4/23/2023 – Pia Cramling, the Grande Dame of Chess is celebrating her 60th Anniversary today. Heartfelt congratulations! Looking back and forward, our author, who was a spectator at the tournament where she made her final GM norm to obtain the Grandmaster title as fifth woman on earth, presents fantastic facts and funny figures from an unparalleled biography. | Photo: Carolina Byrmo via hemtrevligt.se

1/8/2023 – The first FIDE workshop organized by the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess in 2023 took place on January 5 in Stockholm, Sweden, during the Rilton Cup. Swedish living legend Pia Cramling was among the speakers, and emphasized how chess takes away any prejudicial social boundaries based on age or gender. | Photos: Anastasiya Karlovich

11/5/2022 – Pia Cramling is a regular guest at the Västgöta Open, the open championship of the Swedish Västergötland Chess Federation, which was again held as a rapid chess tournament in Skara last weekend. This time, however, the Swedish chess icon had to concede the tournament victory to Erik Blomqvist. She came third. Holger Blauhut (11th place) also played and sent a report. | Next to the window, GM Erik Blomqvist plays against FM Lars-Goran Eklund, while GM Pia Cramling faces GM Petro Golubka on the next board.

4/30/2022 – Two world champions, Steinitz and Euwe; a chess family, the Cramlings; and plenty of 1.d4 practitioners, Moiseenko, Gaprindashvili, and Miles are born under the zodiac sign of Taurus. Their power lies in their calmness. A proper Taurus acts thoughtfully, prudently, deliberately. They calculate what they do, everything else is considered unreasonable. They may allow their opponent a refreshing nap while they think about the next move. It would be fatal to consider them limited for that reason. | Photo: Pixabay

1/31/2022 – Chess is an integral part of the lives of Pia Cramling and her daughter Anna. But mother and daughter are successful in very different ways. While Pia Cramling has been one of the world's best women player for decades, Anna Cramling Bellón has now become a successful chess streamer. But both pursue a common goal. As they explain in an interview with Tatiana Flores, they both want to promote chess and bring more women into the community.

7/13/2021 – Pia Cramling had the best start at the Swedish Championships in Helsingborg, but she could not keep up the pace. This allowed the young (born in 2002) IM Jung Min Seo to catch up and to become Swedish Champion 2021. | Photo: Swedish Chess Federation

7/8/2021 – For more than 40 years, Pia Cramling has regularly played in the Swedish Championships, but has never been able to win the title. In April, the best woman player in the country celebrated her 58th birthday. There is no sign of age fatigue. Cramling obtained an impressive win in round 4 and is now the sole leader in Helsingborg. | Photo: FIDE

9/30/2020 – With a 3½:2½ win over Gros Xake Taldea, Silla Bosch Serinsys secured clear first place at the Spanish Team Championship in Linares. Andreu Paterna, the team that was in sole second place before the final round, also won and took home the silver. Magic Extremadura completed the podium after beating Collado Villalba. | Photos: Spanish Chess Federation

8/18/2020 – In 1983 rookie chess journalist Frederic Friedel wrote an article for a German magazine, defining and celebrating "Super Grandmasters" – players who were rated 2600 or higher. There were 13 such players, and they were led by World Champion Anatoly Karpov, with a young upstart named Garry Kasparov hard at his heels. The top female player in the world, Pia Cramling, was rated 2355. Today things have changed somewhat – to put it mildly.

