We remember WIM Rowena Bruce who died this day (September 24th) in 1999.

Rowena Mary Dew was born on Thursday, May 15th, 1919 in Plymouth, Devon. Her father was Clement Warner Harvey Dew and her mother was Mary Jane Rowe.

She married Ronald Mackay Bruce in July 1940 when she was 21 years old.

Her father Clement Warner Harvey passed away on 7 October 1957 in Plymouth, Devon, at the age of 79. Her mother Mary Jane passed away on 3 August 1958 in Cornwall at the age of 73. Her husband Ronald Mackay passed away in April 1991 in Plymouth, Devon, at the age of 87. They had been married 50 years.

From The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by Klein and Winter :

“Mrs RM Bruce was born in Plymouth in 1919, and learned chess at the age of twelve. She won the Girls’s World Championship in 1935 and the British Ladies Championship in 1937. During the war she served with the WVS in Plymouth. Apart from chess, she is interested in music and plays the cello.

She is married to RM Bruce, who is a well-known Plymouth player.”

In 1984 both Rowena and Ron received the BCF President’s Award for Services to Chess.

From British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983) by Botterill, Levy, Rice and Richardson :

“I was taught by my Mother Mrs. May Dew, when recovering from a mastoid operation in 1930, and I joined Plymouth Chess Club on 5th November 1931, aged 12.5.

I started receiving chess tuition from the Plymouth Match Captain, Ronald Bruce in 1934. (Married him in 1940!).

I won the Girls’ World Championship in 1935. I won the British Ladies’ Championship for the first time in 1937, and again in 1950, 1951, 1954, 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1963. I tied for first place in 1955, 1967 and 1969.

I represented Great Britain in the West European Zonal tournament held in Venice 1951, where I finished 2nd. This qualified me to represent Great Britain in the Candidates tournament held in Moscow in 1952. I finished 12th out of 16.

In 1952 we adopted a little girl – Rona Mary.

Other tournaments abroad included zonals in Italy, Yugoslavia and Germany, and Olympiads in Germany, Poland and Bulgaria.

This last-named ended in disaster because I collapsed with a stroke during my second game. Obviously my chess playing was affected, but I was indeed fortunate to make a fairly good recovery.

I returned to competitive chess playing a year later but, in the meantime, several young players have surged forwards, and that British Ladies’ Championship seems to have become much more difficult to win !

But I now have three grandchildren!

[pgn]
[Event “Womens’ Candidates Tournament, Moscow”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1952.10.02”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Rubtsova, Olga”]
[Black “Bruce, Rowena Mary”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “E73”]
[Annotator “Rowena M Bruce”]
[PlyCount “82”]
[SourceTitle “British Chess, page 48.”]

{First published in The Ladies Chess Review, April, 1978. Secondly published
in British Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983. It is a sobering thought to
realise that some of our readers were not even born 28 years ago! This game
was played in round two and, for a a very brief, I was in the lead, with a win
in the first round over Reischer of Austria. Sadly, I lost my next five
games, which proved too big a handicap. I eventually finished with 5 points
out of a possible 15, in 12th place. Rubtsova finished with 8 points, in equal
8th place. She became Women World Champion in 1956. I did not meet her again
for another 20 years. In november, 1972 the East European Zonal tournament was
staged in Pernik, Bulgaria. Olga Robtsova was one of the controllers; I was
representing England but collapsed with a stroke during the second round. One
of my constant visitors in the hospital was Olga Rubtsova…. I wonder if she
has ever remembered this game!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2
Nbd7 6. h4 {Not a common choice !} (6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O e5 8. Be3 c6 9. d5 c5 10.
Ne1 Ne8) 6… c5 7. d5 Ne5 8. h5 h6 9. hxg6 fxg6 10. Qc2 g5 {Forced. If I do
not do something about it, White will play f4, followed by e5 with a good game.
} 11. f4 $6 (11. Nf3) 11… gxf4 12. Bxf4 a6 13. O-O-O Nfg4 14. Rf1 Qa5 15. Nf3
Bd7 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Bh5+ Kd8 18. Be2 $15 {[#] It seems a pity to waste time
retreating this bishop. Possibly it should not have gone to h5 in the first
place. This is the crucial part of the game and suddenly White’s pieces just
do not fit or work together.} b5 19. Nb1 (19. Kb1) 19… bxc4 (19… Qxa2) 20.
Bxc4 $6 (20. Na3) 20… Nxc4 21. Qxc4 Bb5 (21… Rb8) 22. Qb3 (22. Bd2) 22…
Bxf1 23. Rxf1 Qb5 {Simple chess !} 24. Rf3 Rb8 25. Na3 $2 (25. Qxb5 axb5 26.
Ra3 Bf6 $19) 25… Qxb3 26. axb3 Kd7 27. Nc4 Rhf8 28. Kc2 Rb4 29. Bd2 Rxf3 30.
gxf3 Rb8 31. Ne3 h5 32. Be1 Bf6 33. Nf5 Rg8 34. Bg3 Rg5 35. f4 Rg4 $19 {[#]}
36. e5 {White’s position is lost anyway, but this move just hastens the end.
Possibly whe was in time trouble. – 28 years is a long time to think back.}
dxe5 37. fxe5 Bxe5 38. Bxe5 Rg5 39. Kd3 Rxf5 40. Ke4 Rxe5+ 41. Kxe5 h4 {
and White resigned.} 0-1[/pgn]

