Women in chess

Women represent a small minority of chess players at all ages and levels. Female chess players today generally compete in a mix of open tournaments and women's tournaments, the latter of which are most prominent at or near the top level of women's chess and at youth levels. Modern top-level women's tournaments help provide a means for some participants to be full-time professional chess players. The majority of these tournaments are organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and revolve around the World Championship cycle, which culminates in a match to decide the Women's World Chess Champion. Beyond those events, among the most prominent women's tournaments are women's and girls' national and continental championships.

Young Polgár sisters posing for picture outdoors
The Polgár sisters (pictured in 1988) ushered in the modern era of women's chess.

Women were generally not allowed to join chess clubs until the early 1900s. Once allowed to join, they generally only competed against other women. Around this time, Vera Menchik became the inaugural Women's World Chess Champion and was the first woman to compete in top-level tournaments with the best players in the world in the late 1920s. After her death, the Soviet Union dominated women's chess, winning every Women's Chess Olympiad they played from its inception in 1957 through 1986. Soviet players Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze from Georgia became the first two women to earn the Grandmaster (GM) title, and were the next two women after Menchik to compete in high-level open tournaments.

The Polgar sisters ended Soviet domination of women's chess as Susan Polgar became No. 1 in the world among women in 1984 and all three led Hungary to a gold medal at the 1988 Olympiad. Judit Polgar established herself as the strongest women's chess player of all time, reaching No. 8 in the world overall. The turn of the century saw a substantial increase in the number of women to earn the GM title. Among these new GMs, Hou Yifan has been the only other woman to reach the overall top 100 and regularly compete in high-level open tournaments. Since the 1990s, China has dominated the Women's World Championship with five different champions, including the reigning champion Ju Wenjun.

The low number of women to reach the top level of chess has created a lot of interest as to why women historically haven't had more success. It has been demonstrated statistically that the low numbers across all levels can largely account for the lack of women at or near the top. The general paucity of women in chess has contributed to women commonly being the subject of sexism, harassment, and sexual harassment, factors also thought to contribute to women achieving less or leaving chess early. Beyond playing chess, women also take on other roles such as being a coach or an arbiter. Two chess professions where there isn't nearly as large of a participation gap as usual are commentators and live streamers.

Chess competitions

With respect to gender, chess tournaments can be classified as either open or women's tournaments.[lower-alpha 1] Women can choose to compete in either open or women's tournaments. In practice, most if not all female players play a mix of both. The fraction of participants who are women can vary considerably depending on the type of tournament. Independently-organized tournaments tend to feature higher percentages of female chess players than championship tournaments organized by federations. Many smaller tournaments across a wide range of levels do not have any female participants.

One of the most common types of chess tournaments are Swiss open tournaments, which both men and women can enter as they generally allow a large if not unlimited number of participants. On some occasions, these tournaments are split into multiple sections by rating. Swiss tournaments tend to not have a women-only section, although it is possible that one of the rating sections may be restricted to women. Instead of having a separate women-only section, many professional and semi-professional Swiss tournaments have women's prizes reserved for the highest-finishing women in the open sections.

Another common type of tournament are closed round-robin tournaments, which tend to have around ten players. These tournaments are very popular at highest level of chess, and include events such as the Sinquefield Cup. Although there are no formal restrictions by gender, many such elite tournaments tend to only have male players because the event is invite-only and only high-rated players receive invitations. Judit Polgár and Hou Yifan are generally considered the only players to regularly play in these elite highest-level tournaments this century. Female chess players have corresponding elite women-only round-robin events such as the Cairns Cup. There are only a few elite women-only round-robin classical tournaments.

Championship tournaments

Tournaments can either be independent or some sort of championship tournament organized by FIDE, continental federations, or national federations. These championship tournaments organized by federations often have an open section and a women's section, and they are often held concurrently, such as with the Chess Olympiad and the Women's Chess Olympiad. Because the sections are held together and the top female players have a better chance to medal or win prizes in the women's section, few women participate in the open section. Likewise, nearly all national federations host a national championship and a women's national championship, as well as similar competitions across a wide range of youth levels. Albeit also uncommon, it can be more common for women or girls to participate in the open sections of these events, and more so at youth levels. Some female players have won their country's overall national championship, including grandmasters and international masters such as Judit Polgár, Nino Khurtsidze, Viktorija Čmilytė, Keti Arakhamia-Grant, and Eva Moser.

