Rowena Mary Bruce


Rowena Mary Bruce, née Dew, was an English chess player who held the title of Woman International Master. She was an eleven-time winner of the British Women's Chess Championship.

Biography

From the end of the 1930s to the end of the 1960s, she was one of England's strongest women chess players. In 1935, she won the FIDE World Girls Championship. Rowena Mary Bruce won the British Women's Chess Championship eleven times: 1937, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1967 and 1969. In 1952, in Moscow, she participated in the Women's Candidates Tournament where she took 12th place. In 1951, she was awarded the FIDE Woman International Master title.
On 21 June 1946, Bruce played a "radio chess" match against Lydmilla Rudenko. Bruce was one of two women who were part of a twelve-member British team who played in a four-day tournament. The British team played their moves in London while the Russian team played their moves in Moscow.
Rowena Mary Bruce played for England in the Women's Chess Olympiads:
From 1940 to 1991 she was married to Ronald Bruce.