Vera Menchik
Starting in 1929, she participated in a number of Hastings international tournaments. When, the same year, she entered the tournament in Carlsbad, Viennese master Albert Becker ridiculed her entry by suggesting that any player whom Menchik defeated in tournament play should be granted membership into the Vera Menchik Club. In the tournament, Becker himself became the first member of the "club". In addition to Becker, the "Vera Menchik Club" eventually included grandmasters such as Max Euwe, Mir Sultan Khan,  Samuel Reshevsky, Friedrich Sämisch, Lajos Steiner, and virtually every leading British player of the day.