12/15/2019 – Alexandra Kosteniuk had a fairytale ending as she defeated Elisabeth Paehtz in the final round to finish at 7.0/11. For her winning the tournament, the most anticipated match between Humpy and Goryachkina needed Humpy to win and fortuitously that's what happened, resulting in Humpy finishing runner-up and Goryachkina claiming the second runner-up position. Kosteniuk won her third consecutive tournament in a row. Humpy still leads the GP points table. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/14/2019 – Anna Muzychuk held Goryachkina to a draw. Goryachkina takes a full point lead to the final round where she faces Humpy. Pia Cramling held Humpy to a draw. Kosteniuk checkmated Harika and now she is tied at the second place along with Humpy. Lagno made a short draw with Paehtz. Cramling, Harika, Lagno and Anna Muzychuk are at the tied fourth place for now. The final round will determine the winner of the Monaco GP. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/13/2019 – Mariya Muzychuk held Goryachkina to a draw, despite the former getting an advantage in the opening. Humpy suffered her first loss of the tournament against Paehtz. Thus, Goryachkina took a full-point sole lead. Harika made a short draw with Lagno. Both Humpy and Harika are now tied at second place. Cramling, Kosteniuk, Lagno and Anna Muzychuk are at tied fourth place. Gunina lost her sixth consecutive game, this time against Dzagnidze. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/12/2019 – Goryachkina scored a victory over Gunina and took sole lead with 6.0/8. Humpy drew her game with Harika and they are now at second and third place. Cramling recovered against Mariya after making a few mistakes. Kosteniuk beat Dzagnidze and now is at shared fourth place. Anna Muzychuk made a short draw with Elisabeth Paehtz, Kateryna Lagno had a fighting draw with Zhao Xue. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/11/2019 – Both Goryachkina and Humpy won their respective games to stay in the lead with 5.0/7. Harika trails behind the leaders by a half point. She made a short draw with Anna. Pia Cramling, Kateryna Lagno and Anna Muzychuk are tied at the fourth spot with 4.0/7 each. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/9/2019 – Kosteniuk held Humpy to a draw after missing a half chance in the opening. Goryachkina and Harika scored fine victories to join Humpy in the lead with 4.0/6 before heading to the rest day of the tournament. Kosteniuk and Anna Muzychuk are just a half point behind the leaders. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/8/2019 – Humpy had a quiet draw with Kateryna Lagno to maintain her sole lead. Pia Cramling had an uneventful draw with Nana Dzagnidze. A further pair of draws, plus two decisive games leaves five players — Cramling, Dzagnidze, Goryachkina, Harika and Kosteniuk — on 3.0/5, a half point behind the leader. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/7/2019 – Tournament leader Humpy maintained her lead after surviving quite a few missed opportunities by her opponent Nana Dzagnidze. Anna Muzychuk arguably had the most interesting game of the round against Kateryna Lagno after almost a five-hour long game. Pia Cramling finally managed to convert advantage into a victory after her opponent Elisabeth Paehtz blundered and made a few inaccuracies under time pressure. Valentina Gunina's tough luck at the tournament continues as this time she made a huge error in the opening against Zhao Xue after which she could not recover for the rest of the game. Goryachkina beat Harika, after the latter made a wrong exchange which resulted in an isolated pawn and advanced king for her opponent. Kosteniuk and Mariya Muzychuk made a grandmaster draw in just 23 moves. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/6/2019 – Anna Muzychuk halted Humpy Koneru's winning streak by holding her to a draw. The most exciting game of the round was between Mariya Muzychuk and Kateryna Lagno. Although Muzychuk won the game with brilliant sharp play, there were moments where Lagno could have salvaged her position. Goryachkina got back to winning ways by beating Zhao Xue, Nana Dzagnidze scored her first win of the tournament and jumped to tied second position, Gunina also made a comeback by staying true to her style and beating Alexandra Kosteniuk, after suffering two losses in the first two rounds. Harika had a tepid draw with Pia Cramling. | Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/5/2019 – The second round of FIDE Women's Grand Prix at Monaco witnessed four decisive results and four game went for over four hours. Humpy continued her lead by beating Mariya Muzychuk. Harika Dronavalli scored the first victory of the round by defeating Germany no.1 woman IM Elisabeth Paehtz. Lagno won the All-Russian battle and handed Gunina her second consecutive defeat. Newly crowned European Individual Rapid and Blitz champion Alexandra Kosteniuk continued her momentum and broke Goryachkina's mystique by defeating her convincingly. Both Anna Muzychuk and Pia Cramling missed wonderful winning opportunities against Nana Dzagnidze and Zhao Xue respectively. A detailed report of round 2. Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

12/4/2019 – FIDE's Women's Grand Prix in Monaco started with a solitary win by Skolkovo GP winner Humpy Koneru. She had to fight for over five hours against Valentina Gunina from an inferior position to score a victory after enduring the longest grind of the day. Pia Cramling made a good start against Alexandra Kosteniuk but she missed capitalizing on good opportunities and eventually ended up making a draw. The World Championship Challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina held World Blitz Champion Kateryna Lagno, Harika Dronavalli met her match in the form of Nana Dzagnidze, FIDE GP 2019-20 debutant Zhao Xue held Elisabeth Paehtz and the Muzychuk sisters made a peaceful draw in round 1. Photo: Karol Bartnik / FIDE

8/7/2019 – Alexei Shirov showed he can still play, at the 5th CellaVison Cup in Lund, Sweden. He won the tournament with 7 of 8 thanks to better tiebreak score ahead of Kryakvin and Külaots. Pia Cramling took the women's prize with 6 points. The tournament also featured paintings by Mariya Yugina, wife of GM Mihail Marin. | Photos: Lars OA Hedlund

4/14/2019 – No less than twenty-two players share first place on 2½ out of 3 at the European Women's Individual Championship in Antalya. Curiously, though, only four of the top ten seeds are in the large leading group, as some of the favourites have been having a hard time trying to take down lower-rated opponents. It has been a hard struggle so far, and only fourteen players will get a ticket to the World Cup. Eight rounds are still ahead. | Photo: Kasia Selbes Photography / Official site

3/5/2019 – The Swedish town of Skara enjoys a good reputation among chess players. The European Team Championship 1980 took place in Skara, and in this tournament English Grandmaster Tony Miles defeated World Champion Anatoly Karpov with 1...a6. Skara's chess tratition is still alive, though on a smaller scale. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

9/2/2018 – One of the most respected grandmasters in Europe, 55-year-old Pia Cramling, hosted two parallel events during the first weekend of September at the Scandic Foresta Hotel in Lidingö, Sweden. A four-player double round robin and a 7-round Swiss Open are taking place concurrently. After two days of play, Elizabeth Paehtz emerged the clear victor in the Invitational, while Inna Agrest had a near perfect run in the Open. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund