Chantal Chaude de Silans

    Chantal Chaude de Silans (1919-2001, 82 years old) was a French player and a pioneer of women's chess. She was awarded the Woman’s IM title at its creation in 1950 and later the honorary Woman’s GM title. Like many people life events interfered with her promising chess career. In her case it was World War Two and raising a family. 

    She learned to play chess when she was nine along with her brother the Baron de Silans, who later became a strong amateur. She quickly demonstrated a talent for the game. 

    In 1932, at age 13, she entered her first women's French Championship and she finished fourth. She also finished fourth the following year and commentators predicted that she had a great future. 

    Unable to participate in 1934 and 1935, she won her only title in 1936 at the age of 17. After that she no longer participated in the in the French Women's Championship, except when she returned 57 years later to play in the 1993 Women's Championship. 

    In 1936, she was invited to participate in the French Men's Championship where she finished 8th out of 9, but the experience of playing against the best French players aided her progress. She went on to compete in will many other French men's championships. Her best result was in 1951 when she finished 3rd out of 14.

    She was married in1939, just a few days before the war broke out. After the war she played the Women's World Championship Candidate Tournament three times with less brilliant results. Life outside of chess was the reason; she had four children. 

    The first post-war women's world championship that was held in Moscow from December1949 to January 1950 was the turning point of her career. By that time the Soviet female players had established dominance. 

    To everyone's surprise she jumped to the lead which she held until the 12th round. Unfortunately by then the stress, the cold weather and fatigue caused her to fade. It also didn't help that she was one fo the few players that didn't have a second. The French Federation couldn’t afford one and was so poor it even had to resort to seeking donations in order to send her to the tournament. She lost in the 13th and 14th rounds and ended up tying for 5th place behind the four Soviet players. 

    In 1950, she was the first woman to participate in the men's Olympiads as part of the French team. She played a few matches against men: she lost to Swiss champion Henry Grob in 1951, but defeated the Paris champion Stephan Popel in 1957. Popel eventually ended up a college professor in Fargo, North Dakota. 

    She also participated again in the Women's World Championships in 1952, 1955 and 1961, always finishing in the lower half. In 1970, she became the President of the Paris Caissa chess club which she managed for more than thirty years. 

 

[Event "Women’s World Chp 1949/50 Moscow"] [Site ""] [Date "1950.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Chantal Chaude de Silans"] [Black "Ingrid Larsen"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B18"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "1949.12.20"] {B19: Caro-Kann} 1. e4 c6 {A solid alternative!} 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nf3 e6 7. h4 h6 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 Nf6 10. Be3 Bd6 11. Ne2 ( 11. Ne4 Nxe4 12. Qxe4 Nd7 13. O-O-O Nf6 14. Qd3 {dates all the way back to Schlechter,C-Cohn,W London 1899.}) 11... Qc7 12. O-O {Castling on the other side seems a bit more promising.} O-O 13. c4 Qe7 14. Nc3 Nbd7 15. Rae1 Rfe8 16. Bc1 Qf8 17. c5 {This is not bad because the is backward d-Pawn on the open file is temporary. Either 17.Ne5 or 17.Re2 to double Rs on the e-file are plausible options.} Bc7 18. Ne5 Bxe5 (18... Nxe5 {keeping the B was better.} 19. dxe5 Red8 {Black's position is a bit better.}) 19. dxe5 Nxc5 {A miscalculation...after 19...Nd5 the position is equal. Now things get hectic.} 20. Qg3 {[%mdl 2048] There is no way for black to meet the threat of Bxh6.} Nd5 21. Bxh6 Nxc3 22. bxc3 Rad8 23. Re3 {Otherwise black's R invades on d3.} Kh7 { Panic!} (23... Rd5 {is a much better defense.} 24. Bg5 b5 {Stops b4.} 25. Rfe1 a5 {and black can put up a stubborn fight.}) 24. Bf4 Rd7 {Black's defense is too passive. 24...Rd5 was better.} 25. Qg4 Rd3 26. Bg5 {After a series of, let's say rather boring play, this move elevates the whole game. It's poit soon becomes clear..} Rc8 27. Rxd3 Nxd3 28. Qe4+ Kg8 29. Qxd3 Qe8 30. Rd1 f6 31. exf6 {lack resigned. She saw the handwriting on the wall...white's B controls the dark squares leaving black helpless.} (31. exf6 {Now guarding gr with either the R or Q leaves black lost and ere is how Stoxkfish destroyed black's position after} gxf6 32. Bxf6 Qf7 33. Qg3+ Kf8 34. Qf4 Ke8 35. Qd6 Qxf6 36. Qd7+ Kf8 37. Qxc8+ Kf7 38. Rd7+ Kg6 39. Qe8+ Kf5 40. Qh5+ Kf4 41. f3 Qf5 42. Rd4+ Ke5 43. Qh8+ Qf6 44. f4+ Kf5 45. Qh5+ {Mate next move.}) 1-0