Women's World Chess Championship 1975

The 1975 Women's World Chess Championship was won by Nona Gaprindashvili, who successfully defended her title against challenger Nana Alexandria. This was Gaprindashvili's fourth title defense - and the last successful one.

1973 Interzonal Tournament

An Interzonal tournament was held in Menorca in October and November 1973, featuring the best players from each FIDE zone. A total of 20 players took part, with the top four qualifying for the Candidates Tournament. Kozlovskaya won the tournament and progressed directly, while the four players tied for second place contested a playoff in Kislovodsk in February and March 1974 from which one (Konopleva) was eliminated.^[1][2]

1973 Women's Interzonal Tournament

	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Points	Tie break
1	Valentina Kozlovskaya (Soviet Union)	-	0	½	½	½	1	1	1	½	0	1	½	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	13½
2	Marta Shul (Soviet Union)	1	-	0	½	1	0	1	½	½	½	½	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	½	13	112.25
3	Natalia Konopleva (Soviet Union)	½	1	-	½	0	1	1	½	½	½	0	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	13	110.00
4	Irina Levitina (Soviet Union)	½	½	½	-	½	0	0	1	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	13	107.25
5	Nana Alexandria (Soviet Union)	½	0	1	½	-	0	½	0	½	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	13	104.00
6	Jana Hartston (England)	0	1	0	1	1	-	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	0	½	½	1	1	1	½	12	106.00
7	Tatiana Zatulovskaya (Soviet Union)	0	0	0	1	½	½	-	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	12	98.00
8	Alexandra Nicolau (Romania)	0	½	½	0	1	½	½	-	½	½	0	½	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	12	95.00
9	Zsuzsa Veroci (Hungary)	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	-	½	½	½	1	½	0	½	1	1	1	1	11½
10	Elisabeta Polihroniade (Romania)	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	-	0	½	1	0	1	0	½	½	1	1	11	100.50
11	Katarina Jovanović (Yugoslavia)	0	½	1	0	0	½	0	1	½	1	-	0	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	1	11	88.00
12	Gertrude Baumstark (Romania)	½	1	0	½	0	0	½	½	½	½	1	-	½	½	½	0	0	1	1	1	9½
13	Milunka Lazarević (Yugoslavia)	1	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	-	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	9
14	Pepita Ferrer (Spain)	0	0	½	0	0	1	0	0	½	1	0	½	1	-	½	½	1	½	½	1	8½
15	Eva Ladanyike-Karakas (Hungary)	0	0	½	0	0	½	½	0	1	0	½	½	0	½	-	1	0	½	1	1	7½
16	Ljubica Zivkovic (Yugoslavia)	0	0	0	½	0	½	0	0	½	1	½	1	0	½	0	-	½	1	0	1	7
17	Ruth Volgl Cardoso (Brazil)	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	0	1	0	0	1	½	-	½	0	½	4½
18	Eva Aronson (USA)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	½	½	0	½	-	1	½	3½	20.25
19	Linda Maddern (Australia)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	1	1	0	-	1	3½	17.75
20	Ruth Donnelly (USA)	0	½	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	-	2

1974 Kislovodsk playoff

		1	2	3	4	Total
1	Nana Alexandria (Soviet Union)	x x x x	1 ½ ½ ½	1 ½ 1 ½	1 ½ 1 ½	8½
2	Irina Levitina (Soviet Union)	0 ½ ½ ½	x x x x	½ 1 0 1	½ 1 1 ½	7
3	Marta Shul (Soviet Union)	0 ½ 0 ½	½ 0 1 0	x x x x	1 1 1 1	6½
4	Natalia Konopleva (Soviet Union)	0 ½ 0 ½	½ 0 0 ½	0 0 0 0	x x x x	2

1974-75 Candidates matches

The top three from the Interzonal were supposed to have been joined by Alla Kushnir, the loser of the last championship match. However, Kushnir had recently fled the Soviet Union and was unable to participate, so instead four players qualified from the Interzonal (Kushnir later settled in Israel and went on to represent her new country in the next championship cycle).

These four players contested a knock-out series of matches. Alexandria won, earning the right to challenge reigning champion Gaprindashvili.^[3]

	Semifinals					Final
	Riga, May–June 1974
	Nana Alexandria		5½
						Moscow, Feb-Mar 1975
	Marta Shul		2½
						Nana Alexandria		9
	Kislovodsk, May–June 1974
						Irina Levitina		8
	Irina Levitina		6½
	Valentina Kozlovskaya		5½

1975 Championship Match

The championship match was played in Pitsunda and Tbilisi in 1975. In the end, Alexandria was no match for Gaprindashvili, who retained her title by a comfortable margin.^[4]

Women's World Championship Match 1975

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
Nona Gaprindashvili (Soviet Union)	1	0	1	1	½	1	1	0	1	0	1	1	8½
Nana Alexandria (Soviet Union)	0	1	0	0	½	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	3½