Ketevan Arakhamia

Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
Arakhamia-Grant in 2008
Country	USSR Georgia Scotland
Born	(1968-07-19) 19 July 1968 (age 48) Ochamchire, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Title	Grandmaster
Peak rating	2506 (July 2009)

Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (née Arakhamia; born in Ochamchire) is a Georgian (former Soviet Union)-born Scottish Grandmaster of chess.

In 1985, when she won the World Junior Chess Championship for Girls, held in Dobrna (and taking silver in Adelaide three years later). Very soon thereafter, she fulfilled the criteria for the Woman International Master title and this was awarded in 1986. Encouraged by these early successes, she quickly developed aspirations to become a Women's World Championship contender and in the course of the qualification cycles of the late eighties and early nineties, proved that she had the ability to compete at the top level. Second place behind Nana Ioseliani in her first Interzonal at Tuzla 1987 was an inspirational start, but she won the 1993 event in Jakarta and the 1995 event in Kishinev. Her performances in the respective Candidates Tournaments ruled out an opportunity to play for the world title.

She won the Women's Soviet Chess Championship in 1990.

Aside from world championship competitions, in 1990 she took first place at both the Biel Women's Open and Geneva (IM), then followed up by winning the Doeberl Cup in Canberra, Australia in 1991; the first woman to do so. Her participation at the Hastings Premier in 1993/94, where she finished ahead of six male grandmasters and defeated three of them on her way to a share of third place. In respect of women competitors at Hastings, the result was second only to that of Judit Polgár.