in her age category, and is a twice U.S. women's champion.
Meri Arabidze is a Georgian chess player who holds the FIDE titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster.
Sopiko Guramishvili is a Georgian and Dutch chess player, author, and commentator who holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). Having represented Georgia for the bulk of her playing career, she has been an under-16 girls' World Youth Champion and an under-18 girls' Georgian national champion. She has a peak FIDE rating of 2441 and has been ranked as high as No. 42 in the world among women.
Irina Iosifovna Turova, née Irina Slavina, is a Russian chess player who holds the titles of Woman Grandmaster (2001) and International Master (2004). She won the Russian Women's Chess Championship in 2003.
Maka Purtseladze is a Georgian chess player. She received the FIDE titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) and International Master (IM) in 2005.
Khvicha Supatashvili is a Georgian chess International Master (IM) (1993), Georgian Chess Championship winner (1992).
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.
