Mar-29-04
 | | Benzol: Rowena Bruce must go down in history as the first player to lose to two World Champions in one day, namely Vera Menchik and Alyekhin at Plymouth 1938. |
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| Aug-01-04 | | Knight13: Who's Rowena? I've never heard of him. |
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Aug-01-04
 | | Zenchess: Knight13, Rowena is usually a girl's name. |
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Dec-23-04
| | Benzol: Rowena Mary Bruce (nee Dew)
Born 15th May 1919 in Plymouth
Awarded the WIM title in 1951 she won the Worlds Junior Women's title in 1935.
She won the British Women's title in 1937 as Rowena Mary Dew.
After she married she won the British Women's title in 1950 (after playoff), 1951, 1954, 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1963.
She was also joint champion in 1955, 1967 and 1969.
She also finished 1st= in 1946 but lost the playoff. |
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| Jul-15-05 | | GreaseMonkey: The Bruce playing at Plymouth 1938 was Ron Bruce. Rowena Dew became his wife later. Incidentally Ron Bruce is my - six links to Kevin Bacon - link to Alekhine. I beat Ron in a British County Championship q-final in the eighties. He equalised comfortably but I had to refuse his draw for the team. |
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| Dec-29-06 | | Karpova: <GreaseMonkey> So Rowena didn't play that game versus Alekhine? |
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| Jan-08-07 | | GreaseMonkey: That's right. My copy of MegaBase is only 2001 but they attribute the 1938 game to Rowena Bruce as well as three games from the British Championship in 1954. This was also a tournament in which Ron played. Rowena won the Ladies Championship that year which was a separate tournament. |
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| May-15-08 | | whiteshark: Player of the Day
Here is a picture of her:
http://www.chessdevon.co.uk/HTML/Pi...
The competitors at the 1947 WECU Championship, showing A.R.B. Thomas in characteristic pose playing against D. V. Hooper, with the owner of the restaurant venue looking on. L - r: H. V. Trevenen; H. Wilson-Osborne (WECU President); R. A. (Ron) Slade; <Rowena Bruce; <Ron Bruce>>; H. V. (Harry) Mallison; Chris Sullivan; C. Welch (Controller); F. E. A. (Frank) Kitto. Source: http://www.chessdevon.co.uk/HTML/Pi... |
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Aug-01-10
 | | GrahamClayton: Excellent biography and photos:
http://www.keverelchess.com/bruce-r... |
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| Feb-10-11 | | sdrumovic: In the link mentioned by GrahamClayton, a 1935 World Girl Junior Championship sponsored by FIDE and won by R.M Bruce is mentioned; and it is also reported as being the 10th edition!
I have never heard of such competitions in pre-WWII years before. Any more info? |
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| Feb-10-11 | | TheFocus: This WAS not a FIDE Junior Girls' title. It was the British Chess Federation's title (called British Girls' Open). FIDE began the Junior Girls' Title in 1982. |
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May-15-11
 | | Richard Taylor: Interesting bio and games. |
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May-15-11
 | | HeMateMe: Roberts sister? |
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| May-15-11 | | BobCrisp: <Rowena>, a rare name indeed. I can't help but think of <Rowenta>, a leading supplier of domestic appliances such as irons, toasters and kettles. |
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| May-15-12 | | LoveThatJoker: Rowena Mary Bruce Dew, today you are remembered!
LTJ |
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| May-01-14 | | patzer2: According to http://www.keverelchess.com/bruce-r..., Ron Bruce was not only Mary's spouse but also her first professional Chess coach. No doubt Ron was proud of Mary's success in winning numerous British Womens' Chess championships. |
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| May-02-14 | | US255: Dear patzer2, Ron Bruce was an amateur chess player. Please see the attached link to his biography. http://www.keverelchess.com/bruce-r...
I certainly played against his club, Plymouth, in the 1960s and remember both him and his wife. By then he was in his mid-sixties and, I guess, would have had a rating equivalent to about ELO 2000. In his younger years he must have been stronger. I note from his biography that he drew with Stuart Milner-Barry when the latter was at his peak. (Sir Stuart Milner-Barry was a quintessential English gentleman, who although an amateur, made lasting contributions to opening theory and represented England at a number of Olympiads. Famously, on the declaration of war, he and his team cut short their participation in the 1939 Olympiad and caught the first boat back to England. Three members of the team became codebreakers at Bletchley Park. Milner-Barry led the unofficial delegation of Bletchley Park codebreakers that persuaded Winston Churchill to invest heavily in the work that culminated in the Enigma codebreaking machines, work which according to some significantly shortened the duration of the 2nd World War.) But I digress. The point is that in Ron Bruce's day chess in England was very much an amateur (mind) sport. Even today, the organising body of English chess retains a structure that places a measure of control into the hands of amateur players. |
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Mar-08-15
 | | MissScarlett: <Excellent biography and photos...> On face value, yes, but as <TheFocus> points out, the Girls' title she won in 1935 was surely not a FIDE/world title. As for the notion she was born in 1915 (not the 1919, as given by, e.g., Gaige), the piece itself is inconsistent in claiming she won the 1937 British women's title as an 18 year old, and that she couldn't get married until 1940, when she was 21. |
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| May-15-19 | | BIDMONFA: Rowena Mary Bruce BRUCE, Rowena
http://www.bidmonfa.com/bruce_rowen...
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| Oct-03-20 | | login:
Remembering WIM Rowena Bruce
'.. Mrs RM Bruce was born in Plymouth in 1919, and learned chess at the age of twelve. She won the Girls’s World Championship in 1935 and the British Ladies Championship in 1937. During the war she served with the WVS in Plymouth. Apart from chess, she is interested in music and plays the cello. ..
The steely determination with which she followed her 75 year chess career and her recovery from serious illness belied her gentle nature. She was a modest, kind and gracious person who always thought the best of others. She won the British Ladies title 11 times. ..'
https://britishchessnews.com/2020/0... by John Upham, founder of British Chess News
Check out his site.
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Kibitzing
