The 1996 Women's World Chess Championship was won by Hungarian Zsuzsa Polgar, who defeated the incumbent champion Xie Jun in the title match.
[1] As part of the qualification process, an Interzonal tournament was held in Jakarta in July and August 1993, featuring the best players from each FIDE zone.
These nine players contested a double round-robin tournament in Tilburg in September 1994, from which the top two would advance to the final to determine the challenger.
The final was played in Saint Petersburg in March 1995 and dominated by Polgar who won the match 5½–1½ without losing a single game.
[3] The championship match was played in Jaén in 1996 and, like the Candidates Tournament, dominated by Polgar who won 6 games (against 2) and in the end defeated champion Xie Jun by four points.