Maia Chiburdanidze is the sixth Women's World Champion and the second woman ever to earn the title of Grandmaster, behind Nona Gaprindashvili.
Early Life And Career
While she began playing at the age of eight, by the time she was 13 in 1974, Chiburdanidze earned her WIM title and also won an international women's tournament.
Chiburdanidze achieved several historic milestones in her career from 1976-1978. In 1976, by tying for second at the Tbilisi Interzonal Tournament, she qualified for the Women's World Championship cycle. She would now have the chance to face Nona Gaprindashvili, the first-ever female GM, for the world title. She also won the USSR Girls Championship that year.
The following year, when she was just 16, she won the USSR Women's Chess Championship and also earned her WGM title.
In 1978, she became an International Master and the sixth Women's World Chess Champion in history. Chiburdanidze defeated Gaprindashvili with a score of 8.5-6.5. Earning the title at 17, she was the youngest champion ever at the time until Hou Yifan broke the record in 2010. She held on to the championship for 13 years, one of the longest runs in the title's history.
In 1978, she participated in her first Women's Chess Olympiad, Chiburdanidze won individual gold on board one and helped secure gold for the Soviet Union team.
This was the start of a series of impressive performances for the USSR's team, and later on, Georgia's.
Chiburdanidze earned a total of five consecutive team gold medals for the USSR from 1978 to 1990.
In 1992, she competed for the now-Georgian team at the Olympiads. She went on an undefeated run on board one, winning 10 out of 13 of her games. She earned gold for her team, individual, and another medal for achieving a performance rating of 2692.
From 1978 to 2008, Chiburdanidze won a total of nine gold medals for her team and five individual, with a record of 89 wins, 73 draws, and only five losses.
Becoming a GM and Later Career
In 1984, Chiburdanidze became the second female in history to earn a GM title.
Chiburdanidze lost her title as Women's World Champion to Xie Jun in 1991. Still, in 2001 and 2004, the Women's World Championship was a knockout format, and Chiburdanidze made it to the semifinal round both times.
While her last classical game was in 2011, she has since been inactive. She has participated in some rapid and blitz tournaments since then.
Maia Chiburdanidze will always have a place in chess history as the second female Grandmaster ever.
