| Xu Yuanyuan | |
| Birth Date: | 8 March 1981[1] |
| Birth Place: | Hefei, Anhui, China |
| Woman Grandmaster (2003) | |
| Rating: | 2316 (May 2022) |
| Peakrating: | 2437 (January 2001) |
Xu Yuanyuan (;[2] born March 8, 1981)[3] is a Chinese WGM-titled chess player.
In 1995 Xu won the World U14 Girls Chess Championship held in São Lourenço, Minas Gerais, Brazil.[4] In October 1997 she won the World U16 Girls Chess Championship in Yerevan, and in 2000, also in Yerevan, she won the World Junior Girls U-20 Championship by a large margin – she began with seven consecutive wins and finished with a score of 11/13.
On July 11–21, 2003, Xu won the China Women's National Chess Championship (FIDE Zone 3.3 qualifier) held in Yongchuan District, Chongqing, with a final score of 6.5/9.[5] [6] [7] In November 2003, Xu won the Chinese Women's Individual Chess Championship in Shan Wei with a final score of 8.5/11.[8] In April–May 2004, she came joint third in the Chinese Women's Team Chess Championship in Jinan City.[9]
She used to be the No. 1 ranked girl chess player in the world on the January 2001 Top 20 Girls FIDE rating list.[10] Her highest position on the Top 50 Women FIDE rating list was 25th (also in January 2001).[11]
Xu Yuanyuan's daughter Lu Miaoyi is one of the top rated girls under 13.
Xu Yuanyuan is an official representative of Aigo. "Aigo Chess" is a chess variant created in 2004 by the president of the company.[12] The idea consisted of introducing a piece from Chinese chess called "cannon" into the chess game.[13]
Xu Yuanyuan usually opens with white with 1. d4, and replies to it as black with the Slav. With black against 1. e4 she usually plays the Caro-Kann Defence.