Woman Grandmaster

Woman Grandmaster (WGM) is the highest-ranking chess title restricted to women aside from Women's World Champion.

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The World Chess Federation FIDE introduced the WGM title in 1977, joining the previously introduced lower-ranking title Woman International Master (WIM).

Related Topics:
FIDE - 1977 - Woman International Master

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The WGM title represents a level of chess skill significantly lower than that of the unrestricted International Grandmaster (GM) title, and in fact WGM requirements are a little bit lower than the requirements for the unrestricted International Master (IM) title as well. The current regulations can be found in the FIDE handbook http://www.fide.com/official/handbook.asp?level=B0101.

Related Topics:
International Grandmaster - International Master

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Many strong female players hold the IM title in addition to the WGM, and these days the top 10 women players are usually GMs http://www.fide.com/ratings/top.phtml?list=women. (The winner of the Women's World Championship is automatically awarded the full GM title if she does not already hold it.)

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The July 2005 FIDE rating list records 184 women holding the WGM title.

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On this list 63 women hold unrestricted titles in addition to their women's titles, including 11 who are full GMs.

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