FIDE began hosting a Women's World Chess Championship in 1927 even before they controlled the overall World Chess Championship. The inaugural edition was won by Vera Menchik.[1] The reigning Women's World Chess Champion is Ju Wenjun, who has won the title four times in a row from 2018 through 2023. The most recent format for the Women's World Championship is a match between the reigning champion and a challenger who earns the right to challenge by winning the Women's Candidates. The Candidates and the rest of the World Championship cycle are analogous to how the overall World Chess Champion is determined.

Chess coaching

There are few elite-level female chess coaches, in part owing to how there have only been a little more than 40 female chess players who have achieved the Grandmaster title. Susan Polgar is one of the few prominent high-level female chess coaches, particularly at the Grandmaster level. Polgar has run chess centers and also became one of the leading college chess coaches in the United States. In 2010, as the head coach for the Texas Tech Knight Raiders chess team, Susan Polgar became the first woman to lead a men's Division I chess team to the Final Four.[2] In April 2011 the Texas Tech Knight Raiders won the President's Cup;[3] this made Polgar the first female head coach to lead a men's Division I chess team to the national title.[2]

Achievements in chess
Judit Polgár, 2008

Judit Polgár, generally considered the strongest female player of all time,[4] was at one time the eighth highest rated player in the world, and remains the only woman to have ever been rated in the world's top ten.[5][6] Three women, Maia Chiburdanidze,[7] Polgár,[8] and Hou Yifan,[9] have been ranked in the world's top 100 players.[10]

Research in gender differences

Male chess players greatly outnumber female chess players at all age levels and in the vast majority of tournaments, often by a factor of ten or higher. Analysis of rating statistics of German players in an article from 2009 by Merim Bilalić, Kieran Smallbone, Peter McLeod, and Fernand Gobet[11] indicated that although the highest-rated men were stronger than the highest-rated women, the difference (usually more than 200 rating points) was largely accounted for by the relatively smaller pool of women players (only one-sixteenth of rated German players were women). In 2020, psychologist and neuroscientist Wei Ji Ma summarized the state of research on women in chess as "there is currently zero evidence for biological differences in chess ability between the genders" but added "that does not mean that there are certainly no such differences."[12]

Chess players, both men and women, have speculated on the reasons behind the gap in chess achievements by women compared to men. Some women players believe the major reason is due to cultural expectations and bias. Jennifer Shahade, a FIDE Woman Grandmaster and the women's program director at the United States Chess Federation (USCF), said there is a large drop-off of girls at the USCF around the ages of 12 and 13, which she attributes to the lack of a social network for girls that age in chess.[13] Polgár said that society and some parents may weaken the desire of young female chess players to improve,[14] and that women were often held back by lower ambition by choosing to compete in all-women tournaments rather than open tournaments.[15] Jovanka Houska, an International Master and Woman Grandmaster, argued that overconfidence by boys gives an advantage over girls.[16]

In a 2007 study at the University of Padua, male and female players of similar ability were matched up with each other on online games. When the players were unaware of their opponent's sex, female players won slightly under half their games. When female players were told their opponent was male, they played less aggressively, and they won about one in four games. However, when female players were told their opponent was female, even though they were actually male, they were as aggressive as the male players and won about one in two games. The researchers argued that gender stereotypes may have led female players to lower their self-esteem and self-confidence when they know they are playing male players, causing them to play defensively which worsened their performance.[17][15]

Sexism in chess

Polgár,[14] Shahade[13] and Houska[16] have said that they have encountered sexism, including belittling comments about their abilities, opponents who refused to shake hands, and online trolls questioning if girls and women belong in chess.

