Sirkka-Liisa Landry (née Vuorenpää; 22 November 1926 – 19 January 2008) was a Finnish

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, Finnish Women's Chess Championship sixteen-times winner, Nordic Women's Chess Championship three-times winner.

Biography

Vuorenpää was born in Kivennapa in Karelia. At the age of 15, in the summer of 1942, she stepped onto a mine while gathering berries in the woods. She lost her left leg from the knee down and had to spend a long time in a military hospital where other patients taught her chess. After leaving the hospital, Vuorenpää finished school in Lammi and then moved to Helsinki where she worked as a postal clerk. In Helsinki, she also had better opportunities to play chess. In 1954, Vuorenpää was fourth in her first Finnish Women's Chess Championship. But in 1957 she won this tournament for the first time. She won the Finnish Women's Chess Championship sixteen times: 1957−1973, 1975−1976, 1981, 1986. Also she won silver (1988) and three bronze medals (1983, 1987, 1989) in this tournament. Vuorenpää won Nordic Women's Chess Championship three times: 1957, 1959 and 1967. In 1975, in

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...

she participated in FIDE Women's World Chess Championship Zonal Tournament. Sirkka-Liisa Landry played for Finland in the

Women's Chess Olympiad The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE (the International Chess Federation) since 1957 (every two years since 1972), where national women's teams compete at chess for gold, silver and bronze medals. Since 1976 the Women's Chess Olympia ...

s: * In 1957, at first board in the 1st Chess Olympiad (women) in Emmen (+2, =4, -5), * In 1972, at first board in the 5th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

(+4, =3, -4), * In 1974, at second board in the 6th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

(+5, =3, -4), * In 1976, at first board in the 7th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

(+4, =6, -1), * In 1978, at first board in the 8th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

(+3, =2, -6), * In 1980, at first board in the 9th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

(+5, =4, -2), * In 1982, at first board in the 10th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

(+2, =3, -5), * In 1984, at third board in the 26th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

(+3, =8, -1), * In 1986, at first board in the 27th Chess Olympiad (women) in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

(+5, =4, -3), * In 1988, at second board in the 28th Chess Olympiad (women) in

(+3, =1, -5). Sirkka-Liisa Landry played for Finland in the Nordic Chess Cups: * In 1971, at sixth board in the 2nd Nordic Chess Cup in

Großenbrode Großenbrode is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Baltic Sea coast, opposite Fehmarn, approx. 8 km (5 mi) east of Heiligenhafen. Until 1963 it had a ferry connection to G ...

(+1, =3, -1), * In 1973, at fifth board in the 4th Nordic Chess Cup in

Ribe Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,367 (2025). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding municipality and county. It is now part of the enlarged E ...

(+0, =4, -1), * In 1977, at fifth board in the 8th Nordic Chess Cup in

Glücksburg Glücksburg (; ) is a small town northeast of Flensburg in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is Germany's northernmost town. It is situated on the south side of the Flensburg Fjord, Flensborg Fjord, an inlet ...

(+2, =1, -2). In the late 1970s, Vuorenpää married French diplomat Jacques Landry and changed her surname to Landry. She first moved to the Netherlands after her husband started a new job there. After her husband retired, they moved to Portugal. Landry spent her last years at Kauniala Military Injury Hospital in

Kauniainen Kauniainen (; ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Kauniainen is situated in the southern part of the Uusimaa region, and it is Enclave and exclave, enclaved by the City of Espoo. The population of Kauniainen ...

, Finland, where she died.

References

External links

* 1926 births 2008 deaths Sportspeople from Leningrad Oblast Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century Finnish chess players Finnish expatriates in Portugal Finnish expatriates in the Netherlands Finnish amputees Landmine victims {{Finland-chess-bio-stub