An eight-year-old British schoolgirl “phenomenon” won the women’s first prize in the Blitz category at this year’s European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship in Zagreb, Croatia.

In some respects, China was a good place for a girl to pursue chess. The International Chess Federation—known by its French acronym, FIDE—has overseen a world championship for women since 1927.

He called her “the only woman who plays as a man.” Menchik was the world’s first women’s chess champion ... play and immediately returned to Europe; trying to defuse nationalist tensions ...