Nona Gaprindashvili facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nona Gaprindashvili ნონა გაფრინდაშვილი
Gaprindashvili in 1963
Country	Soviet Union → Georgia
Born	(1941-05-03) 3 May 1941 (age 84) Zugdidi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Title	Grandmaster (1978)
Women's World Champion	1962–1978
Peak rating	2495 (July 1987)

Nona Gaprindashvili (born May 3, 1941) is a famous chess player from Georgia. She was once a champion for the Soviet Union. She is known for her strong and attacking way of playing chess.

Nona was the women's world chess champion from 1962 to 1978. In 1978, she made history. She became the first woman ever to be given the FIDE title of Grandmaster. This is the highest title a chess player can get. She was honored in the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2015, she received the Presidential Order of Excellence from Georgia.

Nona started playing chess when she was five years old. She moved to Tbilisi in 1954 to train with top chess players. In 1962, she became the women's world chess champion. She won easily against the champion at the time, Elisaveta Bykova. This made her very popular in Georgia. She kept her title for many years. She defended it successfully four times. She lost her title to Maia Chiburdanidze in 1978. Nona also played in chess tournaments against men. She earned a special "norm" for the Grandmaster title in one of these. She later played often in the Women's World Senior Championship.

Besides chess, Nona Gaprindashvili was active in Georgian politics. She was a member of the Georgian Parliament. She also led the Georgian National Olympic Committee. In 2021, she took legal action against Netflix. This was because the show The Queen's Gambit incorrectly said she had never played against men. Netflix settled the case in 2022.

Early Life and Chess Beginnings

Nona Gaprindashvili was born in Zugdidi, Georgia, in 1941. She was the youngest of six children. She was the only girl in her family. Her family loved sports. Kids in her neighborhood often played games at her home. They played table tennis, billiards, and football. Nona often played goalkeeper in football games.

She learned to play chess from her father. She was five years old at the time. She also watched her brother play. When Nona was about eleven or twelve, she went to a chess tournament with her brother. He could not play, so she took his place. A chess trainer named Vakhtang Karseladzé noticed her talent.

Her parents arranged for her to live with her aunt in Tbilisi. This allowed her to train with chess Grandmasters. She started this training in 1954. By 1956, at just 14 years old, she reached the semi-finals of the Women's Soviet Union Championship.

Becoming a World Champion

Gaprindashvili playing chess in 1975

In 1961, Gaprindashvili won the Women's Candidates Tournament. This meant she could challenge Elisaveta Bykova. Bykova was the reigning women's world chess champion. Nona's favorite football team, FC Dinamo Tbilisi, came to watch and support her.

Nona won the 1962 match against Bykova by a large score. She had nine points, and Bykova had only two. The game was stopped for the night. But Bykova called later to say she gave up.

After her big win, Nona Gaprindashvili became a hero in Georgia. Crowds gathered to welcome her home. Chess expert Jennifer Shahade said Nona became a symbol of Georgian pride. This was important because Georgia was part of the Soviet Union at the time. Her victory started a "women's chess revolution" in Georgia. Many women started playing chess. Georgia became a leading country in women's chess. It produced many talented players during Nona's career.

Nona successfully defended her world title three times. She won against the Soviet player Alla Kushnir. In 1975, she faced another Georgian player, Nana Alexandria. People in Georgia followed this match closely. Nona won with 8.5 points to Alexandria's 3.5.

Earning the Grandmaster Title

During her career, Nona Gaprindashvili also played in tournaments usually for men. She won the Hastings Challengers tournament in 1963/64. She tied for first place at the Lone Pine International tournament in 1977. Her performance at Lone Pine was historic. It made her the first woman to earn a "norm" for the Grandmaster title. A norm is a high score needed to get the title. Her win at Lone Pine was also the first time a woman won a top-level open tournament.

At a meeting of the FIDE Congress in 1978, Nona Gaprindashvili was awarded the Grandmaster title. This was a huge achievement. She considers her Lone Pine performance and becoming a Grandmaster her greatest chess success.

In the same year, 1978, Nona was challenged for her world champion title. Her opponent was another Georgian player, Maia Chiburdanidze. Maia was only 17 years old. Their first three games were draws. Then Chiburdanidze won three games in a row. Nona won two games after that. The final game decided the championship. Chiburdanidze won it, and Nona lost her world champion title.

Later Chess Career and Public Life

Gaprindashvili at the Chess Olympiad in 1982

Nona Gaprindashvili played for the Soviet Union in many Women's Chess Olympiads. These are team competitions. She played from 1963 to 1990. After Georgia became independent, she played for Georgia in 1992. She was a key player for the Soviet team that won many Olympiads in the 1980s. She won 25 medals in total. This included 11 team gold medals and 9 individual gold medals. At the Olympiad in Dubai in 1986, she won all ten games she played.

Nona also won the USSR Women's Chess Championship five times. She won in 1964, 1973/74, 1981, 1983, and 1985. Her highest ever FIDE rating was 2495 in July 1987. Nona later helped train young female chess players. These included Ana Matnadze and Tea Lanchava. As of 2022, she has won the Women's World Senior Championship eight times. This championship is for female players aged 65 and older.

Besides chess, Nona Gaprindashvili was also active in public life. She was a member of the Soviet Parliament of Georgia. She then served as president of the Georgian National Olympic Committee from 1989 to 1996. She was involved in protests in 2002. She was also a leading member of the People's Assembly. This group protested the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili. She and the People's Assembly were part of the 2011 Georgian protests.

In 2005, at 64 years old, Nona won the BDO Chess Tournament in the Netherlands. In 2020, she appeared in a documentary called Glory to the Queen.

The Netflix show The Queen's Gambit was partly inspired by Nona's life. However, the show incorrectly said she was a Russian player who had never played against men. In reality, she is from Georgia. By 1968, she had played against at least 59 men, including 10 male grandmasters. Because of this error, she took legal action against Netflix in 2021. Netflix settled the case in September 2022.

Personal Life

In December 1969, Nona Gaprindashvili married Anzor Chichinadze in Tbilisi.

Playing Style and Philosophy

Nona Gaprindashvili is known for being very competitive. She has a strong and attacking way of playing chess. After she beat Bykova in 1962, many young female chess players copied her aggressive style. When she was a child, Nona did not like losing games.

She likes that chess judges do not play a big role in the game. She has seen problems in other sports because of judges. Nona believes that each chess player is unique. She does not like to compare them directly. She considers Bobby Fischer, Mikhail Tal, and Paul Morphy to be great chess players.

Honors and Awards

Nona Gaprindashvili received the Presidential Order of Excellence in 2015. The President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, gave her this award. It was for her "outstanding contribution to the country and nation." It also recognized her for "representing Georgia at an international level." In 2013, she was added to the World Chess Hall of Fame.

The Chess Palace in Tbilisi is named after Nona Gaprindashvili. Her hometown of Zugdidi has a statue in her honor. On her 60th birthday, the Georgian government gave her two cars. In 2016, the FIDE President gave her a special chess queen statue. It was a symbol of Caïssa, the goddess of chess.

See also

In Spanish: Nona Gaprindashvili para niños