Valentina Gunina

Valentina Gunina is a three-time Russian women's champion (2011, 2013, 2014), a three-time European women's champion (2012, 2014, 2018), a three-time winner of the World Chess Olympid as a member of the Russian national women's team (2010, 2012, 2014).

Valentina was born on February 4, 1989, in Murmansk, one of Russia's largest ports, located in the northwest of the country, the world's biggest city beyond the Arctic Circle. Despite being remote from chess centers, Valentina came into the spotlight very early – she repeatedly won the Russian, European, and world youth championships.

In 2009, Gunina vigorously broke into the professional chess: she took the third place in the Superfinal of the Russian Women's Championship and won the European Championship as a member of the Russian national team. Valentina became a woman grandmaster in 2010 and a grandmaster in 2013.

Valentina Gunina is a three-time Russian women's champion (2011, 2013, 2014) and a first three-time European women's champion in history (2012, 2014, 2018). She won three World Chess Olympiads (2010, 2012 and 2014), the world championship (2017), and four European championships (2009, 2011, 2015, 2017) as a member of the Russian national team. She won gold medals at the 2014 and 2016 Olympiads for the best result on the second board.

Valentina is famous for her ability to play rapid and blitz chess. She became both world and European blitz champion in 2012. And in December 2016, Gunina sensationally won a major rapid chess tournament in London, leaving about fifty grandmasters behind. Valentina scored 9/10, performing above 2800.

The beginning of 2019 was successful for Valentina Gunina – she won the first women's super tournament in Saint Louis - the Cairns Cup. She scored 7/9, leaving Alexandra Kosteniuk, Irina Krush, Nana Dzagnidze and other leading grandmasters behind.