Vera Nebolsina

Vera Nebolsina (; born 16 December 1989 in Seversk) is a Russian professional chess player. She earned the title Woman Grandmaster (WGM) at age 17 in 2007. Her father coached her to further develop her chess skills and by age six, she was playing in formal tournaments, oftentimes in categories above her age group.

Chess career At age seven, Nebolsina won the Russian Girls Under 8 Championship. She won the World Youth Championship for girls under 10 in Oropesa del Mar at eight years old. In 2007, when she was just seventeen, she won the World Junior Championship for Girls (under 20) at Yerevan, which qualified her for the title of Woman Grandmaster. Nebolsina describes herself as a who can also be a tactician.

Playing style

Although the following game is not without errors, Nebolsina's play shows the importance of piece over pawn moves, of which there are few. Despite spirited defence from her opponent, Nebolsina finds a pleasing queen sacrifice to conclude matters. The sample game below ably demonstrates her alertness to tactical possibilities.

Personal life Nebolsina is a moral vegetarian. In 2011, she was attending Novosibirsk State Technical University as an International Relations/Oriental Studies student and spent two years studying in China at Qingdao University. She also attended Moscow State University, where she studied English and Chinese. She knows Chinese and French and is fluent in Russian and English.