VERA MENCHIK
First Women's World Champion Vera Menchik (from 1927 to 1944) playing chess with a Regency Set in Paris, France in July of 1929. She was killed in July, 1944, along wih her mother and sister in a V-1 bomb attack on London. She was noted for her many wins over strong men players, who as a result became unwilling members of the "Vera Menchik Club".
