The amazing and unforgettable Maya Grigorievna Chiburdanidze is a great chess player. Her record, set at the age of seventeen, lasted thirty years. Then she won the laurel wreath of the queen of chess.
Childhood and youth
Children in the family of Grigory Chiburdanidze loved to play chess. They taught each other, and then fought among themselves. Seventeen-year-old brother Revaz introduced his seven-year-old sister to chess. And a year later, Maya Chiburdanidze was already beating her sister Lamar, who was studying at the institute. But not only in chess, Maya had success: she read from the age of three, and went to school at five, already easily operating with three-digit numbers. In Kutaisi, where she was born in 1961 and lived with her family, the girl came to the chess section of the Palace of Pioneers. Athletes' childhood ends quickly, especially if we have a child prodigy like Maya Chiburdanidze in the field of chess.
First successes
First, at the age of 10, Maya became the champion of Georgia among girls. Mom realized that her daughter needed to be seriously taught and, with the consent of her husband, moved with her a year later to Tbilisi, where there was one of the strongest chess schools. A child is a child. During these yearsMaya Chiburdanidze loved to play chess, not to study: to attack and finish with a quick victory - checkmate, and that's it. Maya Grigoryevna herself now calls it children's chess.
At the same time, there were victories in international competitions. In 1973, a tournament was held in Tbilisi, to which guests from Yugoslavia arrived. They made a mistake and brought an adult grandmaster V. Kalchbrener. And Maya made a splash. She won all the games with a score of 4:0. At the very first performance abroad in Romania in Brasov, she was ahead of all her rivals three rounds before the end of the tournament. These brilliant abilities that Maya had allowed her to become an international grandmaster at the age of 13.
Change style
But as an adult chess player she began to play after two years (1976 - 1977) with Eduard Gufeld. And she was only 15-16 years old. Her game has changed. She gained maturity, depth and simplicity, unusual for such a young age. And then came 1978. Pitsunda. World Championship. There is a game of sixteen games with Nona Gaprindashvili, who has been on the chess throne for 16 years. Maya Chiburdanidze, who had just graduated from school, seized the initiative from the fourth and fifth games, and the win made her the sixth world chess champion. Young Maya did not lose respect for the former champion. And she decided to play with men like Nona.
Diversity of interests
Don't think that Maya had only chess in her life, although she loved them madly and still loves them. The girl was keenly interested in philology. Then she delved into the study of the history of Georgia, and quite unexpectedly she was captured by the Old Slavonic language. In 1978, Maya entered the Tbilisi Medical Institute and graduated with a degree in cardiology.
Mixed matches
Chess player Maya Chiburdanidze most of all valued not titles, but the opportunity to play at a high level. She was a playing champion who was not afraid to defend her title. Her heroine was N. Gaprindashvili, whose game was distinguished by masculine qualities, and Mikhail Tal also aroused her admiration.
Like Nona, Maya Grigorievna enjoyed playing with men, believing that it is more terrible for them to play a game with women, as they are ashamed to lose to them. Defending the title of the strongest female chess player in the world from 1981 to 1989, M. Chiburdanidze managed to take part in men's tournaments, often taking first or prize-winning places (1984 - New Delhi, 1st place; 1985 - Banja Luka, 1st place; 1987 - Bilbao, 3-4 places 1987 - Brussels, 2 place).
A shameful defeat
In 1991, defending the title of world champion for the sixth time, Maya Grigoryevna took the lead and unexpectedly met with stiff resistance. The result - the loss of the crown, which was very bitter. Since that time, Chinese women have become leaders in the international arena.
A little personal
Maya Grigorievna got married, but soon divorced.
Now all attention is paid to close relatives Maya Chiburdanidze. Personal lifefocused on communicating with sisters and nephews. There are a lot of them - seven. Religion occupies a large place in the life of Maya Grigoryevna and her family. A tragic event led to this: at the age of 19, his elder brother died.
M. Chiburdanidze does not leave chess to this day, so you can expect pleasant surprises from her.
