Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
Encyclopedia
Ketevan Revazovna Arakhamia-Grant (née Arakhamia, born Ochamchira, 19 July 1968) is a Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 (former USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

)-born Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 Grandmaster of chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

.

Chess career

In 1985, when she won the World Junior Chess Championship
World Junior Chess Championship
The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation ....

 for Girls, held in Dobrna
Dobrna
Dobrna is a settlement and municipality in Slovenia. It is best known for its spa. It lies to the north of Celje and to the east of Velenje in an area that was part of the traditional region of Lower Styria...

 (and taking silver in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

 three years later). Very soon thereafter, she fulfilled the criteria for the Woman International Master title and this was awarded in 1986. Encouraged by these early successes, she quickly developed aspirations to become a Women's World Championship
Women's World Chess Championship
The Women's World Chess Championship is played to determine the women's world champion in chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE....

 contender and in the course of the qualification cycles of the late eighties and early nineties, proved that she had the ability to compete at the top level. Second place behind Nana Ioseliani
Nana Ioseliani
Nana Mikhailovna Ioseliani is a Georgian woman chess player. She has held the FIDE Woman Grandmaster title since 1980, and the International Master title since 1993....

 in her first Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...

 at Tuzla
Tuzla
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants...

 1987 was an inspirational start, but she won the 1993 event in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

 and the 1995 event in Kishinev. Her performances in the respective Candidates Tournament
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...

s ruled out an opportunity to play for the world title.

Aside from world championship competitions, in 1990 she took first place at both the Biel Women's Open and Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 (IM), then followed up by winning the Doeberl Cup
Doeberl Cup
The Doeberl Cup is an annual chess tournament held in Canberra, Australia. It has been held every year since 1963 and is the longest running weekend chess event in Australia. Since its inception the event has grown both larger and stronger, and often attracts more players than the Australian Chess...

 in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

, Australia in 1991; the first woman to do so. Her participation at the Hastings Premier
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...

 in 1993/94, where she finished ahead of six male grandmasters and defeated three of them on her way to a share of third place. In respect of women competitors at Hastings, the result was second only to that of Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...

.

In the nineties she participated in the Veterans vs Ladies dance-themed tournaments where she defeated Borislav Ivkov
Borislav Ivkov
Borislav Ivkov is a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was the first ever World Junior Champion in 1951. He won the Yugoslav Championship in 1958 , 1963 and 1972. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979...

, Vlastimil Hort
Vlastimil Hort
Vlastimil Hort is a chess Grandmaster of Czech nationality. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the Candidates stage of competition for the world chess championship, but was never able to compete for the actual title.Hort was born in Kladno,...

, Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...

 and Mark Taimanov
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...

.

In 1996, she married Jonathan Grant, also a chess player, and they settled in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, later giving birth to daughter Elena.

In team chess, Arakhamia debuted at Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...

 at Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

 in 1990, representing the USSR Ladies team as first reserve and registering a perfect 12/12 score. With the Soviet and then Georgian Ladies Teams, she has won 9 Olympiad medal, and including two team and three individual gold medals. She has won medals at the European Team Championship
European Team Championship
The European Team Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9...

s; a team gold at Pula
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...

 in 1997 and team silver medals in 1992 and 2005.

Despite moving to the UK, Arakhamia continued to represent Georgia for many years, through membership of its national chess federation. She was the Georgian Ladies Champion
Georgian Chess Championship
-Winners:-References:*****...

 in 1983, 1984 and 1990. In January 2008 however, she switched her registration to her adopted country.

Post-millennium, she has won a bronze medal at the Women's European Individual Championship
European Individual Championship
The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organized by the European Chess Union. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis....

 at Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

 in 2001. She was Scottish champion
Scottish Chess Championship
The Scottish Chess Championship is organised by Chess Scotland, formerly the Scottish Chess Association. It has been running since 1884, and nowadays takes the form of a nine round tournament played over two weekends and the week in between...

 jointly with Paul Motwani
Paul Motwani
Paul Motwani is of Scottish/Indian descent and was Scotland's first chess Grandmaster . Born in Glasgow but growing up in Dundee , he became World Cadet Champion in 1978, and won the first of his seven Scottish Championship titles that year...

 in 2003 (the first ever woman to achieve the honour) and has participated at the British Championship
British Chess Championship
The British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been...

