Sabina-Francesca Foisor

Sabina-Francesca Foişor (born August 30, 1989) is a Romanian American chess player holding the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She competed in the Women's World Chess Championship in 2008 and 2017. Foisor won the US women's championship in 2017.

Sabina-Francesca Foisor
Sabina-Francesca Foisor at the 39th Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk in 2010.
Country Romania
 United States
Born (1989-08-30) August 30, 1989
Timișoara, Romania
TitleWoman Grandmaster (2007)
FIDE rating2305 (May 2018)
Peak rating2386 (January 2008)

Chess career

Foisor won three medals at the European Youth Chess Championships in various age categories: one silver (girls U16 in 2004) and two bronze (girls U14 in 2003 and girls U18 in 2007). She represented Romania in the European Girls U18 Team Chess Championship in 2004 and 2007, winning three medals: two gold (2004 individual medal, 2007 team medal) and one bronze (2007 individual medal).[1]

Foisor was awarded the titles Woman International Master (WIM) in 2005 and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 2007. She achieved the norms required for the WGM title at the Acropolis women's tournament in Athens in 2006 and European Individual Women's Chess Championship in Dresden in 2007.[2]

Her result at 2007 European Women's Championship qualified her for the Women's World Chess Championship 2008 in Nalchik, Russia. The final armageddon tiebreak game of her first round match against Monika Soćko ended in controversy. Foisor only needed a draw to advance to the next round, and reached a drawn ending with each player having only a king and a knight. Although Foisor ran out of time, the arbiter initially ruled that the game was a draw. Soćko appealed, pointing out that what matters is not whether checkmate can be forced, but rather if it is possible. Soćko won the appeal and advanced to the next round, eliminating Foisor from the event.[3][4]

In 2007, Foisor tied for first place with her mother, Cristina Adela Foisor, the Villard-de-Lans Open in France.[5] In 2008, she tied for first in the Liege Master tournament in Boncelles, Belgium.[6]

In 2008, Foisor transferred chess federations to represent the United States.[7] Since 2010, she has represented the US in the Women's Chess Olympiad and the Women's World Team Chess Championship. On April 9, 2017, Foisor won the U.S. Women's Chess Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.[8][9]

Personal life

Both her parents, International Masters Cristina Adela Foișor and Ovidiu-Doru Foisor, were multiple Romanian chess championship medalists. Her younger sister, Mihaela-Veronica, is a chess player with the title of Woman International Master. Sabina-Francesca Foisor moved to the United States in 2008 to study at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is engaged to GM Elshan Moradi – both live in Durham, NC.

References
  1. European Girls' U18 Team Chess Championship - Sabina-Francesca Foişor. OlimpBase.
  2. WGM Title Application. FIDE.
  3. "Nalchik: most favourites through, Zhukova, Sachdev falter". ChessBase. 2008-09-01.
  4. Dylan Loeb McClain. "Women’s World Championship Whittles Field to 16, but Not Without Surprises". The New York Times.
  5. 4e open de Villard de Lans. Original Tournament Report. FIDE.
  6. Liege Chess Master. Tournament report. FIDE.
  7. Player transfers in 2008. FIDE.
  8. Yermolinsky, Alex (2017-04-10). "Sabina Foisor is 2017 US Women's Champion!". Chess News. ChessBase. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
  9. McGourty, Colin (2017-04-10). "US Championship 11: Foisor triumphs, So gambles". chess24.com. Retrieved 2017-06-17.


Further reading
  • Crelin, Joy (October 2018). "Sabina-Francesca Foisor". Current Biography. 79 (10): 38-42.
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