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 is known for her strong and attacking way of playing. Nona was the women's world chess champion for many years, from 1962 to 1978. In 1978, she made history by becoming the first woman to earn the highest chess title, Grandmaster, from FIDE (the International Chess Federation). Her amazing achievements led her to be honored in the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2013. She also received the Presidential Order of Excellence in 2015.

Nona started playing chess when she was five years old. In 1954, she moved to Tbilisi to train with top chess players. In 1962, she became the women's world chess champion. She won against the current champion, Elisaveta Bykova, by a huge score. This victory made her very popular in Georgia. She successfully defended her title four times. She lost her title to Maia Chiburdanidze in 1978. Nona also played in tournaments that were mostly for men. Her strong performance in one of these tournaments helped her earn the Grandmaster title. Later in her career, she often competed in the Women's World Senior Chess Championship.

Besides her chess career, Nona Gaprindashvili was also active in Georgian politics. She was a member of the Georgian Parliament. She also served as the president of the Georgian National Olympic Committee. In 2021, Nona sued Netflix because their show The Queen's Gambit wrongly said she had never played against men. Netflix settled the lawsuit in 2022.

Early Life and Chess Beginnings

Nona Gaprindashvili was born in Zugdidi, Georgia, in 1941. She was the youngest of six children and the only girl. Her family loved sports. Kids in her neighborhood often gathered at her home to play games like table tennis and football. Nona first learned to play chess from her father when she was five years old. She also learned by watching her brother play.

When Nona was about eleven or twelve, she went with her brother to a chess tournament. When her brother couldn't play, she took his place. There, a chess coach 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 starting in 1954. By the age of fourteen, in 1956, she had already reached the semi-finals of the Women's Soviet Union Championship.

Becoming a World Champion

Nona Gaprindashvili won the Women's Candidates Tournament in 1961. This meant she could challenge Elisaveta Bykova, who was the women's world chess champion at the time. Nona's favorite football team, FC Dinamo Tbilisi, even came to watch and support her. Nona won the 1962 match against Bykova with a big score of nine points to Bykova's two. Bykova gave up the game before it was finished.

After her victory, Nona Gaprindashvili became a huge celebrity in Georgia. Crowds gathered to greet her when she returned home. Chess expert Jennifer Shahade said that Nona became a symbol of Georgian pride. Her win started a "women's chess revolution" in Georgia. Many women started playing chess, and Georgia became a leading country in women's chess.

Nona successfully defended her world title three times against Soviet player Alla Kushnir. In 1975, another Georgian player, Nana Alexandria, challenged Nona. People in Georgia closely followed this competition between the two players. Nona won with 8.5 points against Alexandria's 3.5.

Making History as a Grandmaster

During her career, Nona Gaprindashvili also played in tournaments that were usually for men. She won the Hastings Challengers tournament in 1963/64. She also tied for first place at the Lone Pine International tournament in 1977. Her performance at Lone Pine was very important. It made her the first woman ever to earn a norm for the Grandmaster title. This win was also the first time a woman won a top-level chess tournament.

At a meeting of the FIDE Congress in 1978, Nona Gaprindashvili was officially given the title of Grandmaster. This was a huge achievement. She considers her performance at Lone Pine and becoming a Grandmaster to be her greatest successes in chess.

In the same year, 1978, Nona was challenged for her world champion title by another Georgian player, Maia Chiburdanidze. Maia was only seventeen years old. Their first three games were draws. Then, Chiburdanidze won three games in a row. Nona then won two games. The final game decided who would be the champion. Chiburdanidze won, and Nona Gaprindashvili lost her title as world champion.

Later Chess Career and Achievements

Nona Gaprindashvili in 1995

Nona Gaprindashvili played for the Soviet Union in many Women's Chess Olympiads from 1963 to 1990. After Georgia became independent, she played for Georgia in 1992. She was a key player on the Soviet Union team that was very strong in the 1980s. She won 25 medals in total, including eleven team gold medals and nine 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: in 1964, 1973/74, 1981, 1983, and 1985. Her highest FIDE rating was 2495 in July 1987. Nona later trained young female chess players, including Ana Matnadze. As of 2022, she has won the Women's World Senior Chess Championship eight times. This championship is for female players who are at least 65 years old.

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

Nona Gaprindashvili and The Queen's Gambit

The Netflix show The Queen's Gambit and its story were partly inspired by Nona Gaprindashvili's life. However, the show wrongly said she was a Russian chess player who had never played against men. In reality, Nona is from Georgia. By 1968, she had already played against at least 59 men, including 10 male grandmasters.

Because of these mistakes, Nona filed a lawsuit against Netflix in September 2021. She said the show damaged her reputation and privacy. In September 2022, Netflix reached an agreement with Nona Gaprindashvili. The details of the agreement were not shared.

Playing Style

Nona Gaprindashvili is known for her competitive spirit and aggressive way of playing chess. After she won against Bykova in 1962, many young female chess players started to copy Nona's strong and technical style. Nona has said that she doesn't like to compare chess players. She believes each player has their own unique way of playing. Among the chess players she considers great, she has mentioned Bobby Fischer, Mikhail Tal, and Paul Morphy.

Honors and Awards

Nona Gaprindashvili has received many honors for her contributions to chess and her country.

• In 2015, she was given the Presidential Order of Excellence by the President of Georgia. This award was for her "outstanding contribution to the country and nation."
• 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 honoring her.
• On her 60th birthday, the government of Georgia gave her two cars.
• In 2016, the FIDE President gave her a special chess queen statue.

Images for kids

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  Nona Gaprindashvili in 1963

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  Nona Gaprindashvili in 1995

See also

In Spanish: Nona Gaprindashvili para niños