BCN is grateful to WCM Dinah Norman for sending us these memories :

“Rowena Mary Bruce (need Dew) was born on 15 May 1919 and died in Plymouth in 1999. Rowena was the youngest of 3 children born to Harvey and Mary Dew. Mary Dew was a member of the Plymouth Chess Club and tried unsuccessfully to get her 2 sons interested in the game but Rowena was the only child who was interested.

When Rowena was 10 her mother organised private lessons for her with the Plymouth Champion, Ron Bruce. At the age of 21 Rowena married Ron Bruce and it was a very successful and happy marriage. They had an adopted daughter Rona who had no interest in Chess. Rowena had to wait until she was 21 before she could marry Ron. Rowena lived in Plymouth all her life.

Rowena and Ron married in July 1940. Ron and Rowena cemented a formidable playing and organising partnership which benefited chess in Devon for almost half a century.

After the War Rowena was one of the leading quartet of British Lady players which included Elaine Pritchard (née Saunders), Anne Sunnucks and Eileen Tranmer. In 1951 Rowena played in the Ladies Zonal in Venice and qualified for the Candidates in Moscow to be played the following year.

AT the age of 53 she qualified for the East European Zonal in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1972. Sadly in Round 2 of that event she collapsed at the board with a major cerebral haemorrhage which left her right side paralysed. By sheer force of will after many months of convalescence she taught herself to speak and walk again. She had to give up playing her cello which was awful for her.

The steely determination with which she followed her 75 year chess career and her recovery from serious illness belied her gentle nature. She was a modest, kind and gracious person who always thought the best of others.

She won the British Ladies title 11 times.

I shared the title with her in 1967 and 1969 after 2 play offs. She was a very pleasant and sporting opponent.”

From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :

“International Woman Chess Master and winner of the British Ladies Championship on 10 occasions.

She was taught to pay chess by her mother, who was the Devon Lady Champion, after a mastoid operation when she was 10. In 1931 she joined Plymouth Chess Club, where she met R. M. Bruce, the Devonshire Chess Captain, who coached her and was largely responsible for later success. She married him in 1940.

In 1935 she won the Girls’ World Championship and two years later the British Ladies’ Championship for the first time. She has won the title outright or been joint holder on 10 occasions in 1937, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1967.

Mrs Bruce has represented Great Britain in matches against the USSR and the Netherlands and the British Chess Federation in qualifying tournaments for the Women’s World Championship. In Venice in 1951 she came 2nd in the Western European Qualifying Tournament for the Women’s World Championship and thereby qualified for the Candidates tournament in 1952, when she came 12th out of 16.

Apart from chess, her hobbies are music, gardening and bridge.

She is principal ‘cellist in the Plymouth Orchestral Society.”

