Xie Jun

Infobox Chess player
playername = Xie Jun


caption =
birthname = Xie Jun
country = CHN
datebirth = birth date and age|1970|10|30
placebirth = Baoding, Hebei, China
datedeath =
placedeath =
title = Grandmaster
worldchampion =
womensworldchampion = 1991–1996 1999–2001
rating = 2574
peakrating = 2574 (January 2008)

Xie Jun (zh-stp|s=谢军|t=謝軍|p=Xiè Jūn; born October 30, 1970, Baoding, Hebei) [ [http://www.chessinchina.net/html/CHNrating05.8.htm 中国国际象棋运动员等级分数据库 ] ] is a chess grandmaster from China. She was twice Women's World Chess Champion, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 1999 to 2001. Xie is only the second woman to hold the title twice, the other being Elisabeth Bykova.

In 1991, Xie became China's second Grandmaster, after Ye Rongguang.

Career

At the age of six Xie began to play Chinese chess, and by the age of 10 she had become the girls' Xiangqi champion of Beijing. At the urging of government authorities, she soon began playing international chess. Despite indifferent training opportunities, Xie became the Chinese girls' chess champion in 1984. In 1988 she tied for second–fourth places at the women's world junior championship.

At the age of 20 Xie won the right to challenge for the women's world title, and in 1991 she defeated Maya Chiburdanidze of Georgia, who had held the title since 1978, by a score of 8.5–6.5. In 1993 she successfully defended her title against Nana Ioseliani (winning the match 8.5–2.5). She lost the title to Susan Polgar of Hungary in 1996 (8.5–4.5) but regained the title in 1999 by defeating another championship finalist, Alisa Galliamova (8.5–6.5), after Polgar refused to accept match conditions and forfeited her title. [ [http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic242.html#11 The Week in Chess 242 ] ] In 2000, FIDE changed the format of the world championship to a knock-out system, and Xie won the title again, beating fellow Chinese player Qin Kanying 2.5–1.5 in the final.

In Guangzhou in April 2000, Women's Champion Xie played a match with former World Champion Anatoly Karpov.Billed as a "female vs. male chess contest", the match consisted of four games at normal time controls and two rapid games. The four-game portion was won by Karpov 2.5–1.5 (1 win, 3 draws), and the rapid-play portion also went to Karpov, 1.5–0.5 (1 win, 1 draw). [citation|last=Weeks|first=Mark|date=17 April 2000|title=THE WEEK IN CHESS 284|url=http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic284#3|publisher=London Chess Center]

A hero in China, Xie became widely known for her optimism and vivid attacking style. Her success did much to popularize international chess in her country and the rest of Asia. Xie Jun proved to be the first of a number of strong Chinese women players, the others being Zhu Chen, Xu Yuhua, and Wang Lei. She was also an important factor in the Chinese women's team winning the gold medal at the 1998 Chess Olympiad in Elista in Kalmykia, Russia.

Among women, Xie has been ranked as high as number 2 and has been the number 2 or number 3 highest rated woman for much of her career. (Judit Polgar, the top-ranked woman, does not play women-only chess events.)

Around the end of the 1990s, Xie was reading for a doctorate in psychology. Xie Jun now spends most of her present time working as an official at the Beijing Sports Commission, taking care of chess players and other sports people.

In July 2004, she qualified for the title of International Arbiter. [ [http://www.fide.com/index.php?option=com_fidetitles&view=appsdt&cat=4&per=5&aid=30101970] ]

Titles

ee also

*Chess in China

References

Further reading

*cite book | author=Xie Jun | title=Chess Champion from China: The Life and Games of Xie Jun | publisher=Gambit Publications, London | year=1998 | id=ISBN 1-901983-06-4— is an annotated collection of many of the world champion's games along with some biographical information.
*cite book | author=Forbes, Cathy | title=Meet the Masters | publisher=Tournament Chess | year=1994 | id=ISBN 1-859320-41-4— contains a collection of interviews with many notable chess players.

External links

*Xie Jun's [http://blog.sina.com.cn/xiejun Blog] (sina.com)
*fide|id=8600147
*chessgames player|id=11045
* [http://www.chess-mate.com/xiejunn.htm "I am not a professional"] — interview