Sebag Marie

Born: October 15, 1986 | Federation: France | Rating: 2450

Marie Rachel Sebag was born in Paris. She won three European Youth Chess Championships among girls – in 1998 (under 12), in 2000 (U14) and in 2002 (U16). In 2004, at the World Youth Chess Championship she shared first place (U18 girls category) with Jolanta Zawadzka, who defeated her in the tie-break.

2000 and onwards, Marie Sebag became the leader of French women's chess discipline after she won the national championship for the first time. At the 2006 Women's World Chess Championship, young Sebag sensationally outplayed her renowned opponents – Elena Zaiats, Humpy Koneru and Qin Kanying, but lost to Svetlana Matveeva in the quarterfinals.

After that, Marie defeated men in their disciplines; for example, in 2007, she decisively defeated former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov. In 2008, Marie's rating reached 2533 making her one of the five world's strongest female players. In May 2008, Sebag qualified for the title of Grandmaster.

Marie Sebag won several difficult women's tournaments, prizes and gold medals at the European Cup and was successful in women's Grand Prixes. The French woman is well-known for her fanatical passion for online blitz and she often plays on popular servers.

Marie Sebag's interests are by no means limited to chess. In 2012, she took part in the most popular French TV show: Secret Story. However, she didn't manage to overcome local pop-stars and crashed out before the final. Marie-Rachel graduated from two universities, Paris Nanterre University and Saint-Denis. She specialized in psychology.