Mariya Muzychuk

Biography (1992)

Mariya was born on September 21, 1992, in Stryi, Lviv Region, Ukraine. She started her chess career in the village of Ugersko, where her parents used to work at a local sports school for children and youngsters. However, Mariya managed to train at home, too: her elder sister Anna used to help her along with her parents.Since she was 7, Mariya has participated in the Ukrainian youth championships; in 2002, she won the Ukrainian and European championships for children under 10. At the age of 11, Mariya was shortlisted for the Ukrainian women's championship, and then she won the world youth championship for children under 14 and later repeatedly won medals at the European and world youth championships.Her success at the European women's championships brought Mariya the title of Woman Grandmaster, and in 2008 she was awarded the title of International Master. Seven years later, she became a GM after stringing together some strong results in international competitions.Muzychuk got her moment of glory in the 2015 knockout Women's World Championship in Sochi: after outplaying Yuanling Yuan, Monika Socko, Antoaneta Stefanova, Humpy Koneru, Harika Dronavalli, and Natalija Pogonina one by one, the Ukrainian GM became the fifteenth Women's World Champion. In March 2016, Mariya Muzychuk failed to defend her title in a match against Hou Yifan (+0-3=6) but continues to be among the main contenders for the chess crown.