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Vera Menchik, the first women's world chess champion, tragically perished in a German air raid during World War II. On June 27, 1944, a V-1 flying bomb struck her home in London, killing her, her mother, and her sister. Menchik's untimely demise at the age of 38 cut short a brilliant chess career and left an enduring legacy as a pioneer of women's chess.