View source for Women's World Chess Championship

{{Short description|Women's chess competition}}[[File:Fondation Neva Women's Grand Prix Geneva 11-05-2013 - Ju Wenjun during the press conference.jpg|right|thumb|240px|Current Women's World Chess Champion [[Ju Wenjun]] from China]]

The '''Women's World Chess Championship''' ('''WWCC''') is played to determine the world champion in [[women's chess]]. Like the [[World Chess Championship]], it is administered by [[FIDE]].

==History==
{{further|Development of the Women's World Chess Championship}}

===Era of Menchik===
The Women's World Championship was established by [[FIDE]] in 1927 as a single tournament held alongside the [[Chess Olympiad]]. The winner of that tournament, [[Vera Menchik]], did not have any special rights as the men's champion did—instead she had to defend her title by playing as many games as all the challengers. She did this successfully in every other championship in her lifetime (1930, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1937 and 1939).

===Dominance of the Soviet Union players (1950–1991)===
[[File:WomensWorldChamp1981.jpg|right|thumb|1981 Women's World Championship, [[Maia Chiburdanidze]] vs. [[Nana Alexandria]]]]
Menchik died, still champion, in 1944 in a German air raid on [[Kent]]. The next championship was another [[round-robin tournament]] in 1949–50 and was won by [[Lyudmila Rudenko]]. Thereafter a system similar to that of the overall championship was established, with a cycle of Candidates events (and later Interzonals) to pick a challenger to face the reigning champion.

The first such Candidates tournament was held in Moscow, 1952.  [[Elisaveta Bykova]] won and proceeded to defeat Rudenko with seven wins, five losses, and two [[draw (chess)|draws]] to become the third champion. The next Candidates tournament was won by [[Olga Rubtsova]].  Instead of directly playing Bykova, however, FIDE decided that the championship should be held between the three top players in the world.  Rubtsova won at Moscow in 1956, one-half point ahead of Bykova, who finished five points ahead of Rudenko.  Bykova regained the title in 1958 and defended it against [[Kira Zvorykina]], winner of a Candidates tournament, in 1959.

The fourth Candidates tournament was held in 1961 in [[Vrnjacka Banja]], and was utterly dominated by [[Nona Gaprindashvili]] of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], who won with ten wins, zero losses, and six draws.  She then decisively defeated Bykova with seven wins, no losses, and four draws in Moscow, 1962 to become champion.  Gaprindashvili defended her title against [[Alla Kushnir]] of Russia at [[Riga]] 1965 and [[Tbilisi]]/Moscow 1969.  In 1972, FIDE introduced the same system for the women's championship as with the overall championship: a series of Interzonal tournaments, followed by the Candidates matches.  Kushnir won again, only to be defeated by Gaprindashvili at Riga 1972. Gaprindashvili defended the title one last time against [[Nana Alexandria]] of Georgia at [[Pitsunda]]/Tbilisi 1975.

In 1976–1978 Candidates cycle, 17-year-old [[Maya Chiburdanidze]] of Georgia ended up the surprise star, defeating Nana Alexandria, [[Elena Akhmilovskaya]], and Alla Kushnir to face Gaprindashvili in the 1978 finals at Tbilisi.  Chiburdanidze soundly defeated Gaprindashvili, marking the end of one Georgian's domination and the beginning of another's.  Chiburdanidze defended her title against Alexandria at [[Borjomi]]/Tbilisi 1981 and [[Irina Levitina]] at [[Volgograd]] 1984.  Following this, FIDE reintroduced the Candidates tournament system.  Akhmilovskaya, who had earlier lost to Chiburdanidze in the Candidates matches, won the tournament was but was still defeated by Chiburdanidze at Sofia 1986.  Chiburdanidze's final title defense came against [[Nana Ioseliani]] at [[Telavi]] 1988.

===Post-Soviet era (1991–2010)===
Chiburdanidze's domination ended in [[Manila]] 1991, where the young [[China|Chinese]] star [[Xie Jun]] defeated her, after finishing second to the still-active Gaprindashvili in an Interzonal, tying with [[Alisa Marić]] in the Candidates tournament, and then beating Maric in a tie-breaker match.

