Kiev’s Queen of Chess: Liudmila’s Story

In 1960, Liudmila was the top chess player in Ukraine and a member of the Soviet Union’s national team. She’s always seen chess as a noble endeavor, the kind of game that makes you think. And when it comes to which chess piece best defines her? She knows one thing: She’s definitely no pawn.But life has been cruel to Liudmila, too, and she’s sometimes been subject to forces beyond her control. She was born in evacuation, 1,500 kilometers from Kiev, in a Russian city where her family had fled to escape the Nazis. And though she worked in a factory for decades, the collapse of the Soviet Union left her with a pension of less than $2/day.Liudmila worked hard her whole life, only to end up alone in poverty. Now it’s up to us to help her.JDC is the leading, global Jewish humanitarian organization, working in 70 countries to lift lives and strengthen communities. We rescue Jews in danger, provide aid to vulnerable Jews, develop innovative solutions to Israel’s most complex social challenges, cultivate a Jewish future, and lead the Jewish community’s response to crises. For over 100 years, our work has put the timeless Jewish value of mutual responsibility into action, making JDC essential to the survival of millions of people and the advancement of Jewish life across the globe.Learn more at www.JDC.org