Liu learned to play chess at 12 years old in a chess school in
Chengdu,
Sichuan. In 1982, Liu came third at the Women's
Interzonal tournament in
Tbilisi with a final score of 9 points out of 14. 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). Later, she competed in two further Women's Interzonal tournaments (1985
Zeleznovodsk, finishing 14th with 4½/15; and 1987
Tuzla, finishing 10th with 8½/17.) 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). She had the second best
performance rating and won a bronze medal for first board at the
27th Chess Olympiad in
Dubai, 1986. ==See also==