Nona Gaprindashvili

Biography (1941)

Born in 1941 in Zugdidi (USSR, now Georgia), Nona Gaprindashvili, the first woman to be awarded the title of International Grandmaster (1978), was the only girl in a big family of six children. Her brothers taught Nona chess when she was five and became her first opponents. After turning 12, she studied chess in Tbilisi under the tutelage of a talented coach Vakhtang Karseladze, and this work quickly paid off.Aged just fifteen, Nona won Tbilisi and Georgian Championships and four years later breezed past the competition in the 1961 Candidates to set up the title match with Elisaveta Bykova.Gaprindashvili wrestled the title from Bykova in a canter (+7−0=4) and successfully defended it three times against Alla Kushnir (1965: +7-3=3; 1969: +6-2=5; 1972: +5-4=7) and once against Nana Alexandria (1975: +8-3=1). After fifteen years of reigning, she lost the title match (Tbilisi, 1978) to another Georgian, 17-year-old star Maia Chiburdanidze (+2−4=9).After conceding the title, Gaprindashvili remained one of the strongest female players in the world for another twenty years and amassed a very impressive tournament record.Nona is still very active in veteran tournaments winning World Senior Championship and European Senior Championship multiple times.

Notable game

This game was played in Dortmund in 1974

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Black to move.

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Want chess advice?

# 1 / 5

I don’t agree with those who say that women have a different style of play than men. I think that every chess player has their own individual style, regardless of their gender.

I think that the main reason why women are weaker than men in chess is psychological. Women are more emotional and less confident in themselves. They are afraid to take risks and play aggressively.

The time of so-called "women's chess" is gone! And I'm proud of helping to promote women's creative emancipation in chess, helping them to overcome psychological barriers that separated them from "men's" chess.

For centuries, only select few high-class women took some interest (just interest!) in chess. So, women's chess have next to no tradition, next to no history, and that's very important.

I'll only marry a man who doesn't play chess. One chess fanatic in the family is quite enough!

On Gaprindashvili

Nona's advantage is that she thinks concretely, plays easily, without time pressure.

Nona Gaprindashvili is drawn to chess by the competitive spirit and the thrill of battle. Even in ping-pong, she plays aggressively, with an attacking style.