All The Women's World Chess Champions

The game of chess didn't have a world championship until 1886. It took an additional 41 years for there to be a women's world championship, first held in 1927. 

Despite the shorter time period, there have been as many women's champions, 17, as there have been world champions. Whereas the original world championship has almost entirely been decided by match play, the format of the women's championship has been far less consistent. With many more tournaments involved, there have been many more opportunities for a new champion to emerge.

What follows is a table of all the women's world champions, as well as pictures and short paragraphs of information on all of these stars of chess.

Women's World Champions

Women's World Champions (1927-present)

Vera Menchik (1927-44)

Vera Menchik was the first woman to make a name for herself in chess by playing in events with men. A popular if possibly apocryphal story involves her playing at Carlsbad in 1929, where a player named Albert Becker supposedly declared that any man who lost to Menchik should be considered part of a "Vera Menchik Club"—which Becker himself went on to do!

At the same time, Menchik dominated the Women's World Championship, winning all eight she played in during a period of 12 years from 1927-39 while losing only three games during the entire run. She died in a German bombing attack on London during World War II at the age of 38, while she was still world champion.

IM Lyudmila Rudenko (1950-53)

The first post-war champion, Rudenko defeated two future champions while winning the 15-round tournament by a full point. Rudenko earned the international master title the year it was first instituted in 1950.

Rudenko received renewed attention in 2018 when she was depicted in the Google doodle for July 27, her birthdate in 1904.

IM Elisaveta Bykova (1953-56, 58-62)

Rudenko was the first champion after Menchik, but Bykova won multiple championships in multiple formats against multiple opponents, bridging the gap between Menchik and Gaprindashvili.

Bykova also did much for women's chess through books, lectures, and organizing tournaments.

IM Olga Rubtsova (1956-58)

Rubtsova, who beat Rudenko and Bykova in 1956 to become world champion, later also became women's correspondence chess world champion.

GM Nona Gaprindashvili (1962-78)

Gaprindashvili was the first woman to earn the grandmaster title. She did not do so until near the end of her championship run, but for the better part of two decades she was the best in the world, often playing in open events such as Lone Pine 1977 where she tied for first place to earn the GM title. In 1978, she finally met her match in the women's championship, but to a more-than-worthy adversary. Gaprindashvili's 16-year reign as world champion is the second-longest (behind Menchik).

Gaprindashvili remains active into her 80s and has won seven senior world championships. 

GM Maia Chiburdanidze (1978-91)

Chiburdanidze, who was only 17 years old when she became world champion, defeated a record five different opponents during her run. She was the first woman to reach the overall top 50 in the FIDE rankings, peaking at 48th in January of 1988, and still one of only two to do so.

With Chiburdanidze following Gaprindashvili, the country of Georgia held the women's world championship for nearly three decades, albeit while a part of the Soviet Union. The Georgian chess players Chiburdanidze, Gaprindashvili, IM Nana Ioseliani, and WGM Nana Alexandria were featured in the 2021 documentary Glory to the Queen.

GM Xie Jun (1991-96, 1999-2001)

Xie Jun was the first Chinese world champion of chess, more than 30 years before GM Ding Liren won the open championship. She was also the first non-Soviet champion since Menchik. After winning three out of four championship matches, Xie was forced to defend in a large tournament for her fourth title, which she did. The next tournament, however, she sat out.

Xie is currently (as of July 2023) the President of the Chinese Chess Association.

GM Susan Polgar (1996-99)

Unlike her younger sister, GM Judit Polgar—the only woman to peak in the top 10 in the entire world, and who would likely have held the title for as long as she wanted to, but never pursued it—Susan Polgar played for and won the women's championship. She defeated Xie Jun in a match in 1996. Three years later, after a dispute with FIDE, Polgar was unable to play to defend her title.

Polgar was the longtime coach of the highly successful chess program at Webster University and founded SPICE, the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence at Webster.

GM Zhu Chen (2001-04)

FIDE switched to a world championship tournament in 1999, and the women's championship followed suit in 2000. Xie Jun won the inaugural version, her third world championship overall, but Zhu Chen was the first to win her initial title in the format. Like Polgar and Xie, Zhu did not attempt to defend her title.

Zhu represented China as world champion and changed federations to Qatar in 2006. She is currently (as of July 2023) the FIDE Treasurer.

GM Antoenata Stefanova (2004-06)

Stefanova was Bulgaria's first world champion, doing so a year before GM Veselin Topalov won the 2005 FIDE World Championship. Unlike her three predecessors in the women's championship, Stefanova tried to defend in another tournament, but the odds of that format are generally stacked too high against a repeat performance.

Stefanova very nearly reached the top again in 2012, but lost in the final. That same year she won the first-ever Women's Rapid Championship.

GM Xu Yuhua (2006-08)

Xu was the next player to make a great run in the large knockout format and earn a championship. Now an arbiter, trainer, and Vice President of the Asian Chess Federation, Xu's last rated game was in January 2012.

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2008-10)

Kosteniuk was the first Russian champion since Bykova, 46 years previously. Kosteniuk began representing Switzerland instead after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russia still has not had a women's champion since 2010.

Kosteniuk's resume goes well beyond the world championship. She has also won the 2021 World Rapid Championship, 2021 Women's World Cup, two Fischer Random World Championships, and 10 gold medals in team competitions.

She is a content director at Chess.com.

GM Hou Yifan (2010-12, 2013-15, 2016-17)

Hou is by a large margin the best player of her generation, reaching a rating as high as 2686 in March 2015. By winning her first championship at age 16, she broke Chiburdanidze's record as the youngest world champion ever.

But Hou eventually left the world championship cycle in protest of the alternating match-tournament format that FIDE introduced in 2010. She ultimately went undefeated in three matches, split the two knockout tournaments she played, and sat out an additional two tournaments.

In her three world championship matches, Hou Yifan's record was an incredible 10 wins, 14 draws, and zero losses. She is now a professor at Shenzhen University and still plays competitively on occasion, although she has not rejoined the world championship cycle.

GM Anna Ushenina (2012-13)

Ushenina won Ukraine's first championship in the 2012 tournament in an impressive upset, having been the 30th seed out of 64. She defeated former champion Stefanova and future champion Ju Wenjun in the last two rounds.

GM Mariya Muzychuk (2015-16)

Muzychuk became Ukraine's second world champion in three years in 2015. In 2022, she led the Ukrainian women's team to the gold medal in the 44th Chess Olympiad, playing on the top board.

Her sister GM Anna Muzychuk is also a world champion-caliber player.

GM Tan Zhongyi (2017-18)

Tan Zhongyi was the last player to win her first world championship with a tournament performance. She added the Women's Rapid Championship to her resume in 2022.

GM Ju Wenjun (2018-present)

Ju was the first and only player to successfully defend her title in a knockout tournament under the 2010-2018 alternating format. Along with Menchik, she is just one of two players to win two world championships in the same year.

FIDE finally returned to the Candidates Tournament and championship match format in 2020, the first time in over 20 years. Ju defended successfully yet again. 

She is currently playing GM Lei Tingjie in the 2023 FIDE Women's World Championship.