phone match.

In August the family all went to Nottingham for the British Championships. Rowena tied for 1st place with Elaine Saunders, the defending Ladies Champion from 1939, both on 9 points. Mary Dew also competed, scoring 2½. Ron, meanwhile, had tied for 3rd place in the Major Open Section 4 with Ritson Morry.

The following month, she was involved in a 4 game play-off with Elaine. After a loss and a draw, Rowena lost the 3rd game and with it the match.

In 1950 she regained the British Ladies Championships at Buxton, the first time under her married name.

The summer of 1951 was particularly busy for the Bruces. All the while in the background preparations were under way for the 1st Paignton Congress, in which Euwe was due to participate.On top of this, at Newquay, Ron became the West of England Champion jointly with F. E. A. Kitto, the only time he was able to do so. Rowena had come 9th=.

A stern-looking Rowena offers advice to one of the juniors at the WECU Congress, Easter 1951, in the analysis room at the Penolver Hotel, Newquay.

Rowena had qualified for the Women’s Zonal Tournament, part of the 22nd FIDE Congress held in Venice 5th – 11th July. The top two places would go on to compete in the Candidates Tournament in Moscow, the other English player being Eileen Tranmer. She played well in the early stages, reaching 3½/4, but was later hampered by a series of adjourned games, which made the run-in a bit nerve-wracking. On one occasion, for