Born in
Lviv, Mariya Muzychuk was first taught chess at age two by her parents and at age three she knew all the chess pieces. At age six, Muzychuk took part in her first chess tournament. She made it to the top-16 of the
2010 Women's World Chess Championship, but lost to
Dronavalli Harika in an
armageddon playoff after a tie in the regular match. Muzychuk won the women's
Ukrainian Chess Championship in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, she won the best woman's prize at the
Gibraltar Masters tournament, where she also earned a grandmaster
norm. She won the
Women's World Chess Championship 2015. In the first round, she drew with
Yuanling Yuan in the classical games and then defeated her in the tiebreaks. In round two, she drew with
Monika Socko in the classical games and defeated her in the tiebreaks. In round three, she defeated former Women's World Chess Champion
Antoaneta Stefanova in the classical games by a score of 1½–½. In the quarter-final she defeated number one seed
Humpy Koneru in the tiebreaks (2½–1½), and then beat
Dronavalli Harika in the semi-final by tiebreaks (3½–2½). In the final she beat
Natalia Pogonina with a score of 2½–1½. As a result of her victory, she obtained the
Grandmaster title and qualified for the
2015 Chess World Cup which was held in
Baku,
Azerbaijan. In 2015, Muzychuk was awarded the
Order of Merit, 3rd Class by Ukrainian President
Petro Poroshenko. The holder and the winner of the honorary FIDE award of
Caïssa as the 2015 best female chess player
. The Chess Award of Caïssa, designed and executed by artisans of the Lobortas Classic Jewelry House, was solemnly presented on September 8, 2016 during the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku. She lost her title against
Hou Yifan in the
Women's World Chess Championship 2016 by 3–6. In 2017 she refused to play in the
Women's World Chess Championship 2017 in Iran out of protest for being obligated to wear a
hijab. ==Playing style==