IMOlga Zimina

Olga Zimina was born in Vladimir in 1982. She won the Russian Women's Championship in 2001 and became a woman grandmaster in 2003. In 2004 she graduated with honors in psychology from Vladimir's pedagogical university. She had already spent several years teaching children at the city's chess school. That year she moved to Italy and married Gian Marco Marinelli. She settled in Modena, where she continued teaching chess to schoolchildren. FIDE awarded her the international master title in 2008. A zonal tournament victory also earned her a place in the Women's World Championship cycle. She became Italian women's champion in 2017. Further national titles followed in 2020, 2022 and 2023. In December 2025 she won her fifth Italian championship, finishing half a point ahead of Marina Brunello.