Several male players have commented negatively on women's performance in chess. In a 1963 interview, Bobby Fischer was dismissive of female players, calling them "terrible" and said it was because "[women] are not so smart".[18] In 2015, Nigel Short argued that male players performed better because men and women were "hard-wired" for different skills,[19] which was met with controversy.[20] In 2022, Ilya Smirin, while broadcasting live during the ninth round of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2022-23, said that chess was "maybe not for women", and also praised a woman for playing like a man.[21] FIDE apologized through Twitter and called Smirin's comments embarrassing and offensive. The same day FIDE fired Smirin for making "offensive remarks".[22]

Transgender women

In August 2023, FIDE attracted heavy criticism for issuing an order banning transgender women from women's competitions. This was seen by many chess players as having no purpose other than to discriminate against transgender women, as unlike physical sports, there are no concerns about biological advantages. American Woman Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade commented "It's obvious they didn't consult with any transgender players in constructing it... I strongly urge FIDE to reverse course on this and start from scratch with better consultants."[23] French transgender player Yosha Iglesias, who holds the title of FIDE Master, described the new regulations as "unfair, exclusive, and discriminatory", saying they were contrary to the IOC guidelines that FIDE had signed up to.[24]

Culture
The Lewis chessmen in the British Museum

Margret the Adroit may have made the 12th-century[25] Lewis chessmen. In 2010 at a conference at the National Museum of Scotland on the Lewis chessmen, Gudmundur Thorarinsson (a civil engineer and a former member of the Icelandic Parliament) and Einar S. Einarsson (a former president of Visa Iceland and a friend of the chess champion Bobby Fischer)[26][27] argued that Margret the Adroit made them. It is a claim that the American author Nancy Marie Brown supports in her 2015 book, Ivory Vikings, the Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them.[28]

Caïssa ("Ka-ee-sah") is a fictional (anachronistic) Thracian dryad portrayed as the goddess of chess. She was first mentioned during the Renaissance by Italian poet Hieronymus Vida.

Historically chess has had many variants. In chess today the queen is the name of the most powerful chess piece. Historian Marilyn Yalom has argued that the queen was able to become the most dangerous piece on the board in the late 15th century because of the example of powerful female rulers in that era of European history.[29][30]

History

Early history and romantic era of chess
Painting by Sofonisba Anguissola of her sisters playing chess (1555)

In the Middle Ages, Macalda di Scaletta played chess, and historical evidence suggests that she was probably the first person in Sicily who learned how to play it. Queen Elizabeth I, who lived from 1533 until 1603, played chess very well, according to a placard in the Tower of London.[31][32]

Benjamin Franklin, who lived from 1706 until 1790, according to Thomas Jefferson played chess in Paris with socially important women, including the Duchess of Bourbon Bathilde d'Orléans, who was "a chess player of about his force".[33][34]

Milestones and beginning of tournament participation

In 1884 the first women's chess tournament was held; it was sponsored by the Sussex Chess Association.[35] In 1897 the first women's international chess tournament was held, which Mary Rudge won.[36] In 1927 the first Women's World Chess Championship was held, which Vera Menchik won.[1]

A woman playing chess by radio in 1922

In 1950 Lyudmila Rudenko became the first female International Master.[37][38]

The first Women's Chess Olympiad was held in 1957 and won by the Soviet Union team.[39][40][41][42]

In 1976 Rohini Khadilkar became the first female to compete in the Indian Men's Championship. Her involvement in a male competition caused a furore that necessitated a successful appeal to the High Court and caused the World Chess Federation president, Max Euwe, to rule that women cannot be barred from national and international championships.[43] In 1978 Nona Gaprindashvili became the first female Grandmaster.[44][45]

In 1996 Judit Polgár became the first woman to be ranked in the top ten of all chess players,[46] in 2002 she became the first female chess player to defeat the reigning world number one (Garry Kasparov) in a game,[47][48] and in 2005 she became the first female player to play for a small-scale World Chess Championship, which she did in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005; she had previously participated in large, 100+ player knockout tournaments for the world championship, but this was a small 8-player invitational.

