Abby Connolly
If you love playing chess, you probably know about some of today’s amazing professional players.
But do you know who was named the first women’s chess champion?
It was Vera Menchik, an incredible chess player who won the first women’s world chess championship and was considered the best female chess player of her time.
Vera was born in Russia in 1906. Her father taught her how to play chess when she was nine. As a teenager, the Russian Revolution forced her, her mother, and her younger sister to live with her grandmother in England in 1921.
Vera and her family lived in Hastings, England, known for its chess tournaments. She officially joined the Hastings Chess Club in 1923. Vera began learning more about the game and improved her skills through lessons from various teachers, including the Hungarian chess master Geza Maroczy.
Vera was one of the very few women to get formal training in chess at that time, and it certainly paid off. She began improving in each of her games with the Hastings Chess Club and started playing against other longtime professionals throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
Vera began playing master-level chess events in 1928 and quickly showed her opponents she was ready to compete at the Premier level. She had members of the chess community from several countries in awe as she beat some impressive men and continued to rack up wins.
In 1927, Vera made history when she played in the first women’s world chess championship in
London and won with ten victories. She maintained her winning title for years and was eventually invited to play in men’s chess competitions, which was extremely rare during that time.
Vera remained one of the world’s most impressive chess players and did other work in the chess world. She worked administratively at the British Chess Federation and was an editor and columnist for Chess magazine.
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