, taking the Ladies' Champion titles of 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007. In 2006 she finished just a half point behind overall Championship winner Jonathan Rowson
Jonathan Rowson
Jonathan Rowson is Scotland's third chess Grandmaster, after Paul Motwani and Colin McNab, and has played first board at recent Chess Olympiads. He is also a chess author.-Career:...

.She concluded with a 4½/5 finish, including a win against Nick Pert in the last round. 2006 was also the year that her husband took first place in the Scottish Championship, making them the first ever husband-wife pair to win a full national championship. Also in 2006, at Batumi
Batumi
Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in...

 Georgia, she assisted the Australian squad by coaching their Under-10 Girls at the World Youth Chess Championship
World Youth Chess Championship
The World Youth Chess Championship is a chess competition for girls and boys under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.The first predecessor of the youth championship was the Cadet Championship. It started off unofficially in 1974 in France for players under 18. The 1975 and 1976 editions were also...

.

In 2007 she beat former U.S. Champion
U.S. Chess Championship
The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the national chess champion of the United States. Since 1936, it has been held under the auspices of the U.S. Chess Federation. Until 1999, the event consisted of a round-robin tournament of varying size...

 Hikaru Nakamura
Hikaru Nakamura
Hikaru Nakamura is an American chess Grandmaster . He has been ranked among the top six players in the world by FIDE....

 at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

, in a 100 move first round encounter. Journalist John Saunders describes Arakhamia as the ideal role model—"her charming and dignified manner belies a tough, determined fighter at the board". At Philadelphia, while visiting her sister, she played the World Open and finished top woman. As the tournament was a qualifier for the MonRoi
MonRoi
MonRoi, Inc. is a Montreal-based company that created a system to allow the recording of chess games in an electronic format. The system also allows for games to be broadcast via MonRoi's in realtime, as the games are being played....

 Women's Grand Prix, she earned a place in the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 finale, held just a few weeks later. There, she shared the lead after five rounds and finished in joint fourth place (Pia Cramling
Pia Cramling
Pia Cramling is a Swedish chess grandmaster. Since the early 1980s, she has been one of the strongest female players in the world....

 won). As part of the Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 European Capital of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....

 festivities, she played in the United Kingdom vs China match and was top scorer for the UK with 4/6, although China won the match.

At the 2008 EU Individual Open Chess Championship
EU Individual Open Chess Championship
The EU Individual Open Championship was first contested in Cork, Ireland in 2005, under the auspices of organising body, the European Chess Union . The event is open to members of chess federations within the European Union...

 in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, she shared the highest scoring woman prize with Jovanka Houska
Jovanka Houska
Jovanka Houska is an English chess player with the titles International Master and Woman Grandmaster .-Formative years:...

 and Yelena Dembo
Yelena Dembo
Yelena Dembo is a Greek International Master of chess. On the May 2010 FIDE rating list for women, she is ranked 31st in the world, with a rating of 2470. She became a Woman Grandmaster when she was seventeen years old, and an International Master at age nineteen...

. At the Olympiad in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, she played for Scotland in the main event and completed her final grandmaster norm
Grandmaster norm
A norm in chess is one of the requirements to receive a title such as Grandmaster from FIDE.- Grandmaster norm :In order to qualify for the title of Grandmaster of chess, a title awarded by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, a player must achieve three or more grandmaster norms in events covering a...

 with victory in the final round. Having additionally met the 2500 Elo rating requirement in the January 2009 FIDE list, she was awarded the title in March 2009, making her Scotland's sixth grandmaster.

In July 2011 she won the Scottish Championship outright, finishing with the score of 7/9.

In league chess, Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant has played for OSC Baden-Baden in the Women's Bundesliga
Chess Bundesliga
The term Chess Bundesliga , normally refers to the premier league of team chess in Germany. It is arguably the strongest and longest running league of its kind, attracting many top grandmasters from Europe and beyond....

 and for Georgian team Interplast Tbilisi in the European Club Cup. For the 2008/9 season, she represents Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher 1 in the British 4NCL
4NCL
4NCL is an acronym, standing for Four Nations Chess League; the four nations being England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The league is however truly international, with players from as many as 27 different countries taking part....