21st century and online chess era
A woman playing chess in 2007

Recently, Hou Yifan has been the leading female chess player, for example winning the Biel GM tournament in 2017.[49]

In February 2017,[50] the Iranian Chess Federation[51] banned Dorsa Derakhshani from playing for the national team or in national tournaments after she played in the 2017 Gibraltar Chess Festival without wearing a hijab.[52][53]

The 2015 Women's World Champion, Mariya Muzychuk, and US Women's Champion Nazí Paikidze elected not to attend the Women's World Chess Championship 2017, out of protest at the tournament's location in Iran, where participants were required to wear a hijab in public.[54] In December 2022, Iranian player Sarasadat Khademalsharieh planned not to return to Iran after not wearing a hijab during the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, amid protests against the Iranian government.[55][56]

In 2021 FIDE announced the largest-yet sponsorship deal for women's chess, with the breast enlargement company Motiva; this move met with both criticism and support from female chess players.[57] FIDE declared 2022 the "Year of Woman in Chess".[58]

Timeline
Vera Menchik in 1933; she became the first Women's World Chess Champion in 1927.
  • 1950: Lyudmila Rudenko became the first female International Master.[37][38]
  • 1950: Chantal Chaudé de Silans became the first woman to play at a Chess Olympiad.
  • 1950: FIDE introduced the Woman International Master title.[61]
  • 1957: The first Women's Chess Olympiad was held in 1957 and won by the Soviet Union team.[42][39][40][41]
  • 1961: Lisa Lane appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in the August 7, 1961 edition, making her the first chess player of any gender to appear on its cover.[62]
  • 1976: Rohini Khadilkar became the first female to compete in the Indian Men's Championship. Her involvement in a male competition caused a furore that necessitated a successful appeal to the High Court and caused the World Chess Federation president, Max Euwe, to rule that women cannot be barred from national and international championships.[43]
  • 1976: FIDE introduced the Woman Grandmaster title.[63]
  • 1978: Nona Gaprindashvili became the first female Grandmaster.[64]
  • 1978: FIDE introduced the Woman FIDE Master title.[65]
  • 1986: FIDE decided to grant 100 bonus Elo rating points to all active female players except Susan Polgár, which knocked her from the top spot in the January 1987 FIDE ratings list. The rationale was that the FIDE ratings of women were not commensurate with the ratings of the men because the women tended to play in women-only tournaments, Polgar being an exception because up to that point she had played mainly against men.[66]
  • 1991: Judit Polgár became the first woman to be the youngest-ever Grandmaster.[67]
  • 1992: Gisela Kahn Gresser became the first woman to be inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.[68]
  • 1993: Judit Polgár became the first woman to qualify for an Interzonal tournament.[69]
  • 1996: Judit Polgár became the first woman to be ranked in the top ten of all chess players.[46]
  • 1998: Judit Polgár became the first woman to win the U.S. Open Chess Championship. She shared the tournament victory with Boris Gulko as each scored 8–1.[70]
  • 2002: FIDE introduced the Woman Candidate Master title.[71]
  • 2002: Judit Polgár became the first female player to defeat the reigning world number one in a game, beating Garry Kasparov.[47][48]
  • 2003: Susan Polgár became the first woman to win the U.S. Open Blitz Championship.[72]
  • 2003: Susan Polgár became the first woman to be named "Grandmaster of the Year" by the United States Chess Federation.[73]
  • 2005: Judit Polgár became the first female player to play for a small-scale World Chess Championship, which she did in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005; she had previously participated in large, 100+ player knockout tournaments for the world championship, but this was a small 8-player invitational.
  • 2011: Vera Menchik became the first woman inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame.[74][75][76][77]
  • 2013: Alexandra Kosteniuk became the first woman to win the men's Swiss Chess Championship.[78]
  • 2022: FIDE declared 2022 the "Year of Woman in Chess".[58]

See also

Notes
  1. The term "open" in chess can refer to either a tournament with no restrictions by gender or a Swiss tournament. Many Swiss "open" tournaments are also "open" by gender.

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Further reading
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