Maya Chiburdanidze: biography of the child prodigy

Amazing and unforgettable Chiburdanidze Maya Grigorievna is a great chess player. Her record, set at the age of seventeen, lasted thirty years. Then she won the laurel wreath of the chess queen.

Childhood and youth

Children in the family of Grigory Chiburdanidze liked to play chess. They taught each other, and then fought each other. Seven-year-old brother Revaz introduced his seven-year-old sister to chess. A year later, Maya Chiburdanidze already beat her sister Lamar, who studied at the institute. But not only in chess, Maya had successes: she read from three years old, and went to school at five, already easily operating with three-digit numbers. In Kutaisi, where she was born in 1961 and lived with her family, the girl came to the chess section of the Palace of Pioneers. Childhood in sportsmen ends quickly, especially if we are facing a child prodigy, which in the field of chess was Maya Chiburdanidze.

First successes

First in the 10th Maya Became the champion of Georgia among girls. Mom understood that my daughter should be seriously taught and with the consent of her husband moved with her a year later to Tbilisi, where there was one of the strongest chess schools. The child is the child. During these years, Maya Chiburdanidze liked to play chess, and not learn: to attack and complete a quick victory - to give a mate, that's all. Maia Grigorievna herself now calls this children's chess. At the same time, there were victories in international competitions. In 1973, a tournament took place in Tbilisi, where guests from Yugoslavia arrived. They made a mistake and brought an adult grandmaster V. Kalkhrenener. And Maya made a splash. She won all games with a score of 4: 0. At the first performance abroad in Romania in Brasov, she outstripped all rivals for three rounds before the end of the tournament. These brilliant abilities, which were in Maya, allowed her at 13 to become a grandmaster of international class.

Change the style

But as an adult chess player, she began to play, after working two years (1976 - 1977) with Eduard Gufeld. And she was only 15-16 years old. Her game has changed. It has acquired maturity, depth and simplicity, unusual for such a young age. And then came the year 1978. Pitsunda. World Championship. There is a game of sixteen games with Nona Gaprindashvili, who has been on the chess throne for 16 years already. Maya Chiburdanidze, who had just graduated from school, seized the initiative from the fourth and fifth games, and the win made her the sixth world chess champion. Respect for the former champion young Maya is not lost. And she decided how Nona play with the men.

Variety of interests

Do not think that in life, Maya had only one chess, although she loved them and still loves them. The girl was keenly interested in philology. Then she went deep into studying the history of Georgia, and quite unexpectedly she was captured by the Old Slavonic language. In 1978, Maya enrolled in Tbilisi in a medical institute and graduated from it, receiving a specialty cardiologist.

Mixed matches

Chess player Maya Chiburdanidze most appreciated not titles, but the opportunity to play at a high level. She was a playing champion, who was not afraid to defend her rank. Her heroine was N. Gaprindashvili, whose play was notable for masculine qualities, and her admiration was evoked by Mikhail Tal. Like Nona, Maya Grigorievna enjoyed playing with men with pleasure, believing that it was more terrible for them to play with women, because they were ashamed to lose to them. Defending the title of the strongest chess player in the world from 1981 to 1989, M. Chiburdanidze managed to take part in men's tournaments, often taking first or prize places (1984 - New Delhi, 1 place, 1985 - Banja Luka, 1 place; 1987 - Bilbao, 3-4 places, 1987 - Brussels, 2 nd place).

Insulting defeat

In 1991, defending for the sixth time the title of World Champion, Maya Grigorevna led in the count and unexpectedly met with strong resistance. The result is the loss of the crown, which was very bitter. Since that time, Chinese women have become leaders in the international arena.

A little bit about personal

Maya Grigorievna married, but soon divorced. Now all attention is paid to close relatives of Maya Chiburdanidze. Personal life focused on communicating with sisters and nephews. There are many of them - seven. In the life of Maya Grigorievna and her family, religion takes a big place. This led to a tragic event: at the age of 19 the elder brother was killed.

M. Chiburdanidze does not leave chess to this day, so you can expect pleasant surprises from her.