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. This championship has been managed by FIDE (the International Chess Federation) since it started in 1927.

The history of the Women's World Championship can be split into three main periods. First, there was the Menchik era from 1927 to 1944. Then came the Soviet-dominated era, lasting from 1950 to 1991. Finally, we have the China-dominated era, which began in 1991 and continues today.

A player named Vera Menchik won every Women's World Championship from 1927 until 1944. After that, the Soviet Union won every title from 1950 until 1991. Two famous champions from this time were Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze from Georgia. They won five titles each, making it ten in a row for them!

Since 1991, China has been very strong in women's chess. Chinese players have won 16 out of the last 21 titles. Six different Chinese champions have held the title. This includes Xie Jun and Hou Yifan, who each won four times. The current World Champion, Ju Wenjun, has won five times.

The championship has changed its format over the years. It started as a tournament where many players competed. In the 1950s, it mostly became a match between two players. This continued until 2000, when a new knockout tournament style was introduced. The match format came back in 2011, sometimes switching with the knockout. Since 2020, it has been a match format again.

History of the Championship
List of Women's World Chess Champions
Championship Events and Winners
Number of Titles Won
See also

History of the Championship

The Menchik Era (1927–1944)

The Women's World Chess Championship was created by FIDE in 1927. FIDE wanted to control the main World Chess Championship. They thought creating a women's championship they already managed would help them.

FIDE held a women's tournament as a side event at the Chess Olympiad. Weeks after it ended, they decided that the winner, Vera Menchik, would be the first Women's World Chess Champion.

Menchik remained champion until she passed away. She defended her title seven more times. During her time, the world championship was mostly played as tournaments. This was different from the main World Chess Championship, which used a match format. There was one exception: a match in 1937 between Menchik and Sonja Graf. FIDE officially recognized this match. The Women's World Championship continued to be held with the Chess Olympiad. This meant it happened more often than the main World Championship.

Soviet Union's Strong Players (1950–1991)

1981 Women's World Championship, Maia Chiburdanidze vs. Nana Alexandria

Vera Menchik died in 1944 when her house was bombed. The next championship was a tournament in 1949–50. It was won by Lyudmila Rudenko. After this, a system similar to the main championship was set up. Players would compete in "Candidates" events to decide who would challenge the current champion.

The first Candidates tournament was in Moscow in 1952. Elisaveta Bykova won it. She then beat Rudenko to become the third champion. The next Candidates tournament was won by Olga Rubtsova. FIDE decided that the championship should be played between the top three players. Rubtsova won in Moscow in 1956. Bykova won the title back in 1958. She defended it against Kira Zvorykina in 1959.

In 1961, Nona Gaprindashvili from Georgia completely dominated the Candidates tournament. She then easily defeated Bykova in Moscow in 1962 to become champion. Gaprindashvili defended her title against Alla Kushnir in 1965 and 1969. In 1972, FIDE started using the same system for women's chess as for the main championship. This involved "Interzonal" tournaments followed by Candidates matches. Kushnir won again but was defeated by Gaprindashvili in 1972. Gaprindashvili defended her title one last time against Nana Alexandria in 1975.

In 1976–1978, 17-year-old Maia Chiburdanidze from Georgia became a surprise star. She won her matches to face Gaprindashvili in the 1978 finals. Chiburdanidze strongly defeated Gaprindashvili. This marked the end of one Georgian champion's rule and the start of another's. Chiburdanidze defended her title against Alexandria in 1981 and Irina Levitina in 1984. FIDE then brought back the Candidates tournament system. Elena Akhmilovskaya won the tournament but was still beaten by Chiburdanidze in 1986. Chiburdanidze's last title defense was against Nana Ioseliani in 1988.

The Post-Soviet Era (1991–2010)

Chiburdanidze's long reign ended in 1991. A young Chinese star, Xie Jun, defeated her. This meant that the Soviet Union's strong hold on the women's championship ended after 41 years.

Around this time, the three Polgar sisters—Susan Polgar, Sofia Polgar, and Judit Polgár—became very strong players. However, they often chose to compete in "open" tournaments, which included both men and women. They usually avoided the women's championship.

Susan Polgar later decided to compete. She won the Candidates tournament in 1992. The final match was a draw between Polgar and Ioseliani. Even after extra games, it was still tied. A lottery decided the winner, and Ioseliani won. However, Xie Jun then easily defeated Ioseliani in the championship in 1993.

Susan Polgar dominated the next championship cycle. She tied with Chiburdanidze in the Candidates tournament. She then easily beat Chiburdanidze in their match. Finally, she decisively defeated Xie Jun in 1996 to win the championship.

In 1997, Alisa Galliamova from Russia and Xie Jun from China finished first and second. But Galliamova did not want to play the final match entirely in China. FIDE eventually gave the match win to Xie Jun by default.

