Almira Skripchenko -Top French Chess Player

Almira Skripchenko  (born 17 February 1976) is a French chess player who has achieved the FIDE Woman Grandmaster title. She won the second European Open Women's Chess Championship  in 2001.

She was born in Chişinău,  Moldova. The daughter of a Russian father and an Armenian mother, both pedagogues and chess  coaches, Skripchenko started playing chess when she was 6 years old.

In 1991, Moldova became independent from the Soviet  Union. This meant that Skripchenko could take part for the first time in the World  Youth Chess Championships. She was soon crowned champion at Under -16 level (1992, Duisburg, Germany) and in 1993,took  the bronze at Under-18. She married French  Grandmaster Joel Lautier in 1997 and consequently  moved to live in France. Despite separating from Lautier in 2003, she became a French citizen in 2001 and continued to make France her home. Skripchenko then married  French Grandmaster Laurent Fressinet and in January 2007, gave birth to a daughter.

In 2001, at 25 years old, she celebrated her biggest success ever, winning the individual  ladies Europea championship. She was at this time chosen "best sportsperson in 2001 in Moldova" and decorated with the Order of National Merit in her native country. 

Living in Paris and representing France in tournaments since 2002, Skripchenko has become a noted ambassador for the game in Europe. She was the first woman to have competed in the Men's French Individual Championship (2002, 2003). In 2004, 2005 and 2006, she also won the Ladies' French Chess Championship. In team play, she won the French Nationale Chess League with celebrated club side NAO Chess Club (2003, 2004) and the German Chess Bundesliga with Werder Bremen (2005). Her career victories also include three Nationale ladies titles which she earned with Baden-Oos in 2003, 2004, and  2005.

Here's winning position from her game against Eva Repkova in the 2008 European Championships. Almira played Black.