Fenny Heemskerk (3 December 1919 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

– 8 June 2007 in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

) was a Dutch

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player.

Biography

She won the female

Dutch Chess Championship The Dutch Chess Championship was officially established in 1909, although unofficial champions stretch back to the 1870s. Early years : Official championships The official championship was established in 1909 as a biennial, twelve-player, round-ro ...

ten times (1937, 1939, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958 and 1961). Heemskerk won a match against Catharina Roodzant 4.5 : 0.5 in 1937, and lost a match to

Sonja Graf Susanna "Sonja" Graf (December 16, 1908 – March 6, 1965) was a German and American chess player. She was a women's world championship runner-up and a two-time U.S. women's champion. In 2016, she was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame. ...

0 : 4 in 1939 in Amsterdam. She took eighth place in

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship is a chess match played to determine the Women's World Chess Champion. It has been administered by FIDE since its inception in 1927, unlike the absolute World Chess Championship, which only came under FIDE's ...

at Moscow 1950 (

Lyudmila Rudenko Lyudmila Vladimirovna Rudenko (, ; 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 Interna ...

won), tied for second/third in Candidates Tournament at Moscow 1952 (

Elisabeth Bykova Elisaveta Ivanovna Bykova (or ''Elisabeth Bykova'', Russian: Елизаве́та Ива́новна Бы́кова; 4 November 1913 – 8 March 1989) was a Soviet chess player and twice Women's World Chess Champion, from 1953 until 1956, and a ...

won), took ninth place in Candidates Tournament at Moscow 1955 ( Olga Rubtsova won), tied for 15–16th in Candidates Tournament at Vrnjacka Banja 1961 (

Nona Gaprindashvili Nona Gaprindashvili ( ka, ნონა გაფრინდაშვილი; born 3 May 1941) is a Georgian chess Grandmaster. Noted for her aggressive style of play, she was the women's world chess champion from 1962 to 1978, and in 1978 ...

won). She played in the

1st Women's Chess Olympiad The 1st Women's Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE, took place between 2 and 21 September 1957, in Emmen, Netherlands. Results Preliminaries A total of 21 two-woman teams entered the competition and were divided into three preliminary grou ...

at Emmen 1957 – but had to withdraw after only two days upon learning her father had died. In 1989, at the age of 70 she participated in the Moscow GMA qualifiers alongside strong male Grandmasters. Heemskerk was awarded the

Woman International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(WIM) title in 1950, and the

Woman Grandmaster FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(WGM) title in 1977. She was invested as a Knight of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

. In January 1940 Heemskerk married FIDE Master Willem Koomen and soon gave birth to a daughter. The marriage broke up in 1944.Hageman, Esther (27 June 2007
Fenny Heemskerk 1919–2007
trouw.nl

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heemskerk, Fenny 1919 births 2007 deaths Dutch female chess players Chess players from Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch chess players Chess Woman Grandmasters 20th-century Dutch sportswomen