Google dedicated Doodle Lyudmila Rudenko: the story of the world success of Ukrainian

On July 27, the heroine of the international Google Doodle was the Ukrainian Lyudmila Rudenko, the first world champion among female chess players from the USSR and the savior of 300 children from besieged Leningrad. Google often targets the picture postcard that appears on the main search page on significant dates to just one region. But most of the world learned about the 114th anniversary of the birth of the famous Ukrainian woman.

Photo: Google

“On this day in 1904, one of the most respected female chess players in the world was born in Lubny, Ukraine. 24 years later, for the first time in her legendary career, she would take first place, winning the 1928 Moscow Women's Championship. This triumph was one of her many victories at prestigious competitions,” Google wrote.

"Today's doodle, which was inspired by 1960s graphics and posters, captures Rudenko's focused grit during a World Cup game in a new way."

Lyudmila was taught to play chess by her father, State Councilor Vladimir Andreevich Rudenko - he introduced his daughter to the game when she was only ten years old, writes with the BBC. Before 20, a girl lived in Odessa with her family, and in 1925, she moved to Moscow.

It is curious that at that time chess was not Rudenko’s main interest - she was fond of water sports. Back in Odessa, Lyudmila won the local 350-meter breaststroke swimming competition among women, writes Time.

Twelve winning games

The first performance in the tournament of female chess players, organized by the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper in the same year, was unsuccessful, it was said in Wikipedia. Lyudmila Vladimirovna lost several times and took one of the last places. But this failure did not demoralize the young chess player.

Photo: wikipedia

In 1927, she received the right to represent Moscow at the first USSR women's championship - and took fifth place. Serious success came to Lyudmila in 1928, when she became the champion of Moscow, winning all (!) twelve games.

At 1929, Lyudmila Vladimirovna moved to Leningrad, and subsequently 7 once became the champion of the city, was a regular participant in the USSR chess championships, tells Correspondent. In Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Rudenko lived all her life.

“We appreciate Rudenko’s success both during and outside of matches. Despite her major achievements, she considered the most important achievement in her life to be organizing the evacuation of children by train during the siege of Leningrad,” Google said in the note.

Photo: e3e5.com

Saving children

The achievements of Ludmila Rudenko really are not limited to sports. During World War II, she helped save around 300 children from besieged Leningrad.

At the beginning of the war, Rudenko worked at a factory that produced weapons. In July 1941, the plant was urgently evacuated to Ufa. The employees of the enterprise left along with the equipment, but they decided to leave the children in the pioneer camps of Leningrad until the end of the summer - then no one yet knew what tragedy awaited this city.

When it became clear that the blockade was inevitable, Lyudmila Rudenko returned to Leningrad and organized a special train that took the children to their parents before the city was encircled. Lyudmila arrived in a military carriage designed for transporting horses, helped the soldiers - prepared food for them, looked after the animals.

It turned out on the spot that some of the children to be evacuated had settled in their friends and relatives, and she had no addresses. Rudenko organized a large-scale search and gathered three hundred children, among whom was her son. So, thanks to Lyudmila Vladimirovna, children's lives were saved, writes Columnist. A few days after the evacuation, the blockade began.

Photos: social networks

The first world champion from the USSR

After the war, new victories awaited Lyudmila - at the 1949-50 Women's World Chess Championship, which took place in the capital of the Soviet Union, she became the winner: the first athlete from the USSR to receive such a title. Then Lyudmila scored 11,5 points out of 15 possible.

And that's not all: according to the results of the Championship, Rudenko became the second woman who ever had the title of world champion in chess after the famous Russian-Czechoslovak-English chess player Vera Menchik.

Ludmila Vladimirovna held the championship until 1953, giving way to another Soviet athlete Elizaveta Bykova.

In 1950, Rudenko was awarded the title of International Master, three years later - Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, and in 1976 she was recognized as a women's grandmaster. For achievements in the field of chess she was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor in 1957.

Lyudmila Rudenko died in 28 on February 1986 of the year in Leningrad. And in 2015, she was included in the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Photo: 24tv.ua

Doodle dedicated to Lyudmila Rudenko was available not only in Ukraine, but also in Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, the United States and Canada, notes 24tv.ua.

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