Anna-Maria Botsari (Greek: Άννα-Μαρία Μπότσαρη; born 5 October 1972) is a Greek chess player holding the title of

Woman Grandmaster FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(WGM).

Chess career

Botsari has won, or jointly won, the Greek Women's Chess Championship eight times. She was a bronze medalist at the 1990

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Rits ...

and silver medalist in 1991. She was the highest rated Greek female chess player for more than a decade. Botsari was a participant in the 1991, 1993 and 1996 World Women's Chess Championship

Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the Ca ...

tournaments. She scored 9/18 in the 1990 Women's Interzonal in

Azov Azov (, ), previously known as Azak ( Turki/ Kypchak: ), is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. The population is History Early settlements in the vici ...

, 6/13 in the 1991 Women's Interzonal in

Subotica Subotica (, ; , , ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Central Europe and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Sub ...

, and 7.5/13 at the 1993 Women's Interzonal in Jakarta. Botsari has represented

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in fifteen

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

s from 1986 to 2014. Her best results were at the

28th Chess Olympiad The 28th Chess Olympiad (, ''I 28i Skakistikí Olympiáda''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well ...

in Thessaloniki in 1988, where she scored 8.5/12 and finished sixth on the first reserve board, and the

35th Chess Olympiad The 35th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and women's tournament, took ...

Bled Bled (; ,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper Carniolan regio ...

in 2002, where she scored 8.5/13 with a performance rating of 2435, to finish ninth on board one. She has represented Greece in nine European Women's Team Chess Championships from 1992 to 2011, and won a gold medal on second board in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

1992. She won two individual gold medals (in

Mangalia Mangalia (, ), ancient Callatis (; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. The municipality of Mangalia als ...

1992 and

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

1994) and a team gold medal (in Varna 1992) in the Women's Chess Balkaniads. Between 27 and 28 February 2002, Anna-Maria Botsari achieved a new

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

Kalavryta Kalavryta () is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit of Achaea, Greece. The town is located on the right bank of the river Vouraikos, south of Aigio, southeast of Patras and northwest of Tripoli, G ...

, Greece, by playing 1102 opponents in a little over 30 hours. Her score was +1095 =7–0. Botsari gained the

(WGM) title in 1993. She won the Women's title of the 7th Mediterranean Chess Championship in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

2009.Mediterranean Chess Championship 2009 - Comments
Mišo Cebalo
www.sah-rijeka.hr

Personal life

She was once married to Serbian Grandmaster

Igor Miladinović Igor Miladinović is a name. People with that name include: * Igor Miladinović (chess player), Serbian chess grandmaster * Igor Miladinović (footballer, born 1989), Serbian footballer * Igor Miladinović (footballer, born 2003), Serbian foo ...

. She currently resides in Athens with her daughter Melina Pagoni from her second husband.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Botsari, Anna-Maria 1972 births Living people Chess Woman Grandmasters Greek chess players Greek female chess players Sportspeople from Kavala Chess Olympiad competitors 21st-century Greek women 21st-century Greek sportswomen