Vera Menchik
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Vera Menchik (Czech: Věra Menčíková, February 16, 1906, Moscow – June 26, 1944, Kent, England) was a British-Czech female chess player and the first Women's World Champion in chess.
She was born in Moscow; her father was Czech and her mother British. Her father taught her chess when she was nine. The family moved to England in 1921, and Vera won the British girls' championship that year. The following year, she became a pupil of Géza Maróczy, one of the best players in the world in the early 1900s.
She won the first Women's World Championship in 1927 and successfully defended her title 6 times in every other championship in her lifetime, and only lost one game, while winning 78 and drawing 4 games.
- In 1927, she represented Russia in 1st WWCh in London (+10 –0 =1).
- In 1930, she represented Czechoslovakia in 2nd WWCh in Hamburg (+6 –1 =1).
- In 1931, she represented Czechoslovakia at 3rd WWCh in Prague (+8 –0 =0).
- In 1933, she represented Czechoslovakia in 4th WWCh in Folkestone (+14 –0 =0).
- In 1935, she represented Czechoslovakia in 5th WWCh in Warsaw (+9 –0 =0).
- In 1937, she represented Czechoslovakia in 6th WWCh in Stockholm (+14 –0 =0).
- In 1939, she represented England in 7th WWCh in Buenos Aires (+17 –0 =2).
Vera Menchik won two matches against Sonja Graf for the Women’s World Champion title; (+3 –1 =0) at Rotterdam 1934, and (+9 –2 =5) at Semmering 1937.
In 1937, she married Rufus Stevenson, editor of the British Chess Magazine and later secretary of the British Chess Federation.
Male chess players whom Menchik defeated in tournament play were said to belong to the Menchik club. This included Albert Becker, Max Euwe, Samuel Reshevsky, Mir Sultan Khan, Frederic Lazard, George Alan Thomas, Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander, Edgar Colle, Frederick Yates, William Winter, Lajos Steiner, Frederich Sämisch, Philip Stuart Milner-Barry, Harry Golombek, Karel Opočensky, and Jacques Mieses.
She participated in several Hastings Congress tournaments, and once tied for first place in the Christmas tournament.
Vera Menchik was older sister to Olga Menchik, also a chess player. While Vera was still reigning world champion, she, Olga, and their mother were all killed in a bombing raid on Kent, England in World War II.
The trophy for the winning team in the Women's Chess Olympiad is known as the Vera Menchik Cup.
[edit] Notable chess games
- Frederic Lazard vs Vera Menchik, Paris 1929, Bird Opening: From Gambit (A02), 0-1 A nice combination in an open position leaves Lazard without a Bishop
- Mir Sultan Khan vs Vera Menchik, Hastings 1931, Queen's Gambit Declined (D35), 0-1 A sharp game with attacks on both sides of the board. At the end, Menchik is able to queen her advanced Pawn.
- Vera Menchik vs George Alan Thomas, Poděbrady 1936, Queen's Gambit Declined Slav (D11), 1-0 The chess queen queens another passed pawn in a Rook ending.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by none, first champion |
Women's World Chess Champion 1927–1944 |
Succeeded by vacant, then Lyudmila Rudenko (no champion from 1944–1950) |
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