Great Players: Vera Menchik


One of the things that will immediately strike you, if you go to any large chess tournament in the UK (and probably most other countries), is that there is a sizeable gender imbalance; even tournaments that consciously make an effort to invite women players tend to have many more men than women.

There have, nevertheless, been many women chess players who were at least competitive in top-level play, and the subject of today's post is one of them. Vera Menchik (1906-1944) was not only the first women's world champion (a title which she first won in 1927, successfully defended six times, and was still the holder of till her death), but she was also a regular competitor in tournaments against the top male players of her day, albeit usually finishing near the bottom.

How strong a player was she overall? The good people of ChessMetrics suggest that she peaked at a world ranking of 52 in May 1929, 270 rating points behind then world champion Alekhine. (By way of comparison, there are three active women currently within 270 rating points of Carlsen - Hou Yifan, Aleksandra Goryakachina and Humpy Koneru.) These days, that would be a route to a successful career in big open Swisses, but they didn't really take off until thirty years after her death.

In terms of style, Menchik was very much a classical player who liked to attack with both colours, and the games I've collected here mostly show that off, but she could also hold her own in more positional games. (Indeed, both her wins against future world champion Max Euwe were long endgame grinds.)







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