The International Chess Academy (ICA) is extremely proud to announce the induction of our very own co-founder, Women’s Grandmaster Irina Levitina, to the World Chess Hall of Fame this October. Following an illustrious chess career, competing at the highest levels of the game, Irina worked to establish the ICA to inspire the next generation of chess players and has contributed enormously to the educational impact of the ICA on so many aspiring students.
Born in Soviet Leningrad on June 8, 1954, Irina Levitina quickly began climbing up the ranks of the highly competitive Soviet chess world in her early teenage years, propelled by natural talent and intensive training. At the young age of 17 years old, Irina had already begun defeating prominent opponents and exhibiting her promising abilities, winning the 1971 Women's Soviet Chess Championship with a score of 14/19 points. Her career continued to soar the following year as Irina earned the title of Women’s International Master (WIM) and played a critical role leading the Soviet team to victory in the 1972 Women's Chess Olympiad. With her chess skills growing increasingly adept, Irina dominated the 1973 Budapest Women’s Tournament and beat Women’s Grandmaster (WGM) Valentina Kozlovskaya in the 1974 Women’s Candidates Semifinal to secure second place in the 1975 Candidates Final. After guiding the Soviet team to another Women's Chess Olympiad victory in 1974, Irina was amongst the first chess players awarded the status of Women’s Grandmaster following the invention of the WGM title in 1976.
Having achieved the foremost women’s accolade in chess and reaching the height of her potential, the late 1970s to early 1990s saw countless outstanding performances, beginning with Irina’s consecutive triumphs in the 1978, 1979 and 1980 Soviet Women’s Championship. Upon reclaiming the champion status that she had first earned eight years prior, Irina went on to defeat a multitude of renowned players to take second place in the 1982-1984 Women’s World Championship. She proceeded to lead the Soviet team to victory in the 1984 Women’s Chess Olympiad. Irina then emigrated to the United States in 1990 in search of more promising opportunities and another chess scene to dominate, an objective she swiftly accomplished by winning the 1991, 1992 and 1993 U.S. Women’s Championships. Following an incredibly successful chess career, Irina turned to an exclusive focus on competitive bridge from the mid-1990s onward, winning five World Championship titles in women’s bridge, along with a plethora of other national and regional awards.
Seeking to share her mastery of the game that had so greatly enriched her own life, Irina co-founded the International Chess Academy to provide an ideal institution designed to foster a fun, educational environment in which children of all levels could study advanced concepts while gaining a deep appreciation for the beauty of chess. Utilizing a unique amalgam of austere, Soviet style training with an abiding love for both chess and her students, Irina is an inspiring mentor who consistently instills within her pupils a profound understanding of the complexities of chess strategy. As one of the ICA’s most experienced coaches, Irina has taught hundreds of talented students in regular, Future Master (1200+ rating) and Master (1600+ rating) programs, propelling many members of the next generation of chess to fulfill their potential and achieve top state and national rankings.
We are endlessly grateful to Irina for all of her contributions to the educational outreach of the ICA, her unrelenting devotion to each and every one of her students, and her immeasurable impact on the chess world at large.
Congratulations, Irina, on this incredible honor!
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irina_Levitina
https://icanj.net/ts.php?p=2001?IRINA%20LEVITINA
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?page=1&pid=43635
https://worldchesshof.org/hof-inductee/irina-levitina
https://icanj.net/p.php?p=1488&Irina%20Levitina%20Is%20Once%20Again%20World%20Champion
http://db.worldbridge.org/Repository/tourn/Shanghai.07/Shanghai.htm
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