Lyudmila Rudenko (Second Women's World Chess Champion) Bio

Lyudmila Rudenko

Second Women’s World Chess Champion

Lyudmila Rudenko was the second Women's World Chess Champion from 1950 until 1953. Rudenko was born on July 27, 1904 in Lubny in the Poltava region of Ukraine, in the Russian Empire and died March 4, 1986. She was awarded the FIDEInternational Master and Woman International Master titles in 1950 and the Woman Grandmaster title in 1976. Rudenko was the first woman awarded the International Master title.

While living in Leningrad Lyudmila Rudenko studied with P. Romanovsky and A. Tolush. She became an accomplished player with a tactical, combinatorial style of play. Rudenko became the champion of Leningrad seen times, with good results appeared in seventeen USSR championships.

After grammar school, she moved to Odessa and took a degree in economics. Rudenko became the Odessa swimming champion in the 400m-breast stroke. In 1925, Lyudmila Rudenko was the holder of the title of Vice-Swimming Champion of Ukraine (breaststroke). Her professional career would be as an economic planner for the Soviet Union, and chess would remain a hobby.