Amazing article in @EuropeEchecs about Isabelle Strauch-Choko, concentration camp survivor turned chess player and who became women French Champion in 1955. Here my mini review of the article, which is emotional and charged with history. Thread 👇 1/7 
She is 11 in 1939 when Germany invades Poland and 160000 people are locked in the Lodz ghetto (Jews, gypsies, homosexuals) Isabelle has to work hard and her dad dies from hard work and poor conditions 2/7
With her mom manages to survive immediate death at the triage in Auschwitz and ends up in a work concentration camp in Bergen-Belsen. Isabelle and he mom gets typhus and her mom dies 3/7
When the camp is liberated in 1945 she is extremely emaciated, and can barely only move her head. She survives and eventually joins an uncle in Paris, and get married in 1946. A cousin and her husband were casual chess players 4/7
In 1954 she meets club players that notices her raw talent for the game. She starts playing seriously and becomes French national champion in 1956 ! Here is a game Vazeille-Choko (Vaseille was the champion in 55 and 57) 5/7
She disliked opening theory and learned by playing, was given the advice by Baratz :"occupy the center, once you control it, go for the opponent's king"! 6/7
She had a career organising art exhibition. Women were rare in chess club in the 1950's and she often crushed men who were condescending and thinking of 'taking it easy'. Amazing women and wonderful tale of grit and hope ! 7/7