It was during this time that the three Polgar sisters [[Susan Polgar|Susan]] (also known as Zsuzsa), [[Sofia Polgar|Sofia]] (Zsófia), and [[Judit Polgár|Judit]] emerged as dominant players. However they tended to compete in open tournaments, avoiding the women's championship.

Susan Polgar eventually changed her policy. She won the 1992 Candidates tournament in [[Shanghai]]. The Candidates final—an eight-game match between the top two finishers in the tournament—was a drawn match between Polgar and Ioseliani, even after two tiebreaks. The match was decided by a lottery, which Ioseliani won. She was then promptly crushed by Xie Jun (8½–2½) in the championship at [[Monaco]] 1993.

The next cycle was dominated by Polgar. She tied with Chiburdanidze in the Candidates tournament, defeated her easily in the match (5½–1½), and then decisively defeated Xie Jun (8½–4½) in [[Jaén Province, Spain|Jaén]] 1996 for the championship.

In 1997, Russian [[Alisa Galliamova]] and Chinese Xie Jun finished first and second, but Galliamova refused to play the final match entirely in China. FIDE eventually awarded the match to Xie Jun by default.

However, by the time all these delays were sorted out, Polgar had given birth to her first child. She requested that the match be postponed. FIDE refused, and eventually set up the championship to be between Galliamova and Xie Jun. The championship was held in [[Kazan]], [[Tatarstan]] and [[Shenyang]], China, and Xie Jun won with five wins, three losses, and seven draws.

In 2000 a [[Single-elimination tournament|knock-out event]], similar to the FIDE overall title and held alongside it, was the new format of the women's world championship. It was won by Xie Jun. In 2001 a similar event determined the champion, [[Zhu Chen]]. Another knock-out, this one held separately from the overall championship, in [[Elista]], the capital of the Russian republic of [[Kalmykia]] (of which FIDE President [[Kirsan Ilyumzhinov]] is president), from May 21 to June 8, 2004, produced [[Bulgaria]]n [[Antoaneta Stefanova]] as champion. As with Polgar five years prior, Zhu Chen did not participate due to pregnancy.

In 2006 the title returned to China. The new champion [[Xu Yuhua]] was pregnant during the championship.

In 2008, the title went to Russian grandmaster [[Alexandra Kosteniuk]], who, in the final, beat Chinese prodigy [[Hou Yifan]] 2½–1½, then aged 14 (see [[Women's World Chess Championship 2008]]).

In 2010 the title returned to China once again. [[Hou Yifan]], the runner-up in the previous championship, became the youngest ever women's world champion at the age of 16. She beat her compatriot WGM [[Ruan Lufei]] 2–2 (classic) 3–1 (rapid playoffs).

=== Yearly tournaments (2010–2018) ===
[[File:Women's World Chess Championship Tirana 2011.jpg|thumb|250px|Women's World Chess Championship, Tirana 2011]]
Beginning from 2010, the Women's World Chess Championship would be held annually in alternating formats. In even years a 64-player [[Single-elimination tournament|knockout]] system would be used, in the odd years a classical match featuring only two players would be held.<ref>[http://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/regulationsWWCC.pdf Regulations for the Women’s World Chess Championship Cycle]. FIDE.</ref> The 2011 edition was between the 2010 champion [[Hou Yifan]] and the winner of the [[FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2009–2011]]. Since [[Hou Yifan]] won the Grand Prix, her challenger was the runner-up, Koneru Humpy.<ref>[http://old.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-%7C%7Cs/3089-regulations-and-bidding-procedure-for-the-womens-grand-prix-2009-2010 "Regulations and Bidding Procedure for the Women's Grand-Prix 2009-2010"]. FIDE. 30 July 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2019</ref>

In 2011 [[Hou Yifan]] successfully defended her women's world champion title in the [[Women's World Chess Championship 2011]] in Tirana, Albania against [[Koneru Humpy]]. Hou won three games and drew five in the ten-game match, winning the title with two games to spare.

[[Hou Yifan]] was knocked-out in the second round in [[Women's World Chess Championship 2012]], which was played in [[Khanty Mansiysk]]. [[Anna Ushenina]], seeded 30th in the tournament, won the final against [[Antoaneta Stefanova]] 3½–2½.

