Olga Alexandrovna Girya (; born 4 June 1991) is a Russian

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 holds the title of Grandmaster (GM), which

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 ...

awarded her in 2021. She was a member of the gold medal-winning Russian team in the 2014 Women's Chess Olympiad and in the 2017 Women's World Team Chess Championship. Girya competed in the

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship is a chess match played to determine the Women's World Chess Champion. It has been administered by FIDE since its inception in 1927, unlike the absolute World Chess Championship, which only came under FIDE's ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. She won the Russian Women's Chess Championship in 2019.

Career

Born in Langepas, Girya won, at junior level, the gold medal in the girls U18 division of both

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 and European Youth Chess Championships in 2009, silver in the girls U16 at the World Youth Championships in 2007 and in the girls U18 at European Youth Championships in 2008, and bronze in the girls U18 at World Youth Championship in 2008. She won the Russian girls U20 championship in 2010, and finished runner-up at the World Girls U20 Championship in 2010 and 2011. Girya took part in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix series 2013–14 as host city nominee of

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk (, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city in west-central Russia. Technically, it is situated on the eastern bank of the Irtysh River, from its confluence with the Ob, in the oil-ri ...

. In the fourth stage, held in Khanty-Mansiysk, she placed second, behind

Hou Yifan Hou Yifan ( ; born 27 February 1994) is a Chinese chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, three-time Women's World Chess Champion and professor at Peking University. She is the second highest Elo rating system, rated female player of all time.

, and achieved a norm for the title Grandmaster. In February 2014, she won the women's open event ("Russian Women's Premier Cup") of the Moscow Open. In April 2014, Girya won the bronze medal at the Women's

World Rapid Chess Championship The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under fast chess, rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE reco ...

. In June, she won the women's section of the Russian Higher League, the qualifier for the Superfinal of the women's

Russian Chess Championship The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms. Winners by year (men) Imperial Russia In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first R ...

. In the latter event Girya placed fourth. In November of the same year, she won the Women's Russian Cup, a knockout competition, by defeating Anastasia Bodnaruk in the final. In 2016, Girya took part in the last three events of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix series as one of the organisers' nominee. She finished tied for first place with

Natalija Pogonina Natalia Andreevna Pogonina (; born March 9, 1985) is a Russian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is the runner-up of the Women's World Chess Championship 2015. She is a two time Russian Chess Championship, Ru ...

in the 2018 Russian Women's Championship Superfinal and took the silver medal after losing the playoff. The next year Girya and Pogonina finished again tied for first. This time Girya won the playoff to become Russian women's champion.

Team competitions

Girya made her debut in the national women's team at 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 ...

playing on the second board for team Russia 2. She played on the Russian women's team in the Russia vs China match, held with the

Scheveningen system The Scheveningen system () is a method of organizing a chess match between two teams. Each player on one team plays each player on the other team. The team with the highest number of games won is the winner. This system was a popular way to cr ...

, in 2012 and 2015. In 2013, she helped the Russian team to win the bronze medal in the Women's World Team Chess Championship, winning also the individual gold for board 5, and silver 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 April 2015, at the Women's World Team Championship, she won the team bronze and the individual gold on board 5."Georgia takes gold in Women's World Team Chess Championship"
Chessdom. 2015-04-28.

References

External links

*
Olga Girya
chess games at 365Chess.com
Olga Giria
chess games (1999–2004) at 365chess.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girya, Olga 1991 births Living people People from Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Chess Grandmasters Female chess grandmasters Chess Woman Grandmasters World Youth Chess Champions Russian female chess players 21st-century Russian chess players Chess Olympiad competitors 21st-century Russian sportswomen