Maia Chiburdanidze
Maia Chiburdanidze მაია ჩიბურდანიძე | |
---|---|
Georgian SSR, Soviet Union | |
Title | Grandmaster (1984) |
Women's World Champion | 1978–1991 |
FIDE rating | 2500 (April 2024) [inactive] |
Peak rating | 2560 (January 1988) |
Maia Chiburdanidze (Georgian: მაია ჩიბურდანიძე; born 17 January 1961) 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.[1]
Early life and career
Maia Chiburdanidze was born in
Chiburdanidze won outright on her debut, at the
Chiburdanidze's style of play is solid, but aggressive and well grounded in classical principles; it was influenced by Eduard Gufeld, a top Soviet trainer, who was her coach early in her career.
Women's World Champion (1978–91)
Chiburdanidze finished second in the
She successfully defended her title four times. In 1981, Chiburdanidze retained her title by drawing 8–8 with
FIDE awarded Chiburdanidze the title of Grandmaster in 1984.[2] She is the second woman, after Gaprindashvili, to be awarded the title.
Losing the title
Xie Jun of China won the right to challenge for the world championship in February 1991. Chiburdanidze lost her crown to the young Chinese player in Manila by 8½–6½. Her reign was the third longest, at 13 years, behind only that of the first women's champion, Vera Menchik, who reigned for 17 years from 1927 until her death in 1944, and Gaprindashvili's 16 years.
Chiburdanidze has attempted to regain the world title but, with the rise of the Chinese women and the formidable
Other chess achievements
Chiburdanidze is unimpressed with 'women's chess', and hopes for a time when there will be no need for men's and women's tournaments.[3] She has played extensively in "men's" tournaments around the world and her best form was seen in the 1980s and early 1990s. She was 1st in tournaments in New Delhi (1984)[4] and Banja Luka (1985),[5] finished third in Bilbao (1987)[6] with a 2616 performance rating against elite players while equalising in an 8 game match[7] against GM Petar Popović who had a rating of 2545 and in the next decade she finished 1st in Belgrade (1992),[8] Vienna (1993),[9] and Lippstadt (1995,[10] 1996,[11] 1997[12]).
She was a key member of the
She also played in the European Team Championships of 1997 when Georgia won the gold medal and in the 1st Europe v Asia Intercontinental rapidplay match which was held in Batumi (Georgia) in September 2001. Asia won the women's section by 21½–10½ with Maia contributing 3½. In 2008 Dresden Olympiad, she played on board 1, for Georgia, that won the gold medal (1st place), and she also won gold medal for best performance (2715 pt).[13] She played her last tournament (up-to-date) in July, 2012.[14]
Other
Chiburdanidze has been honoured many times by her country and several postage stamps have even been designed to celebrate her chess achievements. Mongolia issued a commemorative stamp in 1986 which illustrates a position in one of her games from the 1984 world championship match against Irina Levitina. She was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2014.[15]
Maia Chiburdanidze is one of several women from the country who have excelled at the highest levels of chess. She has helped to further boost the standing of the game in her country.
In 2021, Chiburdanidze appeared in the documentary Glory to the Queen alongside Nana Alexandria, Nona Gaprindashvili, and Nana Ioseliani.[16]
References
- ^ Only her compatriot Nona Gaprindashvili has played on more: 11 Chess Olympiads. See OlimpBase Overall Statistics
- ISBN 0-7864-2353-6
- ^ Chiburdanidze's visit to the U.S. during Perestroika, by Wendy Starbuck at chessdryad.com
- ^ New Delhi 1984
- ^ Banja Luka 1985
- ^ Bilbao 1987
- ^ Subotica 1986
- ^ "Belgrade 1992 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". www.365chess.com. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Women-Veterans 1993 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". www.365chess.com. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Lippstadt 1995 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". www.365chess.com. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ Lippstadt 1996
- ^ Lippstadt 1997
- ^ 2008 Dresden Olympiad
- ^ "Chiburdanidze, Maia GEO Individual Calculations Chess Ratings FIDE".
- ^ "Maya Chiburdanidze". World Chess Hall of Fame. 23 March 2017.
- ^ Skhirtladze, Tatia; Khazaradze, Anna, Glory to the Queen (Documentary), Nona Gaprindashvili, Maia Chiburdanidze, Nana Alexandria, Nana Ioseliani, Berg Hammer Film, Amour Fou Vienna, Playground Produkcija, retrieved 3 February 2021
Further reading
- "Maia Chiburdanidze", New In Chess, no. #7, pp. 66–68, 1986
External links
- Maia Chiburdanidze rating card at FIDE
- Maia Chiburdanidze chess games at 365Chess.com
- Maia Chiburdanidze player profile and games at Chessgames.com