Fenny Heemskerk

She won the female Dutch Chess Championship 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 0 : 4 in 1939 in Amsterdam.

She took eighth place in Women's World Chess Championship at Moscow 1950 (Lyudmila Rudenko won),^[2] tied for second/third in Candidates Tournament at Moscow 1952 (Elisabeth Bykova won),^[3] took ninth place in Candidates Tournament at Moscow 1955 (Olga Rubtsova won),^[4] tied for 15–16th in Candidates Tournament at Vrnjacka Banja 1961 (Nona Gaprindashvili won).^[5]

She played in the 1st Women's Chess Olympiad at Emmen 1957 – but had to withdraw after only two days upon learning her father had died.^[6] In 1989, at the age of 70 she participated in the Moscow GMA qualifiers alongside strong male Grandmasters.^[7]

Heemskerk was awarded the Woman International Master (WIM) title in 1950, and the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title in 1977.^[1] She was invested as a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

In January 1940 Heemskerk married FIDE Master Willem Koomen^[8] and soon gave birth to a daughter. The marriage broke up in 1944.^[9]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fenny Heemskerk.

• Fenny Heemskerk player profile and games at Chessgames.com