However, by the time these issues were sorted out, Polgar had given birth to her first child. She asked for the match to be delayed. FIDE said no. They set up the championship to be between Galliamova and Xie Jun. Xie Jun won the championship in 1999.

In 2000, a new "knockout" tournament style was used for the women's world championship. This was similar to the main FIDE title. Xie Jun won this event. In 2001, a similar event decided the champion, Zhu Chen. Another knockout tournament in 2004 made Antoaneta Stefanova from Bulgaria the champion. Zhu Chen did not play in this event because she was pregnant.

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

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

In 2010, the title went back to China again. Hou Yifan, who was the runner-up before, became the youngest ever women's world champion at 16. She beat her fellow Chinese player Ruan Lufei.

Yearly Tournaments (2010–2018)

Women's World Chess Championship, Tirana 2011

From 2010, the Women's World Chess Championship was held every year. It switched between two formats. In even years, there was a knockout tournament with 64 players. In odd years, there was a classical match between two players. The 2011 championship was between the 2010 champion, Hou Yifan, and Koneru Humpy.

In 2011, Hou Yifan successfully defended her title in Tirana, Albania, against Koneru Humpy. Hou won three games and drew five in their match, winning the title with two games left.

Hou Yifan was knocked out early in the Women's World Chess Championship 2012. This tournament was won by Anna Ushenina, who was ranked 30th. She won the final against Antoaneta Stefanova.

The Women's World Chess Championship 2013 was a 10-game match. It was between defending champion Anna Ushenina and Hou Yifan. Hou Yifan won the match easily to get her title back.

Hou chose not to defend her title at the Women's World Chess Championship 2015. The title was then won by Mariya Muzychuk, who defeated Natalia Pogonina in the final.

Hou defeated Muzychuk in March 2016 to win the Women's World Chess Championship 2016 title. This was her fourth championship.

The next year, Tan Zhongyi defeated Anna Muzychuk for the title at the Women's World Chess Championship 2017.

Tan lost her title when defending it against Ju Wenjun in the Women's World Chess Championship Match 2018. Hou did not play in this event.

Return to Match-Only Format (2019–Present)

The championships had not always followed their planned yearly schedule. This was due to problems with hosting and timing. FIDE held a second world championship in 2018 to get back on track.

After the 2018 championship tournament, the new FIDE president announced that the format would change back to matches only. He said that having many different champions each year made the title seem less important. Aleksandra Goryachkina won the Candidates tournament in June 2019. She then challenged 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 successfully defended her title in the 2025 championship against Tan Zhongyi.

List of Women's World Chess Champions

#	Name	Country	Years
1	Vera Menchik	Russia Czechoslovakia United Kingdom	1927–1944
2	Lyudmila Rudenko	Soviet Union	1950–1953
3	Elisaveta Bykova	Soviet Union	1953–1956
4	Olga Rubtsova	Soviet Union	1956–1958
(3)	Elisaveta Bykova	Soviet Union	1958–1962
5	Nona Gaprindashvili	Soviet Union	1962–1978
6	Maia Chiburdanidze	Soviet Union	1978–1991
7	Xie Jun	China	1991–1996
8	Susan Polgar	Hungary	1996–1999
(7)	Xie Jun	China	1999–2001
9	Zhu Chen	China	2001–2004
10	Antoaneta Stefanova	Bulgaria	2004–2006
11	Xu Yuhua	China	2006–2008
12	Alexandra Kosteniuk	Russia	2008–2010
13	Hou Yifan	China	2010–2012
14	Anna Ushenina	Ukraine	2012–2013
(13)	Hou Yifan	China	2013–2015
15	Mariya Muzychuk	Ukraine	2015–2016
(13)	Hou Yifan	China	2016–2017
16	Tan Zhongyi	China	2017–2018
17	Ju Wenjun	China	2018–present

