Lyudmila Rudenko

Lyudmila Vladimirovna Rudenko (Russian: Людми́ла Влади́мировна Руде́нко, Ukrainian: Людмила Володимирівна Руденко; 27 July 1904 – 4 March 1986) was a Soviet chess player and the second women's world chess champion, from 1950 until 1953.

Rudenko was awarded the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and Woman International Master (WIM) in 1950, and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 1976. She was the first woman awarded the International Master title. She was also USSR women's champion in 1952.

Early life and swimming career

Rudenko was born in 1904 in Lubny, in the Poltava region of what is now Ukraine. At age 10, she was taught how to play chess by her father—although, at first, she was more interested in swimming. After secondary school, she moved to Odessa and took a degree in economics. Rudenko became the swimming champion of Odessa in the 400-metre (1,300 ft) breaststroke. In 1925, she was swimming vice-champion of Ukraine (breaststroke). She started a career as an economic planner for the Soviet Union, and chess became a hobby.

Chess career

Rudenko began playing tournament chess in 1925 after a move to Moscow. In 1928, she won the Moscow women's championship. She then moved to Leningrad, where she met and married scientist Lev Davidovich Goldstein; in 1931 they had a son. In Leningrad in 1929 she began training with chess master Peter Romanovsky. She won the Leningrad women's championship three times.

In World War II, Rudenko organized a train to evacuate children from the Siege of Leningrad. She described this as the most important accomplishment in her life.