The [[Women's World Chess Championship 2013]] was a match over 10 games between defending champion Anna Ushenina and Hou Yifan who had won the [[FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2011–2012]]. After seven of ten games Hou Yifan won the match 5.5 to 1.5 to retake the title.

After Hou declined to defend her title at the [[Women's World Chess Championship 2015]], the title was won by [[Mariya Muzychuk]], who defeated [[Natalia Pogonina]] in the final.

Hou defeated Muzychuk 6–3 to reclaim the [[Women's World Chess Championship 2016]] title for her 4th championship in March 2016.

The following year [[Tan Zhongyi]] defeated [[Anna Muzychuk]] for the title at the [[Women's World Chess Championship 2017]].

Tan lost the title defending it against [[Ju Wenjun]] (with Hou not participating at this event) at the [[Women's World Chess Championship Match 2018]].

=== Return to match-only format ===
Due to various hosting and timing issues, the championships had varied from their intended annual calendar in recent years.<ref name="postponement">[https://www.fide.com/images/stories/NEWS_2016/FIDE_News/GA_Agenda_2016/2016_General_Assembly_Agenda.pdf FIDE General Assembly Agenda] (5.20.8)</ref> FIDE held a second world championship in 2018 in order to get back on schedule.

After the 2018 championship tournament the new FIDE president [[Arkady Dvorkovich]] announced the format would be changed back to matches only. He said the many different champions the yearly system created discredited the championship title as a whole.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ugra2018.fide.com/2018/10/13/a-dvorkovich-format-of-the-women-s-world-championship-cycle-will-be-changed/|title=A. Dvorkovich: Format of the Women’s World Championship Cycle will be changed – Women’s World Championship 2018|website=ugra2018.fide.com|date=2018-10-13|access-date=2019-10-10}}</ref> [[Aleksandra Goryachkina]] won the Candidates tournament, held in June 2019, to challenge for the World Championship.  Ju Wenjun retained her title in the 2020 Championship.

==Women's World Chess Champions==
{|class="wikitable"
!#||Name||Years||Country
|-
|1||[[Vera Menchik]]||1927&ndash;1944||{{flagu|Russia}} (in exile) / {{flag|Czechoslovakia}} / {{flagu|United Kingdom}}
|-
|colspan="2" align="center"|none||1944&ndash;1950||N/A ([[World War II]])
|-
|2||[[Lyudmila Rudenko]]||1950&ndash;1953||{{flag|Soviet Union|1936}} ([[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]])
|-
|3||[[Elisaveta Bykova]]||1953&ndash;1956||{{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}} ([[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]])
|-
|4||[[Olga Rubtsova]]||1956&ndash;1958||{{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}} ([[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]])
|-
|''(3)''||[[Elisaveta Bykova]]||1958&ndash;1962||{{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}} ([[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]])
|-
|5||[[Nona Gaprindashvili]]||1962&ndash;1978||{{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}} ([[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgian SSR]])
|-
|6||[[Maia Chiburdanidze]]||1978&ndash;1991||{{flagu|Soviet Union}} ([[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic|Georgian SSR]])
|-
|7||[[Xie Jun]]||1991&ndash;1996||{{flagu|China}}
|-
|8||[[Susan Polgar]]||1996&ndash;1999||{{flagu|Hungary}}
|-
|''(7)''||[[Xie Jun]]||1999&ndash;2001||{{flagu|China}}
|-
|9||[[Zhu Chen]]||2001&ndash;2004||{{flagu|China}}
|-
|10||[[Antoaneta Stefanova]]||2004&ndash;2006||{{flagu|Bulgaria}}
|-
|11||[[Xu Yuhua]]||2006&ndash;2008||{{flagu|China}}
|-
|12||[[Alexandra Kosteniuk]]||2008&ndash;2010||{{flagu|Russia}}
|-
|13||[[Hou Yifan]]||2010&ndash;2012||{{flagu|China}}
|-
|14||[[Anna Ushenina]]||2012&ndash;2013||{{flagu|Ukraine}}
|-
|''(13)''||[[Hou Yifan]]||2013&ndash;2015||{{flagu|China}}
|-
|15||[[Mariya Muzychuk]]||2015&ndash;2016||{{flagu|Ukraine}}
|-
|''(13)''||[[Hou Yifan]]||2016&ndash;2017||{{flagu|China}}
|-
|16||[[Tan Zhongyi]]||2017&ndash;2018||{{flagu|China}}
|-
|17||[[Ju Wenjun]]||2018&ndash;||{{flagu|China}}
|}

