
Finding Ruth Cardoso
Dear chess community of New York and New Jersey,
You are invited to contribute to a research project to write the story of the WIM Ruth Cardoso.
Ruth is the first Brazilian WIM but there is a huge gap of information about her life. We know she was born in 1926 in the countryside of Bahia, Ruth and her German Jewish mother returned to Germany and the Second World War struck Europe and they were kept prisoners and submitted to forced labour. Ruth returned to Brazil after the War and established an outstanding carrier in chess: in 1960, she became the first president of Bahia Chess Federation; in 1970, she was the first Brazilian awarded the title Woman International Master by FIDE, she was the first Brazilian who received the title of Woman International Master and seven times Women Chess Champion of Brazil. Ruth was part of the Manhattan and the Marshall Chess Club between 1970 and 1998, she was friends with Bobby Fischer and it is known that she was especially close to Pal Benko. Ruth died in Salvador, Brazil, in 2000 and did not leave any relatives.
- Did you have the opportunity to meet Ruth Cardoso?
- What does her name remind you of?
- Do you have any documents from that period? Anything can be useful: photo, game notation, newspaper clippings, letters…
Please get in contact <contato@oreiclubedexadrez.com>
Gina Leite
Ô Rei, Clube de Xadrez [Instagram]