The Menchik Memorial Challengers Tournament 2024 is a 10-player round-robin, held from the 30th of August to the 3rd of September in London, United Kingdom. It is valid for WGM norms and includes Julia Antolak, Elmira Mirzoeva, Aleksandra Lach, Andreea Novratescu, Machteld Van Forest, Kamila Hryshchenko, Ruqayyah Rida, Zoe Varney, Anusha Subramanyan. The WGM tournament and the top 12 games of the blitz tournaments, that will take place August 31 – September 3, will be broadcasted here on Chessdom with some of the most promising talents in Europe including four of England’s top norm seekers.
More: Participants at the Chess Olympiad 2024 women section / Live blog from the Chess Olympiad 2024
Vera Menchik (1906-44) was the first Women’s World Chess Champion, as well as the longest reigning champion, gaining the title at aged 21 and defending it multiple times until her untimely death. Although born in Russia to a Czech father and English mother, Vera lived in England from the age of 15 and became the strongest female player of the era whilst living in Hastings and London. The last major tournament to recognise Vera’s achievements was a 22-player norm tournament which took place in Maidstone in 1994 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her death. Harriet Hunt will be the only player to have participated in both events, having scored a WIM norm in the original 1994 tournament. With the cooperation of the Czech Chess Federation and the Czech Embassy, the ECF’s Director of Women’s Chess Agnieszka Milewska and Director of International Chess Malcolm Pein are staging a high-level ladies norm tournament that will end on the 78th anniversary of Menchik’s death, caused by a German V1 rocket which landed near her home in Clapham. English Chess Federation will aim to create a memorial to Vera in Streatham cemetery, near to where she was cremated, to ensure a lasting memorial to the first Women’s World Chess Champion.
