Gunina won the Russian women's rapid chess championship 2014 in Saint Petersburg.

[9] In January 2015, she took part in the Tata Steel Challengers tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, where she scored 5/13.

[10] At the Women's World Chess Championship 2015 Gunina made it to the third round, where she was eliminated by Pia Cramling, after knocking out Camilla Baginskaite and Olga Girya.

[11] In February 2019, she became the first ever winner of The Cairns Cup, in Saint Louis, as she ended victoriously the tournament with 7 out of 9.

[12] In late May 2019, Valentina faced American GM Irina Krush in the quarterfinal match of the 2019 Women's Speed Chess Championship, an online blitz and bullet competition hosted by Chess.com.