Stewart Reuben has officiated and/or organised several top-level chess events held in Great Britain and other countries, including the World Chess Championship, the British Chess Championship and a number of Hastings Congresses. Also an author and a poker player, he even met and played Bobby Fischer: “Each game he won, he gained $1. Had I ever won one, I would have received $10”. | Photo: John Upham
As the only woman in a tournament, she was often greeted with skepticism. She once responded by saying that she looked forward “to drinking some men’s blood.”
Today is International Women's Day, also in chess. The first strong female chess champion was Vera Menchik. José Raul Capablanca, who died 80 years ago today, on 8 March 1942, was one of many strong players who respected her. Vera Menchik died 26 June 1944 during a German V-1 flying bomb attack on London during World War II. Now it's war again. "Love is more important than victory", says musician Jason Kouchak and is currently writing a musical about Vera Menchik.
Die erste Schachweltmeisterin: Meisterin im stillen Spiel taz.de - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from taz.de Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Before The Queen s Gambit There Was Vera Menchik Netflix
By Jeff Somers/Dec. 29, 2020 2:50 pm EDT/Updated: Jan. 5, 2021 4:46 pm EDT
The Queen s Gambit has been a breakout success for Netflix, reintroducing the world to Walter Tevis terrific novel and inspiring a surge of interest in the game of chess. The story of Beth Harmon orphan, alcoholic, and chess genius the series combines a fine sense of 1960s style with an accurate portrayal of just how dramatic the chess world can be. And while the story only skims the challenges faced by female players in the male-dominated sphere of world-class chess, it s easy to see Harmon as a feminist icon who smashes through glass ceilings as easily as she smashes through her endgames.