Georgian chess legend, five-time world chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili won the World Senior Chess Championship in the above 65 year age category on November 24th in Bucharest/Romania, for the seventh time among seniors.
Born in the western Georgian city of Zugdidi in 1941, Gaprindashvili has won world championships in 1962, 1965, 1969, 1972 and 1975. She has also won 11 chess Olympiad tournaments between 1963–1992.
Gaprindashvili has been officially recognized as the greatest female Georgian sportsperson of the 20th Century in 1999 and has served as honorary president of Georgia’s National Olympic Committee since 1996. Her achievements have been recognized in Georgia with public honors, including naming Tbilisi’s Chess Palace after her in 2001 and granting the player the Order of Excellence of Georgia in 2015.
Earlier in November, Georgian competitors of chess club Nona were crowned best in Europe for the fourth time after claiming this year’s European Club Cup for Women.
The team, based in the Black Sea city of Batumi and named after five-time Women’s World Chess Champion Nona Gaprindashvili, earned their title in Ulcinj/Montenegro on November 16th.
Winning four of their seven games at the event held in parallel to the European Club Cup, the team finished ahead of Kyiv Chess Federation from Ukraine and Cercle d`Echecs Monte Carlo of Monaco.
The Europe-wide competition also hosted individual sections in both women’s and open categories, with Georgian players emerging among top-scorers as well.
Nino Batsiashvili and Bela Khotenashvili scored gold medals in their matches, with Nana Dzagnidze finishing second and Lela Javakhishvili fourth on their respective boards.
The competition in Ulcinj, which hosted the highest number of competing teams for the European Club Cup, ran between November 10–16.
Chess Club Nona earned the ultimate prize in European Club Cup competitions in 2014, 2015 and 2017, finishing second in 2016 and 2018 editions.