[pgn]
[Event “Individual Match, Paignton”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1954.09.13”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Heemskerk, Fenny”]
[Black “Bruce, Rowena Mary”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “E68”]
[Annotator “Julius Du Mont and Rowena Mary Bruce”]
[PlyCount “64”]
[EventDate “1954.09.13”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[SourceTitle “British Chess, page 49.”]

{[%evp 0,19,19,-17,-7,-5,3,-5,14,12,25,17,14,-15,6,-18,14,21,21,12,21,23]} {
First published in The Field. Secondly published in BCM, 1954, October, page
361. Game #11,640 Secondly published in British Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983.}
1. g3 {This is quite playable, especially for White, who can, at will, revert
to various types of openings. Here we can transpose into a King’s Indian
Defence, in which White has the option, for what it is worth, of developing
the KKt at e2.} Nf6 2. Bg2 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. d4 d6 6. e4 e5 7. Nge2 (
7. Nf3 Bg4 {would set some problems for White.}) 7… Nbd7 8. O-O exd4 9. Nxd4
Re8 {We now have a position which is to be found in the normal modern version
of the King’s Indian Defence.} 10. f3 {This natural move turns out badly and
White’s king’s position ultimately proves weak on the opened black diagonal.} (
10. h3 Nc5 11. Re1 a5 12. Qc2 c6 13. Be3 a4 14. Rad1 Qa5 15. Bf4 Bf8 16. Nf3)
10… c6 11. Be3 Qa5 $146 (11… a5) 12. Nb3 Qh5 (12… Qa6) 13. Qxd6 $6 {
[#] An unwise capture by which white leaves the conduct of affairs to her
opponent. The White Queen now becomes a target and White will have to
concentrate on her defence, instead of being free to formulate a plan.} Ne5 $1
14. g4 Bxg4 $1 {A fine sacrifice. After the next move, White’s King’s Bishop
is attacked and there is threat of mate. Meanwhile the Queen is shut out of
the game.} 15. fxg4 Nfxg4 16. Bf4 Rad8 $19 17. Qa3 Nxc4 ({Much better is} 17…
g5) 18. Qxa7 {White has nothing better than to seek compensation in pawn
captures.} Nd2 {Again, very well played} (18… Rd3) 19. h3 $6 ({for if} 19.
Nxd2 Bd4+ {wins the queen.} 20. Qxd4 Rxd4 21. h3) ({Better was} 19. Qxb7 Be5
20. Bxe5 Nxf1 21. Rxf1 Nxe5 22. Qa7 $14) 19… Nxb3 20. hxg4 Qxg4 21. Be3 {
White was still threatened with the loss of the queen.} Nxa1 22. Rxa1 Rd7 $19 {
[#] Counting heads, Black now has rook and two pawns for two pieces and the
white king is still in an unenviable position.} 23. Na4 $2 ({Better was} 23.
Rf1) 23… Red8 24. Rf1 b5 25. Qc5 bxa4 26. Qxc6 h5 27. Qxa4 h4 28. Kh1 Rd1 29.
Bg1 ({If} 29. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 30. Bg1 Bd4 {etc}) 29… Rxf1 30. Bxf1 h3 31. Qc2 Qf3+
32. Kh2 Be5# {A neat finish. Mrs. Bruce won the match of six lively and
interesting games by 4-2.} 0-1[/pgn]

An obituary (presumably written by John Saunders) appeared in the British Chess Magazine, Volume CXIX (119, 1999), Number 11 (November), page 584 :

“Rowena Bruce died peacefully at home on 23 September following a long illness. Rowena Mary Dew was born in Plymouth on 15 May 1919, and she was taught the game at the age of 10, while she was convalescing from surgery, by here mother Mary Dew, herself a very able player who had been Devon Ladies’ Champion.

Rowena joined the Plymouth Chess Club, where she met her future husband, Ron Bruce, himself a strong player. She won the World Girls’ Championship in 1935 and the British Women’s title two years later. Rowena married Ron in 1940 and won the British title under her married name ten more times (seven outright and three jointly) between 1950 and 1969.

She represented Great Britain in matches against the USSR and the Netherlands. She qualified for the Women’s World Championship by coming 2nd in the Western European Zonal in Venice, and in the subsequent Candidates tournament in Moscow in 1952 she came 12th out of 16. She was awarded the women’s international master title in 1951.