Championship Events and Winners

Year	Host country	Host city	World champion	Runner-up	W	L	D	Format
Tournament Formats (1927–1944)
1927	United Kingdom	London	Vera Menchik	Katarina Beskow	10	0	1	RR (12 players)
1930	Germany	Hamburg	Vera Menchik	Paula Wolf-Kalmar	6	1	1	Double RR (5 players)
1931	Czechoslovakia	Prague	Vera Menchik	Paula Wolf-Kalmar	8	0	0	Double RR (5 players)
1933	United Kingdom	Folkestone	Vera Menchik	Edith Charlotte Price	14	0	0	Double RR (8 players)
1935	Poland	Warsaw	Vera Menchik	Regina Gerlecka	9	0	0	RR (10 players)
1937 Jul	Austria	Semmering	Vera Menchik	Sonja Graf	9	2	5	16-game match
1937 Aug	Sweden	Stockholm	Vera Menchik	Clarice Benini	14	0	0	Swiss (26 players)
1939	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Vera Menchik	Sonja Graf	17	0	2	RR (20 players)
Menchik passed away in 1944 as the reigning world champion.
Interregnum (1944–1950)
Match Format (1950–1999)
1950	Soviet Union	Moscow	Lyudmila Rudenko	Olga Rubtsova	9	5	1	RR (16 players)
1953	Soviet Union	Moscow	Elisaveta Bykova	Lyudmila Rudenko	7	5	2	14-game match
1956	Soviet Union	Moscow	Olga Rubtsova	Elisaveta Bykova	7	6	3	Octuple RR (3 players)
1958	Soviet Union	Moscow	Elisaveta Bykova	Olga Rubtsova	7	4	3	16-game match
1959	Soviet Union	Moscow	Elisaveta Bykova	Kira Zvorykina	6	2	5
1962	Soviet Union	Moscow	Nona Gaprindashvili	Elisaveta Bykova	7	0	4
1965	Soviet Union	Riga	Nona Gaprindashvili	Alla Kushnir	7	3	3
1969	Soviet Union	Tbilisi Moscow	Nona Gaprindashvili	Alla Kushnir	6	2	5
1972	Soviet Union	Riga	Nona Gaprindashvili	Alla Kushnir	5	4	7
1975	Soviet Union	Pitsunda Tbilisi	Nona Gaprindashvili	Nana Alexandria	8	3	1
1978	Soviet Union	Tbilisi	Maia Chiburdanidze	Nona Gaprindashvili	4	2	9
1981	Soviet Union	Borjomi Tbilisi	Maia Chiburdanidze	Nana Alexandria	4	4	8
1984	Soviet Union	Volgograd	Maia Chiburdanidze	Irina Levitina	5	2	7
1986	Bulgaria	Sofia	Maia Chiburdanidze	Elena Akhmilovskaya	4	1	9
1988	Soviet Union	Telavi	Maia Chiburdanidze	Nana Ioseliani	3	2	11
1991	Philippines	Manila	Xie Jun	Maia Chiburdanidze	4	2	9
1993	Monaco	Monaco	Xie Jun	Nana Ioseliani	7	1	3
1996	Spain	Jaén	Susan Polgar	Xie Jun	6	2	5
FIDE said Polgar lost her title in 1999.
1999	Russia China	Kazan Shenyang	Xie Jun	Alisa Galliamova	5	3	7
Knockout Format (2000–2010)
2000	India	New Delhi	Xie Jun	Qin Kanying	1	0	3	KO (64 players)
2001	Russia	Moscow	Zhu Chen	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2+3	2+1	0
2004	Russia	Elista	Antoaneta Stefanova	Ekaterina Kovalevskaya	2	0	1
2006	Russia	Yekaterinburg	Xu Yuhua	Alisa Galliamova	2	0	1
2008	Russia	Nalchik	Alexandra Kosteniuk	Hou Yifan	1	0	3
2010	Turkey	Hatay	Hou Yifan	Ruan Lufei	1+2	1	2+2
Alternating Formats (2011–2018)
2011	Albania	Tirana	Hou Yifan	Koneru Humpy	3	0	5	10-game match
2012	Russia	Khanty-Mansiysk	Anna Ushenina	Antoaneta Stefanova	1+1	1	2+1	KO (64 players)
2013	China	Taizhou	Hou Yifan	Anna Ushenina	4	0	3	10-game match
2015	Russia	Sochi	Mariya Muzychuk	Natalia Pogonina	1	0	3	KO (64 players)
2016	Ukraine	Lviv	Hou Yifan	Mariya Muzychuk	3	0	6	10-game match
2017	Iran	Tehran	Tan Zhongyi	Anna Muzychuk	1+1	1	2+1	KO (64 players)
2018 May	China	Shanghai Chongqing	Ju Wenjun	Tan Zhongyi	3	2	5	10-game match
2018 Nov	Russia	Khanty-Mansiysk	Ju Wenjun	Kateryna Lagno	1+2	1	2+2	KO (64 players)
Match Format (2019–Present)
2020	China Russia	Shanghai Vladivostok	Ju Wenjun	Aleksandra Goryachkina	3+1	3	6+3	12-game match
2023	China	Shanghai Chongqing	Ju Wenjun	Lei Tingjie	2	1	9
2025	China	Shanghai Chongqing	Ju Wenjun	Tan Zhongyi	5	1	3

Key: RR = round-robin tournament, KO = knockout tournament

Number of Titles Won

Champion	Titles	Years
Vera Menchik	8	17
Nona Gaprindashvili	5	16
Maia Chiburdanidze	5	13
Ju Wenjun	5	7
Xie Jun	4	7
Hou Yifan	4	5
Elisaveta Bykova	3	7
Lyudmila Rudenko	1	3
Susan Polgar	1	3
Zhu Chen	1	3
Olga Rubtsova	1	2
Antoaneta Stefanova	1	2
Xu Yuhua	1	2
Alexandra Kosteniuk	1	2
Anna Ushenina	1	1
Mariya Muzychuk	1	1
Tan Zhongyi	1	1