Topel was born on April 13, 1987 in Shumen, Bulgaria to Turkish parents. Her father Cengiz Topel is a chess trainer and her mother Vildan is a nurse She began with chess playing at the age eight when her mother presented Zehra"s cousin a chess board, and her father instructed her.
She moved with her father in 1997 to Istanbul, Turkey while the mother stayed in the time being in Bulgaria with Zehra"s older sister Hatice.
Since 2007, she holds the FIDE title of Woman International Master (WIM). Zehra applied for Turkish citizenship, but had to wait for four years to get naturalized. In 2000, Zehra Topel was granted Turkish citizenship.
However, during the time span of the first four years in Turkey, she was not permitted to represent Turkey.
She spent the time before naturalization by training at home because she was not allowed to play in official national tournaments but only in unofficial ones. In 2007, she was awarded the Woman International Master (WIM) title.
She plays also simultaneous chess. Zehra Topel attended Vissh Pedagogicheski Institut v Shumen in Bulgaria studying Anglistics.
She later was educated at the Istanbul Kültür University on a chess scholarship.
