World Chess hall of fame

Alla Kushnir

Inducted 2017 1941 - 2013

Flag of Israel

Israel

Biography

Alla Kushnir was the second-strongest female chess player in the world from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. She competed in Women’s World Chess Championship matches against Nona Gaprindashvili three times (1965, 1969, 1972), coming closest to winning the title in the last match, which Kushnir lost only by a single point (8.5-7.5). She won the 1970 Women’s Soviet Chess Championship and represented the U.S.S.R. in two Women’s Chess Olympiads, winning both team and individual gold medals in 1969 and 1972. She immigrated to Israel in 1973 and led her new homeland to victory in the 1976 Women’s Chess Olympiad. Kushnir’s win over Larry Evans at the 1975 Lone Pine International Tournament was one of the first victories by a female player against a Grandmaster in a tournament game.

Notable Games

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Alla Kushnir vs. Nona Gaprindashvili
1-0 Riga (Latvia) Riga (Latvia) 1972 Round: 14 ECO: E42

Nona Gaprindashvili (U.S.S.R./Georgia) and Alla Kushnir (U.S.S.R./Israel) at the 1972 Riga, Latvia, Women’s World Chess Championship | Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame