The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE (the International Chess Federation) since 1957 (every two years since 1972), 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 trophy for the winning women's team is known as the Vera Menchik Cup in honor of the first Women's World Chess Champion (1927–1944). The Soviet Union has won it the most often: 11 times. Before the break-up of the Soviet Union, it has also been won by Hungary led by three Polgár sisters (twice) and Israeli team fully composed of Soviet-born players (once in 1976 when it was boycotted by the Eastern Bloc). In the post-Soviet era, China have won the event six times, Georgia – four times, Russia – three times, Ukraine – two times and India – once.
From 1957 to 1974 the Women's Olympiad was a separate event (with except of the 1972 event). Since 1976 it has been held in the same place and at the same time as the open event.
* In 1976 the Soviet Union and other Socialist states did not compete for political reasons.
This trophy was created by FIDE in 1997 and named after Nona Gaprindashvili, the former women's World Champion (1962–1978). The trophy is awarded to the team that has the best overall performance across the open and women's divisions.
Russia won this trophy six times, China – three times, India and Ukraine – two times each.
Year | First | Second | Third |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Russia | China | Georgia |
2000 | Russia | Ukraine | Georgia |
2002 | Russia | China | Hungary |
2004 | Russia | United States | Armenia |
2006 | China | Ukraine | Armenia |
2008 | Ukraine | Armenia | United States |
2010 | Russia | China | Ukraine |
2012 | Russia | China | Ukraine |
2014 | China | Russia | Ukraine |
2016 | Ukraine | United States | China |
2018 | China | Russia | Ukraine |
2022 | India | United States | India 2 |
2024 | India | United States | Armenia |
The table contains the women's teams ranked by the medals won at the Chess Olympiad, not including the unofficial events, ranked by the number of first place medals, ties broken by second-place medals, etc.
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Soviet Union | 11 | 2 | 0 | 13 |
2 | China | 6 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
3 | Georgia | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
4 | Russia | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
5 | Hungary | 2 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
6 | Ukraine | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
7 | India | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
8 | Israel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
9 | Romania | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
10 | Poland | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
United States | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
12 | Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Yugoslavia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
14 | England | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Kazakhstan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
16 | East Germany | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
17 | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
West Germany | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Totals (19 entries) | 30 | 30 | 30 | 90 |
The table contains teams ranked by total number of medals won at the Chess Olympiad (not including the online or unofficial events) in the Open event (since 1927) and Women's event (since 1957), ranked by the number of first-place medals, ties broken by second-place medals, etc.
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Soviet Union | 29 | 3 | 0 | 32 |
2 | Russia | 9 | 6 | 6 | 21 |
3 | China | 8 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
4 | United States | 6 | 8 | 10 | 24 |
5 | Hungary | 5 | 12 | 4 | 21 |
6 | Ukraine | 4 | 5 | 6 | 15 |
7 | Georgia | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
8 | Armenia | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
9 | India | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
10 | Yugoslavia | 1 | 7 | 7 | 15 |
11 | Poland | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
12 | Germany | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Israel | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
Uzbekistan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
15 | Romania | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
16 | England | 0 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
17 | Argentina | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
18 | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
19 | Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
20 | Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
22 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Denmark | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Kazakhstan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
25 | East Germany | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
West Germany | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
27 | Estonia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Totals (28 entries) | 75 | 75 | 75 | 225 |
Boldface denotes active chess players and highest medal count among all players (including these who not included in these tables) per type.
Rank | Player | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nona Gaprindashvili | Soviet Union Georgia | 1963 | 1992 | 11 | 1 | – | 12 |
2 | Maia Chiburdanidze | Soviet Union Georgia | 1978 | 2008 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
3 | Nana Alexandria | Soviet Union | 1969 | 1986 | 6 | – | – | 6 |
4 | Nana Ioseliani | Soviet Union Georgia | 1980 | 2000 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
5 | Zhao Xue | China | 2002 | 2016 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
6 | Alexandra Kosteniuk | Russia | 2002 | 2014 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
7 | Xie Jun | China | 1990 | 2004 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
8 | Zhu Chen | China | 1994 | 2002 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
9 | Nino Gurieli | Georgia | 1992 | 2000 | 3 | 1 | – | 4 |
Irina Levitina | Soviet Union | 1972 | 1988 | 3 | 1 | – | 4 |
The table shows players who have won at least 6 team medals in total at the Chess Olympiads.
Rank | Player | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Maia Chiburdanidze | Soviet Union Georgia | 1978 | 2008 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
2 | Nona Gaprindashvili | Soviet Union Georgia | 1963 | 1992 | 11 | 1 | – | 12 |
3 | Nana Ioseliani | Soviet Union Georgia | 1980 | 2000 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
4 | Zhao Xue | China | 2002 | 2016 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
5 | Xie Jun | China | 1990 | 2004 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
6 | Anna Ushenina | Ukraine | 2006 | 2022 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
7 | Nana Alexandria | Soviet Union | 1969 | 1986 | 6 | – | – | 6 |
8 | Alexandra Kosteniuk | Russia | 2002 | 2014 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
9 | Natalia Zhukova | Ukraine | 2006 | 2018 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
10 | Mária Ivánka | Hungary | 1969 | 1986 | – | 4 | 2 | 6 |
Elisabeta Polihroniade | Romania | 1966 | 1986 | – | 4 | 2 | 6 | |
Zsuzsa Verőci-Petronić | Hungary | 1969 | 1986 | – | 4 | 2 | 6 |
The best individual results in order of overall percentage are:
Rank | Player | Country | Ol. | Gms. | + | = | – | % | Individual medals | Number of ind. medals | Team medals | Number of team medals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nona Gaprindashvili | Soviet Union (11) Georgia (1) | 12 | 128 | 94 | 26 | 8 | 83.6 | 8 – 3 – 0 | 11 | 11 – 1 – 0 | 12 |
2 | Nadezhda Kosintseva | Russia | 5 | 51 | 36 | 13 | 2 | 83.3 | 4 – 0 – 0 | 4 | 2 – 1 – 1 | 4 |
3 | Pia Cramling | Sweden | 10 | 118 | 79 | 35 | 4 | 81.8 | 3 – 2 – 2 | 7 | 0 – 0 – 0 | 0 |
4 | Zsófia Polgár | Hungary | 4 | 48 | 32 | 13 | 3 | 80.2 | 2 – 0 – 1 | 3 | 2 – 1 – 0 | 3 |
5 | Wang Lei | China | 4 | 32 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 78.1 | 1 – 0 – 0 | 1 | 2 – 1 – 1 | 4 |
6 | Zsuzsa (Susan) Polgár | Hungary (3) United States (1) | 4 | 56 | 31 | 25 | 0 | 77.7 | 1 – 2 – 1 | 4 | 2 – 2 – 0 | 4 |
7 | Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant | Soviet Union (1) Georgia (4) Scotland (4) | 9 | 95 | 62 | 23 | 10 | 77.4 | 2 – 0 – 1 | 3 | 2 – 1 – 1 | 4 |
8 | Valentina Gunina | Russia | 5 | 46 | 27 | 16 | 3 | 76.1 | 2 – 0 – 0 | 2 | 3 – 0 – 0 | 3 |
9 | Nana Alexandria | Soviet Union | 6 | 54 | 35 | 12 | 7 | 75.9 | 4 – 0 – 0 | 4 | 6 – 0 – 0 | 6 |
10 | Alisa Galliamova (Galliamova-Ivanchuk) | Soviet Union (1) Ukraine (1) Russia (3) | 5 | 57 | 39 | 8 | 10 | 75.4 | 0 – 2 – 0 | 2 | 1 – 2 – 2 | 5 |
11 | Zhao Xue | China | 8 | 81 | 49 | 24 | 8 | 75.3 | 3 – 0 – 0 | 3 | 3 – 3 – 1 | 7 |
12 | Maia Chiburdanidze | Soviet Union (7) Georgia (8) | 15 | 167 | 89 | 73 | 5 | 75.1 | 4 – 2 – 3 | 9 | 9 – 3 – 1 | 13 |
13 | Iman Hasan Al-Rufaye | Iraq | 5 | 48 | 31 | 10 | 7 | 75.0 | 1 – 2 – 0 | 3 | 0 – 0 – 0 | 0 |
14 | Hou Yifan | China | 6 | 61 | 34 | 23 | 4 | 74.6 | 1 – 3 – 2 | 6 | 1 – 3 – 1 | 5 |
15 | Nino Batsiashvili | Georgia | 6 | 55 | 33 | 16 | 6 | 74.5 | 1 – 1 – 0 | 2 | 0 – 1 – 1 | 2 |
16 | Sarasadat Khademalsharieh | Iran (4) Spain (1) | 5 | 49 | 28 | 17 | 4 | 74.5 | 0 – 1 – 0 | 1 | 0 – 0 – 0 | 0 |
17 | Nana Ioseliani | Soviet Union (2) Georgia (6) | 8 | 88 | 49 | 32 | 7 | 73.9 | 2 – 2 – 1 | 5 | 5 – 1 – 1 | 7 |
18 | Zhu Chen | China | 5 | 59 | 34 | 19 | 6 | 73.7 | 2 – 1 – 0 | 3 | 3 – 1 – 1 | 5 |
19 | Zsuzsa Verőci-Petronić | Hungary | 10 | 118 | 62 | 48 | 8 | 72.9 | 0 – 3 – 2 | 5 | 0 – 4 – 2 | 6 |
20 | Edith Keller-Herrmann | East Germany | 4 | 49 | 26 | 19 | 4 | 72.4 | 0 – 1 – 1 | 2 | 0 – 0 – 3 | 3 |
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and 2021, with a rapid time control that affected players' online ratings.
