Xie Jun

Xie Jun
Xie Jun, Curitiba 1993
Country China
Born (1970-10-30) October 30, 1970
Baoding, Hebei
Title Grandmaster (1993)
Women's World Champion 1991–1996
1999–2001
FIDE rating 2574 (October 2018) [inactive]
Peak rating 2574 (January 2008)
Xie Jun
Simplified Chinese 谢军
Traditional Chinese 謝軍

Xie Jun (born October 30, 1970)[1] is a Chinese chess grandmaster. She had two separate reigns as Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2001. Xie is one of three women to have at least two separate reigns, besides Elisabeth Bykova and Hou Yifan.

Xie Jun is married to her former coach GM Wu Shaobin.[2][3]

Career

Xie Jun on a 2001 stamp of Yugoslavia

Although born in Baoding, Hebei in 1970 and raised in Beijing, the ancestral home of Xie and her parents is Liaoyuan, Jilin.[4] At the age of six Xie began to play Chinese chess, and by the age of 10 she had become the girls' xiangqi champion of Beijing. At the urging of government authorities, she soon began playing international chess. Despite indifferent training opportunities, Xie became the Chinese girls' chess champion in 1984. In 1988 she tied for second–fourth places at the World Junior Girls' Championship in Adelaide.[5]

At the age of 20 Xie won the right to challenge for the women's world title, and in 1991 she defeated Maya Chiburdanidze of Georgia, who had held the title since 1978, by a score of 8½–6½. In 1993 she successfully defended her title against Nana Ioseliani (winning the match 8½–2½). In the summer of 1994 she was awarded the full Grandmaster title.[6] She lost the 1996 Women's World Chess Championship to Susan Polgar of Hungary (8½–4½) but regained the title in 1999 by defeating another championship finalist, Alisa Galliamova (8½–6½), after Polgar refused to accept match conditions and forfeited her title.[7] In 2000, FIDE changed the format of the world championship to a knock-out system, and Xie won the title again, beating fellow Chinese player Qin Kanying 2½–1½ in the final.

In Guangzhou in April 2000, Women's Champion Xie played a match with former World Champion Anatoly Karpov. Billed as a "female vs. male chess contest", the match consisted of four games at normal time controls and two rapid games. The four-game portion was won by Karpov 2½–1½ (1 win, 3 draws), and the rapid-play portion also went to Karpov, 1½–½ (1 win, 1 draw).[8]

A hero in China, Xie became widely known for her optimism and vivid attacking style. Her success did much to popularize international chess in her country and the rest of Asia. Xie Jun proved to be the first of a number of strong Chinese women players, the others being Zhu Chen, Xu Yuhua, and Wang Lei. She was also an important factor in the Chinese women's team winning the gold medal at the 1998 Chess Olympiad in Elista in Kalmykia, Russia.

Around the end of the 1990s, Xie was reading for a doctorate in psychology at Beijing Normal University. By 2008, Xie Jun directed an agency in the Beijing region taking care of chess and Go talents.[9]

In July 2004, she gained the titles of International Arbiter and FIDE Senior Trainer.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "中国国际象棋运动员等级分数据库". Chessinchina.net. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  2. ↑ "Intchess Asia Pte Ltd". Intchessasia.com. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  3. ↑ Relatives and Spouses of Chess Masters
  4. ↑ 谢军--我是吉林的女儿. Qingdao News. 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2018-08-09. 谢军笑答：“我是地地道道的吉林女儿啊！” 原来谢军虽然生在保定、长在北京，但父母却是吉林省辽源市人。
  5. ↑ Adelaide 1988 - 5° Campeonato Mundial Juvenil Feminino BrasilBase
  6. ↑ Xie Jun (1998). Chess Champion from China: The Life and Games of Xie Jun. London: Gambit Publications. p. 133. ISBN 1-901983-06-4.
  7. ↑ "The Week in Chess 242". Chesscenter.com. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  8. ↑ "THE WEEK IN CHESS 284". London Chess Center. 17 April 2000.
  9. ↑ "Nanjing: Bu draws first blood in Super-GM". Chessbase.com. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
  10. ↑ Xie Jun rating card at FIDE

Further reading

  • Xie Jun (1998). Chess Champion from China: The Life and Games of Xie Jun. Gambit Publications, London. ISBN 1-901983-06-4. An annotated collection of many of Xie's games along with some biographical information.
  • Forbes, Cathy (1994). Meet the Masters. Tournament Chess. ISBN 1-85932-041-4. A book containing interviews with many famous chess players.
Preceded by
Qin Kanying		 Women's Chinese Chess Champion
1989		 Succeeded by
Peng Zhaoqin
Preceded by
Maia Chiburdanidze		 Women's World Chess Champion First Reign
1991–96		 Succeeded by
Susan Polgar
Preceded by
Susan Polgar, then vacant		 Women's World Chess Champion Second Reign
1999–2001		 Succeeded by
Zhu Chen
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