==List of Women's World Chess Championships==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%;"
|-
! Year
! Host country
! Host city
! World champion
! Runner-up(s)
! Won (+)
! Lost (−)
! [[Draw (chess)|Draw (=)]]
! Format
|-
! colspan="9"| Women's World Chess Championship (1927–1944)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1927|1927]]
| {{flagu|United Kingdom}}
| [[London]]
| {{flagdeco|Russia}} [[Vera Menchik]]
| {{flagdeco|Sweden}} [[Katarina Beskow]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 10
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| 12-player [[round-robin tournament]]
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1930|1930]]
| {{flag|Weimar Republic|name=Germany}}
| [[Hamburg]]
| {{flagdeco|Czechoslovakia}} [[Vera Menchik]]
| {{flagdeco|Austria}} [[Paula Wolf-Kalmar]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 6
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| 5-player double round-robin tournament
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1931|1931]]
| {{flag|Czechoslovakia}}
| [[Prague]]
| {{flagdeco|Czechoslovakia}} [[Vera Menchik]]
| {{flagdeco|Austria}} [[Paula Wolf-Kalmar]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| 5-player double round-robin tournament
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1933|1933]]
| {{flagu|United Kingdom}}
| [[Folkestone]]
| {{flagdeco|Czechoslovakia}} [[Vera Menchik]]
| {{flagdeco|United Kingdom}} [[Edith Charlotte Price]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 14
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| 8-player double round-robin tournament
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1934 (non-FIDE)|1934]]
| {{flagu|Netherlands}}
| [[Rotterdam]]
| {{flagdeco|Czechoslovakia}} [[Vera Menchik]]
| {{flagdeco|Germany|1933}} [[Sonja Graf]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| 4-game match
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1935|1935]]
| {{flagu|Poland|1928}}
| [[Warsaw]]
| {{flagdeco|Czechoslovakia}} [[Vera Menchik]]
| {{flagdeco|Poland|1928}} [[Regina Gerlecka]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 9
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| 10-player round-robin tournament
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1937 (match)|1937 Jul]]
| {{flagu|Austria}}
| [[Semmering, Austria|Semmering]]
| {{flagdeco|Czechoslovakia}} [[Vera Menchik]]
| {{flagdeco|Germany|Nazi}} [[Sonja Graf]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 9
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| 16-game match
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1937 (tournament)|1937 Aug]]
| {{flagu|Sweden}}
| [[Stockholm]]
| {{flagdeco|Czechoslovakia}} [[Vera Menchik]]
| {{flagdeco|Italy|1861}} [[Clarice Benini]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 14
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| 26-player  [[Swiss-system tournament]]
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1939|1939]]
| {{flagu|Argentina}}
| [[Buenos Aires]]
| {{flagdeco|United Kingdom}} [[Vera Menchik]]
| {{flagdeco|FIDE}} [[Sonja Graf]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 17
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| 20-player round-robin tournament
|-
| colspan="9" style="text-align:center;"| Menchik died in 1944 as reigning world champion.
|-
! colspan="9"| Women's World Chess Championship (1944–1950)
|-
| colspan="9" style="text-align:center;"| [[Interregnum]]
|-
! colspan="9"| Women's World Chess Championship (1950–1999)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1949–50|1950]]
| {{flag|Soviet Union|1936}}
| [[Moscow]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Lyudmila Rudenko]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Olga Rubtsova]]
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"| 11½ points out of 15
| 16-player [[Round-robin tournament|round-robin]] tournament
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1953|1953]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union|1936}}
| [[Moscow]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Elisaveta Bykova]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Lyudmila Rudenko]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| 14-game match
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1956|1956]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}}
| [[Moscow]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Olga Rubtsova]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Elisaveta Bykova]]
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"| 10 points out of 16
| 3-player ([[Olga Rubtsova|Rubtsova]], [[Elisaveta Bykova|Bykova]], [[Lyudmila Rudenko|Rudenko]]) octuple round-robin
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1958|1958]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}}
| [[Moscow]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Elisaveta Bykova]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Olga Rubtsova]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1959|1959]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}}
| [[Moscow]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Elisaveta Bykova]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Kira Zvorykina]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 6
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1962|1962]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}}
