Liu Shilan

Liu Shilan (Chinese: 刘适兰; born January 24, 1962)[1] is a Chinese chess player who holds the title Woman Grandmaster, which she received in 1982 from FIDE. She has been the national women's champion of China seven times (1979–81, 1983-6).

Liu Shilan
Liu Shilan, Malta 1980
Country	China
Born	(1962-01-24) January 24, 1962 Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Title	Woman Grandmaster (1982)
FIDE rating	2083 [inactive]
Peak rating	2335 (July 1987)

Liu learned to play chess at 12 years old in a chess school in Chengdu, Sichuan.[2] In 1982, Liu came third at the Women's Interzonal tournament in Tbilisi with a final score of 9 points out of 14.[3] Thanks to this result, she became the first player from Asia to qualify for the Women's World Championship Candidates' matches and to achieve the title Woman Grandmaster (WGM).[2]

At the Candidates' stage, Liu lost her quarterfinal match, held in 1983 in Velden, to Nana Ioseliani by 6-3 (+1, =4, -4).[4] Later, she competed in two further Women's Interzonal tournaments (1985 Zeleznovodsk, finishing 14th with 4½/15;[5] and 1987 Tuzla, finishing 10th with 8½/17.[6])

Liu competed for the Chinese national team at the Women's Chess Olympiad five times (1980–1988), with an overall record of 68 total games played (+25, =27, -16).[7] She had the second best performance rating and won a bronze medal for first board at the 27th Chess Olympiad in Dubai, 1986.[8]