GMMariya Muzychuk

Mariya Muzychuk was born in Lviv and learned chess from her parents as a toddler. Her older sister Anna also became a leading grandmaster. Mariya entered her first tournament at six. In 2002 she won the European girls' under-ten championship. She became Ukrainian women's champion in 2012 and retained the title in 2013. In 2014 she earned a grandmaster norm and the leading women's prize at the Gibraltar Masters. Her greatest individual breakthrough came at the 2015 Women's World Championship.

During that knockout event, she eliminated former champion Antoaneta Stefanova and top seed Koneru Humpy. She then defeated Harika Dronavalli to reach the final. Victory over Natalia Pogonina made her women's world champion. It also brought the grandmaster title. She lost the crown to Hou Yifan in their 2016 match. Her team successes included Ukraine's world and European titles in 2013. In 2022 she played first board for Ukraine's Olympiad-winning women's team, adding gold to earlier silver and bronze medals. Away from chess, Mariya and Anna have also enjoyed playing table tennis.