20 Facts About Maia Chiburdanidze

Maia Chiburdanidze is a Georgian chess Grandmaster.

Maia Chiburdanidze 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.

Maia Chiburdanidze has played on nine gold-medal-winning teams in the Women's Chess Olympiad.

Maia Chiburdanidze was born in Kutaisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR, and started playing chess around the age of eight.

Maia Chiburdanidze became the USSR girls' champion in 1976, and a year later she won the women's title.

In 1977, Maia Chiburdanidze was awarded the title of Woman Grandmaster by FIDE.

Maia Chiburdanidze finished second in the Tbilisi Women's Interzonal, thereby qualifying for the 1977 candidates matches.

Maia Chiburdanidze is the second woman, after Gaprindashvili, to be awarded the title.

Maia Chiburdanidze's reign was the third longest, at 14 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 that of Gaprindashvili's 16 years.

Maia Chiburdanidze reached the semi-finals in 2001, only to be knocked out by Zhu Chen of China, who went on to win the title.

In 2004, Maia Chiburdanidze again reached the semi-finals, where she lost to Antoaneta Stefanova, who went on to win the title.

Maia Chiburdanidze has played extensively in "men's" tournaments around the world and her best form was seen in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Maia Chiburdanidze was 1st in tournaments in New Delhi and Banja Luka, finished third in Bilbao with a 2616 performance rating against elite players while equalising in an 8 game match against GM Petar Popovic who had a rating of 2545 and in the next decade she finished 1st in Belgrade, Vienna, and Lippstadt.

Maia Chiburdanidze was a key member of the USSR team that dominated the women's Olympiads of the 1980s and, when Georgia achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, she played board 1 for the new Georgian national team that won four gold medals, in 1992,1994,1996 and 2008.

Maia Chiburdanidze 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 in September 2001.

Maia Chiburdanidze has been honoured many times by her country and several postage stamps have even been designed to celebrate her chess achievements.

Maia Chiburdanidze was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2014.

Maia Chiburdanidze is one of several women from the country who have excelled at the highest levels of chess.

Maia Chiburdanidze has helped to further boost the standing of the game in her country.

In 2021, Maia Chiburdanidze appeared in the documentary Glory to the Queen alongside Nana Alexandria, Nona Gaprindashvili, and Nana Ioseliani.