Maia Chiburdanidze
Notable Games

Maia Chiburdanidze

17 celebrated games · 539 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 539 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1973 Gaprindashvili, Nona vsChiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 Modern Defense 34 moves URS-ch (Women) USSR Women's Championship, Tbilisi 1973, against the reigning Women's World Champion Nona Gaprindashvili in the Modern Defense. 24...Nxb3 25.cxb3 Bxg2 26.Qxg2 Qxh5 wins a pawn, and after 32.Qxg8+ Kxg8 33.Rxe5 Qd1+ 34.Kg2, 34...Qxc1 ends the game in 34 moves.
  • 1976 Chiburdanidze, Maia vsZatulovskaya, Tatiana 1-0 French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Guimard Defense, Main Line 40 moves Interzonal (Women)-B 03rd Tbilisi Interzonal 1976, round two, against Tatiana Zatulovskaya in the Guimard Defense of the Tarrasch French. 7.Ng5 fxg5 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Bxg6+ hxg6 10.Qxg6+ gives up a knight and a bishop, 14.Qxh8+ and 17.Qxg5+ recover the material and more, and the game ends after 40...Rg8.
  • 1978.01 Kushnir, Alla vsChiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 London System 46 moves Candidates (Women) final Women's Candidates final, Bad Kissingen 1978, game 11, against the three-time title challenger Alla Kushnir in the London System. 40...Bxg2 and 41...Qxh3 take the pawns in front of the white king, and the queen checks 44...Qh1+, 45...Qh2+ and 46...Qxf4+ end the game.
  • 1978 Gaprindashvili, Nona vsChiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, with g3 34 moves World-ch (Women) Women's World Championship match, Pitsunda 1978, game four, against the defending champion Nona Gaprindashvili in the Réti Opening. 28...Nc3 29.Qa5 Nxd1 30.Rxd1 Qxb3 wins the exchange and a pawn, and 34...Rxf3 ends the game. It was the first decisive game of the match, which Chiburdanidze won 8½–6½.
  • 1980.08 Chiburdanidze, Maia vsDvoirys, Semen I 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation 31 moves URS-ch48 Semifinal 48th USSR Championship semifinal, Tallinn 1980, against Semen Dvoirys in the Najdorf Sicilian. 12.Nd5 exd5 13.Nc6 gives up a knight, following a line that Kasparov says Rostislav Korsunsky had shown to her trainer Eduard Gufeld; 22.Rxe7 Kxe7 gives up the exchange, and the c-pawn promotes with 30.c8=Q+ before 31.Qxh8 ends the game.
  • 1981 Chiburdanidze, Maia vsAlexandria, Nana 1-0 Zukertort Opening: Nimzo-Larsen Variation 37 moves World-ch (Women) Women's World Championship match, Tbilisi 1981, game 15, against Nana Alexandria in the Zukertort Opening. With the white king on e2, 24.Qxa7 and 29.Qxb7+ take the a- and b-pawns, and 36.Rxc6 Qxc6 37.Qf5+ ends the game. The match finished 8–8, and the tie kept her title.
  • 1982 Chiburdanidze, Maia vsMalaniuk, Vladimir P 1-0 Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation 26 moves URS Young Masters-ch15 USSR Young Masters Championship, Odessa 1982, against Vladimir Malaniuk in the Grünfeld Exchange. 17.d6 exd6 18.exd6 puts a white pawn on d6, 22.Rxb6 axb6 and 24.Rxe6 fxe6 give up both rooks for a knight and a bishop, and 26.Bb5 ends the game in 26 moves.
  • 1984 Gufeld, Eduard vsChiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Matanovic Attack 25 moves New Delhi New Delhi 1984, against Eduard Gufeld, who coached her, in the Scheveningen Sicilian. White's 16.g4 and 17.f5 open the kingside, Black answers with 24...d5, and Gufeld lost on time after 25...Rxc3.