| [[Moscow]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Nona Gaprindashvili]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Elisaveta Bykova]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1965|1965]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}}
| [[Riga]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Nona Gaprindashvili]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Alla Kushnir]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1969|1969]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}}
| [[Tbilisi]] <br> [[Moscow]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Nona Gaprindashvili]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Alla Kushnir]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 6
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1972|1972]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}}
| [[Riga]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Nona Gaprindashvili]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Alla Kushnir]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| 16-game match
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1975|1975]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}}
| [[Pitsunda]] <br> [[Tbilisi]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Nona Gaprindashvili]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Nana Alexandria]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1978|1978]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union|1955}}
| [[Tbilisi]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Maia Chiburdanidze]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Nona Gaprindashvili]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 9
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1981|1981]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union}}
| [[Borjomi]] <br> [[Tbilisi]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Maia Chiburdanidze]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Nana Alexandria]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
| 16-game match (draw)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1984|1984]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union}}
| [[Volgograd]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Maia Chiburdanidze]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Irina Levitina]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1986|1986]]
| {{flag|People's Republic of Bulgaria|1971|name=Bulgaria}}
| [[Sofia]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Maia Chiburdanidze]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Elena Donaldson-Akhmilovskaya|Elena Akhmilovskaya]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 9
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1988|1988]]
| {{flagu|Soviet Union}}
| [[Telavi]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Maia Chiburdanidze]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Nana Ioseliani]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 11
| 16-game match
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1991|1991]]
| {{flagu|Philippines|1986}}
| [[Manila]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Xie Jun]]
| {{flagdeco|Soviet Union}} [[Maia Chiburdanidze]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 9
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1993|1993]]
| {{flagu|Monaco}}
| [[Monaco]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Xie Jun]]
| {{flagdeco|Georgia (country)|1990}} [[Nana Ioseliani]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1996|1996]]
| {{flagu|Spain}}
| [[Jaén, Spain|Jaén]]
| {{flagdeco|Hungary}} [[Susan Polgar]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Xie Jun]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 6
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| colspan="9" style="text-align:center;"| Polgar [[Glossary of chess#forfeit|forfeited]] title in 1999.
|-
! colspan="9"| Women's World Chess Championship (1999–2018)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 1999|1999]]
| {{flagu|Russia}} <br> {{flagu|China}}
| [[Kazan]] <br> [[Shenyang]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Xie Jun]]
| {{flagdeco|Russia}} [[Alisa Galliamova]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| 16-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2000|2000]]
| {{flagu|India}}
| [[New Delhi]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Xie Jun]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Qin Kanying]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| 64-player [[Single-elimination tournament|knock-out tournament]] (4-game championship match)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2001|2001]]
| {{flagu|Russia}}
| [[Moscow]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Zhu Chen]]
| {{flagdeco|Russia}} [[Alexandra Kosteniuk]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 2+3
| style="text-align:center;"| 2+1
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| 64-player knock-out tournament (4-game championship match, plus tie-breaks)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2004|2004]]
| {{flagu|Russia}}
| [[Elista]]
| {{flagdeco|Bulgaria}} [[Antoaneta Stefanova]]
| {{flagdeco|Russia}} [[Ekaterina Kovalevskaya]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| 64-player knock-out tournament (4-game championship match; won early)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2006|2006]]
| {{flagu|Russia}}
| [[Yekaterinburg]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Xu Yuhua]]
