Happy birthday, Nana Alexandria!

Two-time Women’s World Vice-Champion Nana Alexandria celebrates her 75th birthday. On this occasion, the winner of over twenty international tournaments, a talented journalist, and one of the most ardent advocates of women’s chess will receive the FIDE centennial award for her exceptional contribution to developing and popularizing women’s chess in the 20th century.

Born in Poti, Georgia, Nana Alexandria learned chess at the age of four and six years later became the champion of Tbilisi among girls. Her progress in chess was nothing short of meteoric: by the age of 20, she won three USSR Women’s Championships titles (1966, 1967 and 1969) and established herself as a front-runner for the women’s champion crown. In 1973-1975, Nana went through all the stages of the World Championship cycle and challenged the reigning Women’s World Champion, Nona Gaprindashvili.

Despite suffering a painful defeat in the 1975 Women’s World Championship match (+3 =1 −8), Alexandria managed to regroup and make all the way up again six years later.  In 1981, she came much closer to the coveted title but drew the match with Maia Chiburdanidze (+4 =8 −4), with the champion retaining her title.  

As a member of the Soviet Union squad, Alexandria participated in six Chess Olympiads (1969, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1986), making significant contributions to the team’s winning gold every time. Later she served as the captain of the gold-medal-winning Georgian Women’s Olympiad teams in 1992, 1994, and 1996.

From 1986 to 2001, Alexandria held the esteemed position of chairperson of the FIDE Women’s Commission. As one of the longstanding leaders of women’s chess, Nana commands a great deal of respect in the chess world. After earning the title of International Arbiter in 1995, Alexandria officiated many prestigious competitions, including the 2018 Carlsen–Caruana World Championship match (as Deputy Chief Arbiter).

We sincerely congratulate Nana Alexandria and wish her the finest in her professional and personal life.

Photo: David Llada