.

Notable games

Lidia Semenova
Lidia Semenova
Lidia K Semenova is a Ukrainian chess Woman Grandmaster.In 1978, she won Women's Soviet Chess Championship. In 1981, she tied for 1st-4th in Leningrad . In 1982, she took 2nd in Bad Kissingen...

 vs Ketevan Arakhamia
, Jakarta Interzonal, 1993, Torre Attack
Torre Attack
The Torre Attack is a chess opening characterized by the moves:The opening is named after the Mexican grandmaster Carlos Torre Repetto. The variation was also employed by Savielly Tartakower, and the young Tigran Petrosian on occasion...

:

1.d4 d5 2. Bg5 Nd7 3.Nf3 Ngf6 4.Nbd2 g6 5.c3 Bg7 6.Qc2 0-0 7.e4 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.Qxe4 Nf6 10. Bxf6? exf6! 11.0-0-0 Bh6+ 12.Nd2 Bf5! 13.Qxb7 c5! 14.dxc5 Re8 15.Bc4 Re7 16.Qb4 Rb8 17.Qa4 Reb7 18.b3 a5 19.Rhe1! Rb4 20.Re8+! Qxe8 21.Qxe8+ Rxe8 22.cxb4 axb4 23.c6 Ra8 24.c7 Bf4 25.Re1 Bxc7 25.Re7 Bf4 27.Rxf7 Kh8 28.g3 Be5 29.Kd1 Bc3 30.Nf1 Rxa2 31.Ne3 Be4 32.Rf8+ Kg7 33.Rg8+ Kh6 34.Ng4+ Kg5 35.h3 Ra1+ 36.Ke2 Re1# 0–1

Stuart Conquest
Stuart Conquest
Stuart Conquest is an English chess Grandmaster.-Chess career:In 1981, at the age of 14 he won the World Youth Chess Championship in the under-16 category. Conquest was British Rapidplay Chess Champion in 1997...

 vs Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
, British Ch. Edinburgh, 2003, Grünfeld Defence
Grünfeld Defence
The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The first instance of this opening is in an 1855 game by Moheschunder Bannerjee, an Indian player who had transitioned from Indian chess rules, playing black against John Cochrane in Calcutta, in May 1855: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4...

:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.e4 Nb6 7.Be3 0-0 8.Bb5!? Be6!? 9.Nf3 Nc4 10.Bxc4 Bxc4 11.h4 Nd7 12.h5 c5! 13.d5 f5! 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Bh6?! Bxc3! 16.bxc3 fxe4! 17.Bxf8 exf3 18.Qxf3 Nxf8 19.Rd1 Qd6 20.Qe4 b5 21.f4 Rd8 22.Kf2 Bxd5 23.Qe3 Qe6! 24.Qg3 Rd6 25.Rhe1 Qf6 26.Kg1 Bxa2 27.f5 Bc4 28.fxg6 Nxg6 29.Qe3 Rxd1 30.Rxd1 Nf4 31.Rd8+ Kf7 32.Rd2 Nd5! 33.Qxc5 Qf1+ 34.Kh2 Qf4+ 0–1

Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant vs Alexandra Kosteniuk
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk is a Russian chess Grandmaster and a former Women's World Chess Champion.-Chess career:Kosteniuk learned to play chess at the age of five after being taught by her father...

, 2nd Women's European Ch., 2001, Sicilian Defense:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.O-O-O h6 9.Be3 Be7 10.f4 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 b5 12.Qe3 Bb7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Bd3 Qa5 15.Kb1 b4 16.Ne2 Qc5 17.Nd4 d5 18.Qe2 Kf8 19.Nb3 Qb6 20.exd5 Bxd5 21.Be4 Bxe4 22.Qxe4 Kg7 23.f5 Rad8 24.fxe6 fxe6 25.Nd4 Kf7 26.Nc6 Rc8 27.Ne5+ fxe5 28.Rhf1+ Kg7 29.Qg4+ Bg5 30.Rd7+ 1–0

External links

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