Elaine Zelia Pritchard (7 January 1926 – 7 January 2012), née Saunders, was an English

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player who held the title of

Woman International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(WIM, 1957). She was a four-time winner of the

British Women's Chess Championship The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it has ...

(1939, 1946, 1956, 1965).

Biography

Pritchard learned to play chess at the age of five, and was considered a child prodigy. For two consecutive years, she won the World Girl Chess Championships (1936, 1937), and also successfully participated in

simultaneous exhibition A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...

s against

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

and

Rudolf Spielmann Rudolf Spielmann (5 May 1883 – 20 August 1942) was a Jewish-Austrian chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer. Career Spielmann was born in 1883, third child of Moritz and Cecilia Spielmann, and had a younger brother Edgar, an o ...

. For decades, she was among England's leading women chess players. Elaine Pritchard four times won the British Women's Chess Championships (1939, 1946 — after winning an additional match against

Rowena Mary Bruce Rowena Mary Bruce (15 May 1919 – 24 September 1999), née Dew, was an English chess player who held the title of Woman International Master (WIM, 1951). She was an eleven-time winner of the British Women's Chess Championship (1937, 1950, 1951, ...

, 1956, 1965). Pritchard played for England in the

Women's Chess Olympiad The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE (the International Chess Federation) since 1957 (every two years since 1972), where national women's teams compete at chess for gold, silver and bronze medals. Since 1976 the Women's Chess Olympia ...

s: * In 1957, at first board in the 1st Chess Olympiad (women) in Emmen (+6, =4, -4), * In 1972, at second board in the 5th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

(+1, =2, -4), * In 1974, at second board in the 6th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

(+4, =2, -2), * In 1976, at second board in the 7th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

(+4, =2, -2) and won the team silver medal, * In 1978, at second board in the 8th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

(+2, =3, -1). In 1957, she was awarded the FIDE

(WIM) title. She was author of two chess books and an Honorary Life Member of the English Chess Federation.

Literature

* Elaine Pritchard. ''Chess For Pleasure''. London. 1971. * Elaine Pritchard. ''Young Chess Player''. London. 1976.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Elaine 1926 births 2012 deaths English female chess players Chess Woman International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors