Laura Unuk (born 9 November 1999) is a Slovenian

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 who holds 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 ...

and

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 ...

. She has been twice world girls' champion in her age category, and was the Slovenian women's champion in 2013. Unuk is the top female player of Slovenia.

Chess career

Unuk has won the Slovenian girls' chess championships multiple times in various age categories: U10 (2009), U12 (2011), U14 (2013), U16 (2014), U16 (2015), U18 (2016), U18 (2017). She played for Slovenia at the World Youth U16 Chess Olympiads in 2013 and 2014. In the European Girls' U18 Team Chess Championships, she has played for Slovenia six times (2012–2017), winning a team gold medal and an individual gold medal in 2014, and an individual silver medal in 2013. In 2014, she won the Girls U16 division of 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 in Durban, South Africa. For this victory she was awarded the

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 ...

(WIM) title by

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 the 2017 edition, held in Montevideo, Uruguay, she won the Girls U18 section with a score of 9½/11 (+9–1=1), 1½ points ahead of her nearest competitor. In August 2013 in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, Unuk won the Slovenian Women's Chess Championship. Unuk played for Slovenia in 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 2014, on board four at the

41st Chess Olympiad The 41st Chess Olympiad (), organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, was an international team chess even ...

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

(+6, =3, -1), * In 2016, on board one at the

42nd Chess Olympiad The 42nd Chess Olympiad (; also known as the Baku Chess Olympiad), organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough sometimes referred to as the "men's division", this section is open to all pl ...

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

(+5, =4, -1), * In 2018, on board one at the

43rd Chess Olympiad The 43rd Chess Olympiad ( ka, 43-ე საჭადრაკო ოლიმპიადა, ''43-e sach’adrak’o olimp’iada''; also known as the Batumi Chess Olympiad), organised by the FIDE, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) ...

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

(+2, =4, -4). Unuk played for Slovenia in the Women's

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 ...

: * In 2013, at fourth board in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(+4, =3, -1), * In 2015, at first board in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

(+4, =2, -3), * In 2017, at first board in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

(+4, =1, -4), * In 2019, at first board in Batumi (+3, =4, -2). She earned the title of International Master in 2021. Together with her Slovenian national chess team fellows Teja Vidic and

Lara Janželj Lara may refer to: People * Lara (name), can be a given name or a surname in several languages * Lara (mythology), a naiad nymph, daughter of the river Almo in Ovid's ''Fasti'' Places *Lara (state), a state in Venezuela *Electoral district ...

, she is hosting the channel ''Checkitas'' on

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

Personal life

Unuk was a student from 2014 to 2018 at the sports department of the

Bežigrad Grammar School Bežigrad Grammar School or Bežigrad Gymnasium () is a selective coeducational state secondary school. It is named after the Bežigrad district in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where it is located. For a number of years it has been the school with the h ...

in Ljubljana. As of October 2018, she has been studying

Biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

in the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

.Maruša Novosel (2018-11-25)
"Pravega žura še nisem doživela"
''OnaPlus''

References

External links

*
Laura Unuk
chess games and profile at Chess-DB.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Unuk, Laura 1999 births Living people Chess Olympiad competitors Chess International Masters Chess Woman Grandmasters Chess players from Ljubljana Slovenian female chess players Slovenian chess players World Youth Chess Champions University of Ljubljana alumni