Erika Belle (chess player)
Erika Belle is a Dutch chess player who holds the FIDE title of Woman International Master. She was a three-time winner of the Dutch Women's Chess Championship.Biography
From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, Belle was one of the leading Dutch women chess players. She won the Dutch Women's Chess Championships three times, in 1975, 1980 and 1981. She participated in many international chess tournaments. In 1979, she shared with Gertrude Baumstark 2nd place in the Women's International Chess tournament in Nałęczów. In 1981, she ranked 2nd behind Nieves García Vicente in the Women's World Chess Championship Zonal tournament in Benidorm, and as a result she qualified for the Interzonal Tournament. In 1982, she was awarded the FIDE International Women Master title. In 1982, Belle participated in the Women's World Chess Championship Interzonal Tournament in Bad Kissingen and was ranked 11th.
Belle played for the Netherlands in the Women's Chess Olympiads:
- In 1974, at first reserve board in the 6th Chess Olympiad in Medellín,
- In 1976, at third board in the 7th Chess Olympiad in Haifa,
- In 1978, at first reserve board in the 8th Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires,
- In 1980, at second board in the 9th Chess Olympiad in Valletta,
- In 1982, at third board in the 10th Chess Olympiad in Lucerne and won an individual bronze medal,
- In 1984, at first reserve board in the 26th Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki.
