Women's World Chess Championship facts for kids

Current Women's World Chess Champion Ju Wenjun from China

The Women's World Chess Championship is a special chess competition. It decides who is the best female chess player in the world. FIDE, which is the world chess organization, has managed this championship since it started in 1927.

The history of the Women's World Chess Championship has three main periods:

The Menchik era (1927–1944)
The Soviet era (1950–1991)
The China era (1991–today)

Vera Menchik won every Women's World Championship from 1927 until 1944. After that, players from the Soviet Union won every title from 1950 to 1991. Two famous champions from this time were Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze. They won ten titles together! Since 1991, China has won 16 of the last 21 titles. Many different Chinese players have become champions, including Xie Jun, Hou Yifan, and the current champion, Ju Wenjun.

The championship has changed its rules over time. It started as a tournament where many players competed against each other. Then, in the 1950s, it mostly became a match between two players. In 2000, they tried a new knockout style. This meant players were eliminated if they lost. The match format came back in 2011 and has been the main way to decide the champion since 2020.

History of the Championship
Women's World Chess Champions
Championship Events and Winners
- Women's World Champions by Wins
See also

History of the Championship

The Menchik Era (1927–1944)

The Women's World Chess Championship began in 1927. FIDE created it to help manage chess worldwide. They held a tournament for women during the Chess Olympiad. After the tournament, FIDE decided that the winner, Vera Menchik, would be the first Women's World Chess Champion.

Vera Menchik held her title until she passed away. She defended it seven more times. During her time, the championship was usually a tournament. This was different from the main World Chess Championship, which used a match system. There was one special match in 1937 between Menchik and Sonja Graf. FIDE officially recognized this match. The Women's World Championship often happened alongside the Chess Olympiad. This made it more regular than the main World Championship.

Soviet Union's Strong Players (1950–1991)

1981 Women's World Championship: Maia Chiburdanidze (left) playing against Nana Alexandria (right)

Vera Menchik died in 1944 during World War II. The next championship was a tournament in 1949–50. Lyudmila Rudenko won it. After this, a new system started. Players would compete in "Candidates" events to find a challenger. This challenger would then play against the current champion.

The first Candidates tournament was in Moscow in 1952. Elisaveta Bykova won and then beat Rudenko to become the third champion. Later, Olga Rubtsova won the next Candidates tournament. Instead of just Bykova and Rubtsova playing, FIDE decided the championship should be a match between the top three players. Rubtsova won in Moscow in 1956. Bykova won the title back in 1958 and defended it in 1959.

In 1961, Nona Gaprindashvili from Georgia completely dominated the Candidates tournament. She won without losing any games. Then, she easily defeated Bykova in Moscow in 1962 to become champion. Gaprindashvili defended her title against Alla Kushnir in 1965 and 1969. In 1972, FIDE made the women's championship system more like the main championship. This included "Interzonal" tournaments and "Candidates" matches. Gaprindashvili defended her title two more times, including against Nana Alexandria in 1975.

In 1976–1978, a 17-year-old player from Georgia, Maia Chiburdanidze, became a surprise star. She won her matches to face Gaprindashvili in the 1978 finals. Chiburdanidze strongly defeated Gaprindashvili. This marked the end of Gaprindashvili's long reign and the start of Chiburdanidze's. Chiburdanidze defended her title against Alexandria in 1981 and Irina Levitina in 1984. She also defended it against Elena Akhmilovskaya in 1986 and Nana Ioseliani in 1988.

After the Soviet Era (1991–2010)

Maia Chiburdanidze's time as champion ended in 1991. A young Chinese player named Xie Jun defeated her in Manila. This meant the Soviet Union's long winning streak in women's chess was over after 41 years.

Around this time, the three Polgar sisters—Susan Polgar, Sofia Polgar, and Judit Polgár—became very strong players. However, they often played in "open" tournaments, which included men, instead of the women's championship.

Susan Polgar later decided to compete in the women's championship. She won the Candidates tournament in 1992. The final match was a tie between Polgar and Ioseliani. A lottery decided the winner, and Ioseliani won. But then, Xie Jun easily defeated Ioseliani in the 1993 championship.

Susan Polgar then dominated the next championship cycle. She defeated Xie Jun in 1996 to become champion.

In 1997, Alisa Galliamova and Xie Jun were supposed to play for the title. But Galliamova did not want to play the whole match in China. FIDE eventually gave the title to Xie Jun by default.

However, there were many delays. Susan Polgar had a baby and asked for the match to be postponed. FIDE said no. So, the championship was set up between Galliamova and Xie Jun. Xie Jun won the match in 1999.

In 2000, the championship changed to a "knockout" event. Xie Jun won again. In 2001, Zhu Chen became champion in a similar event. In 2004, Antoaneta Stefanova from Bulgaria won. Zhu Chen did not play because she was pregnant.

In 2006, the title returned to China. Xu Yuhua became the new champion. She was also pregnant during the championship.

In 2008, Russian grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk won the title. She beat the young Chinese player Hou Yifan, who was only 14 at the time.

In 2010, the title went back to China. Hou Yifan became the youngest ever women's world champion at 16 years old. She defeated her fellow Chinese player Ruan Lufei.

Yearly Tournaments (2010–2018)

Women's World Chess Championship in Tirana, Albania, 2011

From 2010, the Women's World Chess Championship was held every year. In even years, it was a 64-player knockout tournament. In odd years, it was a classical match between two players. In 2011, Hou Yifan played against Koneru Humpy. Hou successfully defended her title in Tirana, Albania. She won the match with two games to spare.

In 2012, Hou Yifan was knocked out early in the tournament. Anna Ushenina won the final against Antoaneta Stefanova.

The 2013 championship was a match between Anna Ushenina and Hou Yifan. Hou Yifan won the match easily to get her title back.

Hou Yifan decided not to defend her title in 2015. So, Mariya Muzychuk won the title. She defeated Natalia Pogonina in the final.

Hou Yifan defeated Muzychuk in 2016 to win her fourth championship title.

The next year, Tan Zhongyi defeated Anna Muzychuk to become champion in 2017.

Tan Zhongyi lost her title when she defended it against Ju Wenjun in 2018. Hou Yifan did not play in this event.

Return to Match-Only Format

Because of problems with hosting and timing, the championships had not been held yearly as planned. FIDE held a second world championship in 2018 to get back on track.

After the 2018 championship, the new FIDE president announced that the format would change back to matches only. He felt that having many different champions each year made the title less special. Aleksandra Goryachkina won the Candidates tournament in 2019 to challenge for the World Championship. Ju Wenjun kept her title in the 2020 Championship.

Ju Wenjun also kept her title in the 2023 championship against Lei Tingjie. She also won the 2025 championship against Tan Zhongyi.