The contribution to chess that Rowena and Ron Bruce made to national, west country and Devon chess was well recognised at the highest level, and when the British Chess Federation instituted a new award in 1983, the President’s Award for Services to Chess, they won it jointly in only its second year. Ron died in 1991.

Rowena was a past president of the Devon County Chess Association and the West of England Chess Union and continued playing for Devon until about four years ago when her increasing frailty made it impossible for her to travel to away matches.

Her other accomplishments included music : she was a principal cellist in the Plymouth Orchestral Society. She also partnered husband Ron in strictly non-competitive bridge for many years. She leaves a daughter Rona and three grand-children.”

From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsfords, 1977) by Harry Golombek :

“International Woman master and eleven times British Ladies champion or co-champion.

At the age of fifteen in 1935, Miss Dew won the girls World championship and two years later, still under he maiden name, se won the British Ladies championship at Blackpool. Thereafter she won the championship under her married name in 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1967 and 1969.

Her best international result was a 2nd in the 1951 Western European Zonal tournament, qualifying for the Women’s Candidates tournament in Moscow 1952, where she came 12th/16. She has represented England in a number of team events, has excellent combinative powers, but lacks steadiness in strategy.”

[pgn]
[Event “British CF-50 Women”]
[Site “Bath/ Somerset”]
[Date “1963.08.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Hogarth, LM.”]
[Black “Bruce, Rowena Mary”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B07”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “70”]
[EventDate “1963.08.12”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “GBR”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 1999”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,70,25,29,103,84,89,10,41,41,30,18,22,-7,1,-5,-1,2,3,7,41,26,32,38,36,
-16,50,-102,-79,-90,-92,-92,-116,-104,-115,-136,-157,-235,-199,-242,-263,-273,
-260,-289,-312,-327,-287,-275,-307,-307,-222,-318,-329,-428,-448,-461,-370,
-389,-408,-324,-272,-232,-255,-374,-356,-321,-336,-29995,-29978,-29997,-29998,
-29999,-30000]} 1. e4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. c3 d6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. Be2 Nbd7
7. O-O e5 8. Qc2 Qe7 9. d5 Ne8 10. Nb3 h6 11. h3 f5 12. Kh1 Ndf6 13. Bd3 fxe4
14. Bxe4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Bf5 16. Qe2 g5 17. g4 Bd7 18. Rg1 c6 19. c4 cxd5 20.
cxd5 Qf7 21. Nbd2 Qxd5 22. Ne4 Bc6 23. Nfd2 Qf7 24. f3 Rd8 25. Rg3 d5 26. Qd3
dxe4 27. Qxd8 exf3 28. Nf1 Qc4 29. Be3 f2+ 30. Kh2 e4 31. Rg2 Be5+ 32. Kh1 Rf3
33. Qd2 Rxh3+ 34. Rh2 Qxf1+ 35. Rxf1 Rxh2# 0-1[/pgn]

Here is an interesting article from Tartajubow on Chess

From Wikipedia :

“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, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1967 and 1969).

Biography
From the end of the 1930s to the end of the 1960s, she was one of England’s strongest women chess players. In 1935, she won the FIDE World Girls Championship. Rowena Mary Bruce won the British Women’s Chess Championship eleven times: 1937, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1967 and 1969[1]. In 1952, in Moscow, she participated in the Women’s Candidates Tournament where she took 12th place[2]. In 1951, she was awarded the FIDE Woman International Master (WIM) title.

On 21 June 1946, Bruce played (and lost) a “radio chess” match against Lydmilla Rudenko. Bruce was one of two women who were part of a twelve member British team who played in a four day tournament. The British team played their moves in London while the Russian team played their moves in Moscow.”

“Rowena Mary Bruce played for England in the Women’s Chess Olympiads:

In 1966, at second board in the 3rd Chess Olympiad (women) in Oberhausen (+5, =5, -2) where she won an individual silver medal, and
In 1969, at second board in the 4th Chess Olympiad (women) in Lublin (+5, =3, -6).
From 1940 to 1991 she was married to Ronald Bruce (1903–1991)”