Chess: The Gender Gap
# Chess: The Gender Gap
For centuries, men have dominated the world of Chess. Many people have speculated on why the top players in the news are almost always men, and very rarely do they see women masters competing with men. There are Chess tournaments and federations that are specifically for women. There are even special titles for them, such as Female Grandmaster (FGM) and Female International Master (FIM). The existence of separate women's divisions and titles raises many important questions:
- Why do women compete in their chess tournaments instead of in the open tournaments where everyone is allowed?
- Is a Female Grandmaster as strong of a player as a Male Grandmaster?
- Why are there more men than women in Chess?
- Why would gender make any difference in a sport of the mind?
Some of these questions are easy to answer, but others are not. For example, it's no secret that more men play in general. There are 3 key reasons I believe this is the case.
Boys are encouraged to be competitive, and sometimes, their parents encourage them to get into sports such as football. However, this competitive mindset also works really well for any sport, including sports of the mind. Men have no physical advantage in Chess as they would in football or basketball, but they have the drive to win because their parents and society, in general, encourage them to find a skill and be the champion of it.
In most places and cultures, girls are encouraged to be pretty, wear makeup, get married, give birth to babies, and be stay-at-home moms. Even if they are talented at Chess, or even something else like music, they are not usually supported by their parents, schools, or by society in general. They can succeed if they have a love for the game and have opportunities, but this is rare.
But I think one of the most obvious reasons why women don't compete with men more often in open tournaments is because of sexual harassment and fear for their safety. If they compete in open tournaments, there will probably be far more men than women. The possibility of sexual assault and physical violence is very real.
Not all men are violent rapists. The problem is that women don't know which men are safe and which are not. It could be that they are more comfortable in women's only tournaments because they feel safer.
But that is assuming they make it to the tournaments at all. Traveling alone is very dangerous for a woman because of the constant risk of strangers at airports, airplanes, hotels, and gas stations. Additionally, certain countries are more dangerous for women in general. Obviously, these risks exist for men traveling as well, but men know they can fight off any attacker most of the time.
Some women are very good at Chess and have competed with men. Judith Polgar is considered the strongest female Chess player of all. She even beat Magnus Carlsen before.
Conclusion
Theoretically, a woman can play Chess as well as a man. Still, because of matters of money, safety, and differences in expectations, the physical over-the-board tournaments will probably always be male-dominated.
But the world of online Chess is starting to change all that. Most of the time, when playing Chess online, we see only usernames. It is very rare to know who you are actually playing with unless they have their real name and identifying information in their profile.
It could be that the gender gap is not as big as we might be led to believe. It is just that most people think of Chess as a men's game because they are the ones most likely to travel to events, win tournaments, and be interviewed by journalists. But online play changed forever the way we think of Chess. We may see more women compete against men in online tournaments and individual games than our ancestors ever have before us.
And, of course, women can, and still do, compete in tournaments over the board with men, but they have additional concerns over their safety that men don't have to worry about. Anything at all that distracts you from complete focus on the chess game will lower your quality of moves. I believe that this, above all, is why women usually don't play at the top level with the men. Only the strongest and bravest women will take this risk.
# Sources
Hercules, A. (n.d.). Why Is Chess Separated By Gender? Raising the Bar For Women In Chess. Hercules Chess. https://herculeschess.com/why-is-chess-separated-by-gender/
[GothamChess]. (2024, January 19). Chess History: Men vs Women [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0xf3BcxqhJk
(2019, November 5). Judit Polgar Interview: 'I Had To Prove Myself More Than A Boy'. Chess.com. https://www.chess.com/article/view/judit-polgar-interview-chess
[Chess24]. (2022, July 3). ONLY 19 MOVES! Judit Polgar Beats Magnus Carlsen with a Nice TRICK in Sicilian Defense [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvbZCRid5CY
