GMAnna Ushenina

Anna Ushenina grew up in Kharkiv, where her mother introduced her to chess at seven alongside painting and music. She became Ukraine's girls' under-20 champion at fifteen. Much of her early study was independent, supplemented by training with Artiom Tsepotan at Kharkiv's sports school and later in Kramatorsk. She won the Ukrainian women's championship in 2005. The following year she remained unbeaten as Ukraine won the Women's Olympiad in Turin. In 2012 she defeated Antoaneta Stefanova in the women's world championship final on rapid tiebreaks. The victory made her Ukraine's first women's world champion and qualified her for the open grandmaster title. Her reign ended when Hou Yifan won their 2013 championship match. Ushenina won the European women's championship in 2016. She added the online Women's Speed Chess Championship in 2020. In 2022 she helped Ukraine win another Olympiad gold medal and earned individual silver on board three. That year she also won the women's rapid tournament at Tata Steel India.