She took part in the Women's World Chess Championship 2008, where she lost to Viktorija Čmilytė from Lithuania in the first round. In October 2008 Valentina Golubenko won the gold medal at the World Youth Chess Championship in the under 18 girls category by scoring 9 points out of 11, one point ahead of the runner-up. In 2014, she won the Croatian women's championship.