Nazí Paikidze

Early life

Paikidze was born in Irkutsk, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Her father was a mechanical engineer, and her mother a biochemist. Her father taught her to play chess when she was four years old. That same year, her parents moved to Tbilisi, the capital and the largest city of Georgia, where she grew up with dual citizenship – Georgian and Russian.

In Tbilisi, Paikidze attended elementary school, where chess was part of the curriculum, and she relates that chess became her favorite class. Her chess teacher recognized her talent and suggested to her parents that they might consider chess as a profession for their daughter. Paikidze has said:

Every family in Georgia owns a chess set and knows how to play. Everyone in the country knows the names and faces of the top Georgian chess players.

In 1999, at the age of 6, Paikidze began working with her first professional chess coach and improved quickly. Just over three years later, in 2003, at the age of 9, Paikidze won her first international tournament: the European Youth Chess Championship, in a category for girls under ten years old. After that tournament she earned the title of FIDE master. Her family then moved to Moscow in 2006.

Paikidze's brother was a football player.

In 2008, at the age of 14, Paikidze began being coached by Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Belov and others. She became a Woman Grandmaster in 2010, then an International Master.

Chess career

Paikidze won twelve medals at European Youth Chess Championship, World Youth Chess Championship, and World Junior Chess Championship, including six gold medals, in various age categories. She won the European Youth Chess Championship four times: in Budva 2003 (Under-10 girls' category), Herceg Novi 2005 (U-12 girls), Šibenik 2007 (U-14 girls), and Herceg Novi 2008 (U-16 girls). She won medals in the World Youth Chess Championship in Kallithea 2003 (bronze U-10 girls), Belfort 2005 (silver U-12 girls), Batumi 2006 (bronze U-14 girls), Kemer 2007 (gold U-14 girls), Vũng Tàu 2008 (gold U-16 girls), and Antalya 2009 (bronze U-16 girls). She also won two bronze medals at the U-20 World Junior Girls Chess Championship, in Gaziantep 2008 and Madras 2011.

In 2009, at the age of 16, Paikidze attained a peak rating of 2455 and was rated 35th in world of the top FIDE-rated women.

In 2010, Paikidze jointly won the women's open event of the Moscow Open, won the Moscow Women's Championship and the Russian Women's Championship qualifier ("Higher League"), and finished fourth in the Russian Women's Championship Superfinal. In the same year, she was awarded the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM), for her results in the 2008 Aeroflot Open, 2009 Georgian Women's Championship, where she came equal second, and the 2010 Moscow Open.

In 2011, Paikidze represented Georgia in the 9th European Women's Team Chess Championship in Porto Carras 2011, winning the team bronze medal. In 2012, Paikidze was awarded the title of International Master (IM).

In 2013, Paikidze competed in a small number of international chess events in the United States after moving to Baltimore, Maryland, United States. She then changed her FIDE federation to that of the United States of America.

In 2015, Paikidze made her debut in the U.S. Women's Chess Championship, finishing second with a score of 7½/11 points. Later that year, she won the Boardwalk Open in Galloway, New Jersey, edging out on tiebreak Sergey Kudrin and Igor Sorkin, after all finished on 4/5.

On April 25, 2016, Paikidze won the U.S. Women's Championship in her second appearance with 8½ points in 11 games.

In May 2016, Nazi Paikidze starting teaching lessons in ChessUniversity.com's Prodigy Program chess course.

In October 2016 Paikidze announced that she intends to boycott the Women's World Chess Championship 2017 in Tehran, Iran due to its hijab dress code:

I will not wear a hijab and support women’s oppression. Even if it means missing one of the most important competitions of my career.

She received support for her stance from the United States Chess Federation, as well as prominent players Nigel Short and Garry Kasparov. Her online petition asking for the championship to be moved or the hijab laws to be relaxed has received over 15,000 signatures. It has been pointed out in this context that the U.S. Department of State has issued a warning that there is a "risk of arrest and detention of U.S. citizens," and also states that travelers “should very carefully weigh the risks of travel and consider postponing their travel."

Personal life

Paikidze currently is a full-time chess professional. She married American engineer Greg Barnes and resides in the area of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Paikidze's Georgian first name, Nazí (ნაზი) translates as "gentle". She has explained that the correct pronunciation is "nah-ZEE". She was named after her grandmother. Paikidze studied at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), which has a chess program that has won a record number of times both the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship and the President’s Cup. She joined the UMBC team in the fall of 2012.