Xie Jun

China's first World Chess Champion. Xie Jun's 1991 victory ended 31 years of Soviet/Georgian dominance and changed the landscape of women's chess forever.

Breaking the Soviet Chain

Xie Jun was born on October 30, 1970, in Beijing. She learned chess at age six and progressed through the Chinese training system, which had been modeled on the Soviet approach but was now producing results of its own. By her late teens, she was the strongest female player in China and among the strongest in the world.

In 1991, she challenged Maya Chiburdanidze for the Women's World Championship in Manila. Chiburdanidze had held the title for 13 years and was the heavy favorite. But Xie Jun, well-prepared and playing with energetic tactical chess, won the match 8.5-6.5. The victory sent shockwaves through the chess world: the Soviet/Georgian monopoly on women's chess, which had lasted since Menchik's death in 1944, was over. A new power had arrived.

She lost the title to Susan Polgar in 1996 but regained it in 1999 after Polgar declined to defend. Xie Jun later became a successful chess administrator and author, helping to develop the Chinese chess system that would produce Hou Yifan, Tan Zhongyi, Ju Wenjun, and Lei Tingjie.