In our series ‘World Champion born on this date’, we shall learn about International Grandmaster Zhu Chen of China, a champion, who now holds the position of FIDE Treasurer.
Born on March 13, 1976 in Beijing, Zhu Chen learnt Chess at the tender age of 5 and stunned the Chess world by becoming the first Chinese player to win the World Crown. She won World U-12 Girls Championship held in Romania in 1988. Zhu improved rapidly and consistently to bag the World Junior Girls’ Chess Championships in 1994 and 1996.
Zhu studied for a Master’s degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing, while pursuing her Chess career simultaneously.
At the age of 25, Zhu defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia in the World Chess Championship match held at Moscow to become the second Chinese player to win the World Women’s Championship title. The World Championship Crown automatically qualified her to get the title of International Grandmaster in Open (Men’s) category. The same year, she married International Grandmaster Mohammad Al Modiahki of Qatar.
In May 2004, Zhu gave up the chance to defend her world title due to her pregnancy. Later, she obtained citizenship of Qatar in 2006 and since then has represented the country.
In 2018, Zhu Chen was elected as the FIDE Treasurer for 2018-2022 and re-elected for the same post in 2022 for the next four years (2022-2026).
