Lyudmila Vladimirovna Rudenko- "Woman Extraordinaire"
TODAY IN CHESS HISTORY: The World Chess organization FIDE back in the winter days of postwar 1949-50 held a 16-player tournament in Moscow to determine the next Women's world champion, five years after the tragic death of Vera Menchik the first women's champion who died in 1944 during an air raid.
Lyudmila Rudenko who has the distinction of being the first woman to be awarded the International Master bucked the age odds and still scored nine wins, 5 draws and a single loss performance nearing the age of forty years and became the second Women's World Champion on January 18, 1950.
One fascinating story about the life of Rudenko away from chess was her extreme courage she displayed during World War II, when she helped organize a train to evacuate children from the Siege of Leningrad. She described this as the most important accomplishment in her life. Lyudmila Rudenko died on March 4, 1986 in Leningrad aged 81.
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