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.
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. Humpy is the first Indian female grandmaster.
Nona Gaprindashvili is a Georgian chess Grandmaster. Noted for her aggressive style of play, she was the women's world chess champion from 1962 to 1978, and in 1978 was the first woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title of Grandmaster. She was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Presidential Order of Excellence in 2015.
Alisa Mikhailovna Galliamova is a Russian chess player who holds the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is twice runner-up at the Women's World Chess Championship, in 1999 and 2006, and three-time Russian women's champion. She was known as "Alisa Galliamova-Ivanchuk" from 1993 to 2001.
Sofia Polgar is a Hungarian and Israeli chess player, teacher, and artist. She holds the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). A former chess prodigy, she is the middle sister of two Grandmasters, Susan and Judit. She has played for Hungary in four Chess Olympiads, winning two team gold medals, one team silver, three individual golds, and one individual bronze.
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.
The 30th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between June 7 and June 25, 1992, at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila, Philippines.
The 29th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 16 and December 4, 1990, in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia.
The 28th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 12 and November 30, 1988, in Thessaloniki, Greece.
The 27th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 14 and December 2, 1986, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Below is a list of events in chess in 1992, as well as the top ten FIDE rated chess players of that year.
Events in chess in 1990;
The 39th Chess Olympiad, organised by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place from September 19 to October 4, 2010, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. There were 148 teams in the open event and 115 in the women's event. In total, 1306 players were registered.
Susan Polgar is a Hungarian-American chess grandmaster. Polgár was Women's World Chess Champion from 1996 to 1999. On FIDE's Elo rating system list of July 1984, at the age of 15, she became the top-ranked female chess player in the world. In 1991, she became the third woman to be awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE. She won eleven medals at the Women's Chess Olympiad.
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The 43rd Chess Olympiad, organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising open and women's tournaments, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, was an international team chess event held in Batumi, Georgia, from 23 September to 6 October 2018. This was the first Chess Olympiad to take place in Georgia with the Georgian Chess Federation also hosting the Chess World Cup 2017 in Tbilisi.
Katarina Blagojević, also known as Katarina Blagojević-Jovanović was a Serbian chess player who held the title of Woman Grandmaster. She shared 4th–5th place in the Women's World Chess Championship Candidates Tournament in 1964. She was a three-time winner of the Yugoslav Women's Chess Championship and won a team silver medal and bronze individual medal at the Women's Chess Olympiads in 1963 and 1966, respectively.
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.