At the interzonal tournaments in 1979, 17 and 18 players, respectively, who had previously qualified in zone tournaments on a regional scale, competed. From each of these tournaments three players qualified for the candidates tournament. After the prequalified Alla Kuschnir had left , another starting place in the candidates' tournament became available, for which the two fourth placed fought a playoff.
The candidates tournament was played again with eight players in the knockout system. Long-time world champion Nona Gaprindashvili , who was defeated in the previous World Cup competition, was added to the seven qualifiers from the interzonal tournaments .
Quarter-finals Verőci - Iosseliani, March 1980 in Donji Milanovac
The world championship match was held from September 7 to October 30, 1981 in Borjomi and Tbilisi . The main referee was Miroslav Filip from Czechoslovakia , supported by Lembit Vahesaar ( Soviet Union ). The match ended in a draw after 16 games. According to the rules at that time, the previous title holder retained the world title with this outcome. Maia Chiburdanidze remained world champion for another three years. The 16th game, which is no longer significant for the world title, was played to allow the challenger to draw in the overall standings.
↑ All representations on this according to the magazine "Schach", issue 8/1980, there presented conclusively but in contradiction to Mark Weeks and Chessbase as well as other sources.
Gisela Fischdick
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Marta Litinskaya
Zsuzsa Verőci
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Tatiana Lematschko
Nana Iosseliani