Fiona Steil-Antoni (born 10 January 1989) is a Luxembourgish

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player. She was awarded the title of

Woman International Master 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 ...

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

in 2010. Steil-Antoni won an individual gold medal at the

Women's Chess Olympiad The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE (the International Chess Federation) since 1957 (every two years since 1972), where national women's teams compete at chess for gold, silver and bronze medals. Since 1976 the Women's Chess Olympia ...

in 2006.

Early life

Born in

Niederkorn Niederkorn () is a town in the Communes of Luxembourg, commune of Differdange, in south-western Luxembourg, on the Chiers river (), from which it takes its name. As of 2024, the town has a population of 7,663. Niederkorn is home to FC Progrès Ni ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, Steil-Antoni was taught to play chess by her father when she was nine years old. She made it onto the national team after one year and was trained by

Vlastimil Jansa Vlastimil Jansa (born 27 November 1942) is a Czech chess player. He was awarded the titles of International Master, in 1965, and Grandmaster, in 1974, by FIDE. Life and career Jansa was born on 27 November 1942 in Prague. He learned chess whil ...

from then on.

Chess career

Steil-Antoni has played for team Luxembourg in the

39th Chess Olympiad The 39th Chess Olympiad (, ''39-ya Shakhmatnaya olimpiada''), organised by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place from September 19 to October 4, 201 ...

, the

, the 2011

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

, and the European Small Nations Team Chess Championship. She was part of the team that won the bronze medal in the 2009 European Small Nations Team Chess Championship, held in

Andorra la Vella Andorra la Vella is the capital and largest city of Andorra. It is located high in the east Pyrenees, between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parishes of Andorra, Andorran parish that surrounds the capital. , the city had a populati ...

. In 2006, at the

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, she won the individual gold medal on board two thanks to a score of 10/12 points. She was awarded the

Woman FIDE Master 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 ...

(WFM) title for this result. Steil-Antoni tied for 2nd–3rd places with Pauline Guichard in the WGM tournament of the

Condom A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condo ...

Chess Festival in 2008, finishing second on tiebreak score. She was awarded the title of Woman International Master (WIM) by FIDE in April 2010. The

norm Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to: In academic disciplines * Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad * Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock * Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...

s required for the title were achieved in the 37th Chess Olympiad, the

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. History Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015 (OR 2016), the event has been s ...

s 2007, the

Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy (, literally ''Vandœuvre Lès, near Nancy, France, Nancy'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Departments of France, department in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Vandopériens'' ...

Open 2008, and the Condom WGM event 2008. Steil-Antoni has won the Women's

Luxembourg Chess Championship The Luxembourg Chess Championship has been held since 1932 by the (, FLDE), which was established in 1931 and joined FIDE in 1946. Winners : References

{{Chess national championships Chess in Luxembourg Chess national championships Recur ...

several times. She finished second in the

Klaksvík Klaksvík () is the second largest town of the Faroe Islands behind Tórshavn. The town is located on Borðoy, which is one of the northernmost islands (the Norðoyar). It is the administrative centre of Klaksvík municipality. History The fir ...

Open 2010, the

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

e2e4 Autumn Women's International in 2010, and the WIM tournament of the

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...

Chess Festival 2012. She and Tom Weber won the Blitz Pairs tournament in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

2011. This was the first time “The Smashing Pawns”, a club she founded together with some friends, was represented in any tournament. Steil-Antoni currently plays for ''The Smashing Pawns'' (Luxembourg), ''Vandoeuvre'' (France) and ''Cheddleton'' (England) clubs.

Personal life

Steil-Antoni worked for ''Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter'' and chess24.com. As of January 2022, she is working as a commentator for chess.com.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steil-Antoni, Fiona 1989 births Living people Luxembourgian chess players Chess Woman International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors Sportspeople from Differdange