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Wally and Käthe Henschel were twins, born in Hamburg on 09.09.1893. In the 1920s and 1930s they were among the best players in Hamburg, and in 1930 Wally even beat Vera Menchik at the Women's World Championship Tournament in Hamburg - the only game Menchik ever lost in a Women's World Championship Tournament. But after the Kristallnacht pogrom on 9 November 1938, the twins, who came from a Jewish family, decided to flee to the USA, where they went on to play in the U.S. Women's ...

The history of the U.S. Women's Chess Championships contains a wealth of information about chess in America and countless fascinating stories about champions from all walks of life. A groundbreaking work about the U.S. Women's Chess Championships and the 29 women who won the title between 1937 and 2020 has been published by McFarland. Johannes Fischer wanted to know more and interviewed Alexey Root, the author of the book.

Two-time US Women's Champion Jennifer Shahade has often championed women's chess in the past. After "Chess Bitch" she has now published another book on women's chess, "Chess Queens". Tatiana Flores has taken a look at it. | Photo: Courtesy Jennifer Shahade

Jennifer Shahade, two-time US Chess Champion, poker player and commentator is an activist for the role of women in chess and has published several books. Her most recent one is "Chess Queens". Tatiana Flores spoke with Jennifer Shahade about women in chess, her passion for writing and "Chess Queens". | Jennifer Shahade's "Chess Queens" is also availabe as audiobook. | Photo: Maria Emelianova /Chess.com

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.

Today, the German chess historian Michael Negele celebrates his 65th birthday! Negele published widely about a variety of topics but his main focus was and is the life and work of Emanuel Lasker, and he was one of the driving forces in editing an extensive three-volume biography about the German World Champion. | Photos: German Chess Federation

€19.95 A Cuban Chess Champion: María Teresa Mora Iturralde Maria was born on October 15, 1902, in Havana. Her father introduced her to chess when she was very young, and in 1913, when she was eleven years old, she played her first tournament, at the Havana Chess Club. Though it was her first tournament she already must have been reasonably strong because she won it. In 1915 she won the Intercollegiate Championship in Havana, and then continued to achieve numerous successes. C...

Before The Queens 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 Queens 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...