Vera Menchik, the first women’s world champion, proved nearly 100 years ago that chess was not just a man’s game. In possibly her best tournament, playing on a team with J… See more

GM Nona Gaprindashvili became the first female grandmaster in 1978—not to be confused with the Woman Grandmaster(WGM) title—after a resoundin… See more

GM Maia Chiburdanidze defeated fellow Georgian Gaprindashvili for the women’s world championship in 1978. She was 17 years old at the time, the youngest ever, and went o… See more

As the strongest woman (since our #1 retired) during one of the strongest periods of chess in history, GM Hou Yifanis near the top of this list. In 2010 Hou, 16, broke Chiburdani… See more

GM Judit Polgar is the only player on this list who never became women’s world champion, but with good reason: she never tried to obtain that title. She was simply too strong of a … See more