Ruth Volgl Cardoso

Who was Ruth Volgl Cardoso?

Ruth Volgl Cardoso was a Brazilian chess Woman International Master.

Her father was a Brazilian businessman who went to Germany to study engineering. There he met and married Ruth's mother, afterwards bringing her to Brazil where Ruth was born.

Shortly after Ruth was born, her parents' marriage ended, and Ruth and her mother went to Germany. World War II broke out and Ruth and her mother spent the period in East Germany. When the war ended, the Soviet Army took over East Germany. Ruth would have been trapped there, except that she had dinner with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who saw to it that Ruth would be allowed to escape to Brazil.

Ruth Cardoso was, for many years, the strongest woman chess player in South America. She won the South American Women's Championship every time she competed. She won the Brazilian Chess Championship seven times. She played four times in the Women's Interzonal Championship. She played in five World Chess Olympiads, playing first board for the Brazilian team each time: in Skopje 1972, Medellín 1974, Buenos Aires 1976, La Valletta 1980, and Luzern 1982. Her trainer was grandmaster Pal Benko.