| {{flagdeco|Russia}} [[Alisa Galliamova]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| 64-player knock-out tournament (4-game championship match; won early)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2008|2008]]
| {{flagu|Russia}}
| [[Nalchik]]
| {{flagdeco|Russia}} [[Alexandra Kosteniuk]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Hou Yifan]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| 64-player knock-out tournament (4-game championship match)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2010|2010]]
| {{flagu|Turkey}}
| [[Hatay Province|Hatay]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Hou Yifan]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Ruan Lufei]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 1+2
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 2+2
| 64-player knock-out tournament (4-game championship match, plus tie-breaks)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2011|2011]]
| {{flagu|Albania}}
| [[Tirana]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Hou Yifan]]
| {{flagdeco|India}} [[Humpy Koneru]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| 10-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2012|2012]]
| {{flagu|Russia}}
| [[Khanty-Mansiysk]]
| {{flagdeco|Ukraine}} [[Anna Ushenina]]
| {{flagdeco|Bulgaria}} [[Antoaneta Stefanova]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 1+1
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 2+1
| 64-player knock-out tournament (4-game championship match, plus tie-breaks)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2013|2013]]
| {{flagu|China}}
| [[Taizhou, Jiangsu|Taizhou]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Hou Yifan]]
| {{flagdeco|Ukraine}} [[Anna Ushenina]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| 10-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2015|2015]]
| {{flagu|Russia}}
| [[Sochi]]
| {{flagdeco|Ukraine}} [[Mariya Muzychuk]]
| {{flagdeco|Russia}} [[Natalia Pogonina]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| 64-player knock-out tournament (4-game championship match)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2016|2016]]
| {{flagu|Ukraine}}
| [[Lviv]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Hou Yifan]]
| {{flagdeco|Ukraine}} [[Mariya Muzychuk]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 6
| 10-game match; won early
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2017|2017]]
| {{flagu|Iran}}
| [[Tehran]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Tan Zhongyi]]
| {{flagdeco|Ukraine}} [[Anna Muzychuk]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 1+1
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 2+1
| 64-player knock-out tournament (4-game championship match, plus tie-breaks)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2018 (May)|2018 May]]
| {{flagu|China}}
| [[Shanghai]] <br> [[Chongqing]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Ju Wenjun]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Tan Zhongyi]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 5
| 10-game match
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2018 (November)|2018 Nov]]
| {{flagu|Russia}}
| [[Khanty-Mansiysk]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Ju Wenjun]]
| {{flagdeco|Russia}} [[Kateryna Lagno]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 1+2
| style="text-align:center;"| 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 2+2
| 64-player knock-out tournament (4-game championship match, plus tie-breaks)
|-
! colspan="9"| Women's World Chess Championship (2019–present)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2020|2020]]
| {{flagu|China}}<br>{{flagu|Russia}}
| [[Shanghai]]<br>[[Vladivostok]]
| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Ju Wenjun]]
| {{flagdeco|Russia}} [[Aleksandra Goryachkina]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 3+1
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 6+3
| 12-game match (plus tie-breaks)
|-
| [[Women's World Chess Championship 2023|2023]]
| {{Flagu|China}}
| [[Chongqing]]<br>[[Shanghai]]
| colspan="2"| {{flagdeco|China}} [[Ju Wenjun]] vs. {{flagdeco|China}} [[Lei Tingjie]]
| style="text-align:center;"| 
| style="text-align:center;"| 
| style="text-align:center;"| 
| 12-game match (plus tie-breaks)
|}

==Most wins==
*{{flagicon|CZE}} [[Vera Menchik]] – 9 titles
*{{flagicon|URS}} [[Nona Gaprindashvili]] – 5 titles
*{{flagicon|URS}} [[Maia Chiburdanidze]] – 5 titles
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Xie Jun]] – 4 titles
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Hou Yifan]] – 4 titles
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Ju Wenjun]] – 3 titles
*{{flagicon|URS}} [[Elisaveta Bykova]] – 3 titles

==See also==
* [[Development of the Women's World Chess Championship]]
* [[World Chess Championship]]
* [[Women's World Team Chess Championship 2009]]
* [[List of female chess players]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/wcc-womn.htm WCC for Women (Interzonal, Candidates, World Championship)]
*[https://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa04c20.htm A history of women's world chess champions]
*[https://en.chessbase.com/post/women-s-world-che-championship-2006 Chessbase report on 2006 championship]

{{Women's World Chess Championships}}
{{Chess}}
{{Main world championships}}

[[Category:Women's World Chess Championships| ]]
[[Category:Women's chess competitions]]
[[Category:Women's world championships|Chess]]
[[Category:World championships in chess|Women]]
[[Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1927]]