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Concept
Vera Menchik
Summary
Vera Francevna Mencikova (Вера Францевна Менчик, Vera Frantsevna Menchik; Věra Menčíková; 16 February 1906 – 26 June 1944), was a Russian-born Czechoslovak chess player who primarily resided in England. She was the first and longest-reigning Women's World Chess Champion from 1927 to 1944, winning the championship eight times primarily in round-robin tournaments. In an era when women primarily competed against other women, Menchik was the first and only woman competing in master-level tournaments with the world's best players, and with some success.
Menchik was born in Moscow to a Czech father and English mother. She played her first chess tournament in school at age 14 after having to switch to an integrated school during the Russian Revolution. Because of the revolution, her family left Russia and Menchik moved to Hastings, England in 1921. She joined the Hastings Chess Club in 1923, where she began training with James Drewitt and Géza Maróczy. Menchik established herself as the best female player in the country in 1925 by defeating the British women's champion Edith Charlotte Price in two matches, and then the world by winning the inaugural Women's World Chess Championship in 1927.
Menchik began competing in master-level tournaments in 1928. Following her first big success at Ramsgate in 1929 when she shared second place with Akiba Rubinstein, she was regularly invited to these elite events for the next decade, including the local Hastings Congress. Her best result in the Hastings Premier tournament was in 1931/32 when she defeated future world champion Max Euwe and Mir Sultan Khan. Late in her career, Menchik won a lone Women's World Championship match against Sonja Graf, the next-leading female player of her era. One of her last big achievements was winning a match against Jacques Mieses. Menchik was active up until her death in 1944, when she was killed in a German air raid that destroyed her home during the Second World War.
Menchik was the dominant female chess player before the war, winning at least 59 games in a row at the Women's World Championship tournaments.
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