  • 1985 Short, Nigel D vsChiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Classical Variation 31 moves Banja Luka Banja Luka 1985, against Nigel Short in the Classical Dragon Sicilian. 20...Qxe5 wins a pawn, 27...Bh6 28.Bxb8 Bxd2 29.Qxd2 Qxb8 trades a rook and bishop each, and 31...Qf1# is mate.
  • 1986 Donaldson Akhmilovskaya, Elena vsChiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation 21 moves World-ch (Women) Women's World Championship match, Sofia 1986, game eight, against Elena Akhmilovskaya in the Fianchetto King's Indian. 15...Nxe5 16.dxe5 Ng4, then 17...h5 and 18...Nh6 reroute the knight, and 21...Qxd6 takes the bishop on d6 and ends the game in 21 moves. Chiburdanidze kept the title 8½–5½.
  • 1987 Chiburdanidze, Maia vsLjubojevic, Ljubomir 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Moscow Variation, Main Line 42 moves Bilbao Bilbao 1987, against Ljubomir Ljubojević in the Moscow Variation of the Sicilian. 34.Qxb5 wins a pawn, the queens come off with 38.Qb7 Qxb7 39.Nxb7, and 42.Rxd4 wins a second pawn to end the game in 42 moves.
  • 1988.03.03 Portisch, Lajos vsChiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation, Original Defense 54 moves Linares 06th Linares 1988, round eight, against Lajos Portisch in the Neo-Grünfeld. The exchanges from 14...Bxe2 to 19.Kxg2 leave equal material, 40...Rxg4 wins a pawn, and the b-pawn advances with 52...b4+, 53...b3 and 54...b2 to end the game.
  • 1992.06.12 Chiburdanidze, Maia vsXie, Jun 1-0 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Indian Variation 25 moves Olympiad Women-30 Women's Olympiad, Manila 1992, round five, against the reigning Women's World Champion Xie Jun in the Nimzo-Larsen Attack. After 17.Nxa7 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Qc7 19.Ba3 Qxa7 20.Bxf8 Kxf8 and 24.Rxc4 Nxc4, 25.Qb5 attacks both black knights and ends the game.
  • 1994 Chiburdanidze, Maia vsPolgar, Zsuzsa 1-0 Benoni Defense 43 moves Candidates (Women) Women's Candidates Tournament, Tilburg 1994, round ten, against the future Women's World Champion Susan Polgar in the Benoni Defense. 21.Qxh6 Qxh6 22.Rxh6 wins a pawn and trades queens, 36.Nxd6 wins another, and 43.e5 ends the game. The two players shared first place.
  • 1999.10.22 Chiburdanidze, Maia vsSmyslov, Vasily V 1-0 Slav Defense: Modern Line 36 moves Flamenco Women-Veterans Women–Veterans tournament, Marbella 1999, round two, against the former World Champion Vasily Smyslov in the Slav Defense. 7.h3 b6 8.O-O Bb7 9.Qe2 Nbd7 is the line Kasparov cites from this game in *My Great Predecessors, Part II*, 33.Nxc6 and 34.Ncxb4 win two pawns, and the game ends after 35...Bxd3 36.Nxd5 Nxd5.
  • 2008.11.17 Kosteniuk, Alexandra vsChiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Modern Variation 36 moves Olympiad Women-38 Women's Olympiad, Dresden 2008, round five, against the reigning Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk in the Richter-Rauzer Sicilian. 10...Rxc3 11.Qxc3 Qxc3 12.bxc3 Nxe4 and 13...Nxc3 give up the exchange for two pawns, 34...Rxh2 wins a third, and 36...Rc2+ ends the game in 36 moves.
  • 2008.11.23 Hou, Yifan vsChiburdanidze, Maia 0-1 Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Main Line 54 moves Olympiad Women-38 Women's Olympiad, Dresden 2008, round ten, against the 14-year-old future Women's World Champion Hou Yifan in the Panov Attack of the Caro-Kann. 21...Bxh2+ 22.Kxh2 Bxe4 23.Bxe4 Qh4+ 24.Kg1 Qxe4 wins a pawn, 49...Re2 and 50...Rxb2 bring the rook to the second rank, and 54...Rb1 ends the game.
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