Nona Gaprindashvili. The true queen of chess

Written by Margot Cleverly

When a twenty-one-year-old chess player from Georgia defeated the Soviet world champion in 1962, few suspected that an era of dominance lasting sixteen years was beginning. Nona Gaprindashvili grew up as the only daughter in a family of six in Zugdidi, learning the game from her father and brothers. She became a symbol of women’s chess in the USSR and the first female grandmaster in history. Today, over eighty years old, she still wins senior titles.

Childhood at the Chessboard

In the small Georgian town of Zugdidi, chess was more than entertainment – it was part of the region’s intellectual culture. Nona was born in 1941 as the only girl among five children. In an era when sports and mental games were considered a male domain, the Gaprindashvili family erected no such barriers.

Her father and brothers taught five-year-old Nona the basics of the game, unaware they were training a future legend. At about twelve years old, she replaced her brother in a local chess tournament – a decision that changed her life. Coach Vakhtang Karseladze noticed the girl’s extraordinary talent and convinced her parents to pursue serious training.

In 1954, at age thirteen, Nona moved to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. It was a step into the unknown – a young girl from the provinces entering the world of professional chess players, where she would train under grandmasters. The Soviet chess machine was ruthless but also extraordinarily effective at developing talent.

Two years later, in 1956, fourteen-year-old Gaprindashvili won the semifinals of the USSR Women’s Championship. It was a signal that Georgia had a new star.

Winning and Defending the Crown

The road to the championship title was methodical. In 1961, Nona won the candidates’ tournament, earning the right to face reigning world champion Elisaveta Bykova. The Russian chess player had experience and prestige, but Gaprindashvili had something more – youth, hunger for victory, and an uncompromising playing style.

The 1962 match ended with a score of seven wins and four draws in favor of the twenty-one-year-old challenger. The world championship title went to Georgia, a sensation in the Soviet chess world. Moscow had grown accustomed to its dominance, and suddenly a province from the Caucasus was producing a champion.

Nona defended her title four times in subsequent years. Three times she faced Russian player Alla Kushnir, once her compatriot Nana Alexandria – each time emerging victorious. Her reign lasted sixteen years, until 1978 when she lost the crown to Georgian player Maia Chiburdanidze.

Passing the title to another Georgian chess player was symbolic – Gaprindashvili had created a school that outlasted her personal era of dominance.

Breaking Gender Barriers

In 1978, the same year she lost the championship title, Nona received the FIDE grandmaster title – as the first woman in history. Standard requirements were three norms in twenty-four games; she had only one from the Lone Pine tournament in 1977. FIDE broke its own rules, deeming her achievements sufficient.

This decision sparked controversy but also showed how much the chess establishment respected her contribution. A five-time USSR champion (1964, 1973/74, 1981, 1983, 1985), she proved she could compete at the highest level. On July 1, 1987, she achieved a rating of 2495 points – the highest of her career, giving her second place on the FIDE women’s list.

Chess Olympiads were her domain. Representing the USSR from 1963 to 1990, then independent Georgia in 1992, she won eleven team gold medals and nine individual ones. In Dubai in 1986, she achieved perfection – ten games, ten victories.

Even in the senior category, she remained unbeatable – twice winning world championships over fifty, four times over sixty-five, most recently in 2018 at age seventy-seven.

Life Beyond the Chessboard

Nona’s career wasn’t limited to sixty-four squares. From 1989 to 1996, she was president of the Georgian National Olympic Committee and also served in the Georgian parliament. She engaged in politics during a period when Georgia was regaining independence after the collapse of the USSR – turbulent times requiring strong figures.

In 2013, she was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame, and two years later received the Presidential Order of Excellence of Georgia. The Nona Gaprindashvili Cup was established in her honor for the country whose male and female teams score the most points at the Chess Olympiad.

In 2021, Gaprindashvili sued Netflix for falsely portraying her in the series „The Queen’s Gambit.” The show claimed she had never played against men, which was a lie – throughout her career, she regularly competed against grandmasters. Netflix settled with her in 2022, acknowledging the error.

This incident showed that even at age eighty, Nona won’t allow falsification of her history. Her legacy is not just titles and medals, but breaking stereotypes about women in mental sports.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Margot Cleverly

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Margot's journey into women's history began with a box of forgotten letters in a Cambridge archive – suffragettes whose voices had been silenced for over a century. Since then, she's been on a mission to uncover the stories history overlooked.

What she writes about: Queens who ruled from the shadows. Scientists whose male colleagues took credit. Revolutionaries who risked everything. But also ordinary women – those who survived wars, raised families through upheaval, and shaped their communities in ways no one bothered to record.

Margot turns historical figures into real people. She writes with warmth and detail, making centuries-old stories feel surprisingly relevant. Rigorous research meets accessible storytelling – no dusty academic jargon, just compelling narratives backed by solid facts.

When she's not writing, you'll find her in regional archives, collecting oral histories, or visiting sites connected to the women she writes about.