Aleksandria Nana

Aleksandria Nana (b. October 13, 1949, Poti) is a Georgian chess player and sports journalist. She is a Master of Sport (1966), International Master (1967), International Grandmaster (1976), Master of Sports of the USSR (1971), Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1983).

She trained in Tbilisi Youth Palace (coaches: V. Karseladze until 1966, B. Gurgenidze 1966–77, D. Janoev from 1978). She graduated from the faculty of Western European Languages and Literature at TSU (1972). She was champion of Georgia (1964, 1965, 1968) and the Soviet Union (1966, 1968, 1969). She is a holder of the European Champions Cup (1970) and a member of the victorious Soviet chess teams in 4^th, 6^th, 8^th, 9^th and 10^th Women’s Chess Olympics. Since 1967, she has participated in numerous matches and women’s tournaments seven consecutive times. She took first place in Ohrid (1971), Palma de Mallorca (1973–74) and Havana (1985) tournaments and in the Candidates Tournament in Malmö, Sweden, in 1986, finishing second. She played in the final matches of the Candidates Tournament with I. Levitina (1975; 9:8) and N. Ioseliani (1981; 6,5:2,5). She played against N. Gaprindashvili (1975; 3,5:8,5) and M. Chiburdanidze (1981; 8:8) in matches for the world champion title. She is an active and positional chess player.

She was elected chairperson of the Women's Commission of FIDE in 1986. Since 1979, she has been the director of the Olympic Reserve School (since 1991, named after V. Karseladze). She was the captain of the Georgian Women's Chess Team, leading it to victory at the Women's Chess Olympiad in Manila (Philippines, 1992) and Moscow (1994). In 2005, she won the European Champions Cup.

She has been awarded the Orders of Honor (1994, 2001) and the 3rd Degree Order of Vakhtang Gorgasali.

T. Giorgadze