In our series ‘World Champion Born On This Date’, I have the pleasure of writing about Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk, a woman champion who has been among the world’s best women players for over a decade.

Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk was born on September 21, 1992, in Lviv, the largest city in Western Ukraine. Mariya started playing chess under the guidance of her parents at the age of two; when she was three, she knew all the chess pieces.

At age six, she took part in her first Chess tournament. The talented Muzychuk won the Under-10 Girls’ section at the 2002 European Youth Chess Championship at in Spain.

Muzychuk entered the ranking table soon after and in November 2010 she was ranked among the fifth highest rated Under-20 female players in the world.

Year-wise major achievements

2010- Entered top-16 of the Women’s World Chess Championship

2012 & 2013- Won the Women’s Ukrainian Chess Championship

2014- Won the Best Woman’s Prize at the Gibraltar Masters Tournament

2014- Won the Grandmaster Norm

2015- Won the Women’s World Knockout Chess Championship

Muzychuk lost her title to Hou Yifan in the Women’s Chess Championship in 2016. In 2017, she refused to play in the Championship in Iran out of protest for being obligated to wear a hijab.

In 2022, Mariya Muzychuk and her older sister, Anna Muzychuk visited India for the 44th Chess Olympiad,2022. They played the top two boards for their country and bagged the Team Gold Medal in the Women’s section.