English chess player
Elaine Zelia Pritchard (7 January 1926 – 7 January 2012), née Saunders, was an English chess player who held the title of Woman International Master (WIM, 1957). She was a four-time winner of the British Women's Chess Championship (1939, 1946, 1956, 1965).
Biography
Pritchard learned to play chess at the age of five, and was considered a child prodigy.[1] For two consecutive years, she won the World Girl Chess Championships (1936, 1937), and also successfully participated in simultaneous exhibitions against Alexander Alekhine and Rudolf Spielmann.[2]
For decades, she was among England's leading women chess players. Elaine Pritchard four times won the British Women's Chess Championships (1939, 1946 — after winning an additional match against Rowena Mary Bruce,[3] 1956, 1965).[4]
Pritchard played for England in the Women's Chess Olympiads:[5]
- In 1957, at first board in the 1st Chess Olympiad (women) in Emmen (+6, =4, -4),
- In 1972, at second board in the 5th Chess Olympiad (women) in Skopje (+1, =2, -4),
- In 1974, at second board in the 6th Chess Olympiad (women) in Medellín (+4, =2, -2),
- In 1976, at second board in the 7th Chess Olympiad (women) in Haifa (+4, =2, -2) and won the team silver medal,
- In 1978, at second board in the 8th Chess Olympiad (women) in Buenos Aires (+2, =3, -1).
In 1957, she was awarded the FIDE Woman International Master (WIM) title. She was author of two chess books and an Honorary Life Member of the English Chess Federation.[6] She was married to David Pritchard.
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