Thoughts on Women's Chess

Random post to return to Substack...

So yes, it has been a long time since I have released a Substack, and I am really sorry about that! I have been extremely busy with school, and my health has been terrible. Today I wanted to write a little about a topic that has been on my mind lately. Women’s Chess, I guess specifically competitive women’s chess. I Am very often busy with homework, but usually, when I finish a paper/project/reading I reward myself with a 15-minute break, and most of the time I spend that break on YouTube. I often watch chess content, and if there is a tournament on, I will kind of leave it on in the background if possible when I continue my work. I guess chess, to me, is like what other sports are to other people, and yes, chess is considered a sport. I have my favorite players, and my favorite version of chess to watch (Blitz) and I like certain commentators more than others. So sometimes when watching chess on YouTube, I look at the live chat (mistake I know) and I often have a lot of fun seeing what other people are thinking about the matches. But I have also noticed a lot of really annoying fans and some sexism.

A few weeks ago, in the chat of a tournament, the topic of Women’s Chess came up and everyone seemed to have an opinion about it. Some I agreed with, some not at all. At points, the discussion of this got quite toxic. Women’s chess is just not what men’s chess is popularity-wise, and I was trying to figure out the reason that is. While thinking about it, I realized I only like a few women chess players. I could only think of a couple that I liked to see play, one of them being Anna Cramling (currently a Women’s FIDE Master), the others being Aleksandra Goryachkina, Anna Muzychuk, Mariya Muzychuk, and Hou Yifan. I sometimes watch the Botez sisters as well, but I’m not their biggest fan or anything. Strangely, many of the women chess players I thought of first were not players of the modern era. Names like Lisa Lane, Maia Chiburdanidze, the Polgár sisters, Pia Cramling (What can I say, I like this family.), and Vera Menchik. So while I could think of some players, sadly, I could name and know more about male players. Sadder still, I realized I rarely watch women’s chess, and I had to agree with the people in the chat that many times when I watch women’s chess, I don’t enjoy it as much as men’s. This was something many people in the chat said. And I think I know the answer. I think it is misogyny. I know, I know, it isn’t fun to talk about misogyny, but I think it is a genuine problem for women’s chess and the people who compete in it.

Men’s chess has big personalities: Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, definitely Hans Niemann, Alireza Firouzja, and even Anish Giri. These aren’t just players, they are chess personalities. Part of the fun of watching chess is learning the different styles of the players and how they handle stress. It can get incredibly intense, and it gets even crazier sometimes when someone plays an off-the-cuff but brilliant move, or even when someone blunders a piece. Reactions to a loss or a certain move from these candidates can be thrilling. So I tried to think of big personalities in chess, and other than Anna, the Botez sisters, and some smaller chess YouTubers who are women. But among the top players right now, nothing sticks out for me. But I don’t think this is because the top women in chess have no personality. I think it’s more that it’s not as accepted or encouraged that these women behave the way male chess players do. I think some of the older players like Judit Polgar were not only incredibly talented but also fun to watch. I also will not say that none of the women at the top have done interesting things, because they have. It’s just not reported on that often. Women’s chess has a what came first, the chicken or egg issue. Is there less interest in it because there is less coverage of it or is there less coverage of it because there is less interest in it?

Throughout all levels of women’s chess, you can find examples of how people treat Women Chess players differently than men. Many Women players have spoken out about it. There is a lot of harassment that goes on in the women’s chess world. Some players even received used condoms and pornographic photos in the mail. I think what people don’t understand about this is; that it is different to be in a space as a woman than it is a man. We women have to worry about not only playing chess, and improving our chess but also not calling too much attention to ourselves to get the “wrong” type of attention. I see many female chess players being harassed for their looks and some of the commentators, too. But these women face judgment not just based on their looks, but also on the way they express themselves. A prime example of that is Tania Sachdev, who does commentary often for chess tournaments. She is an International master and I think she has a unique way of looking at the game. I have seen firsthand in the running chat the harassment she gets. I’m pretty sure it’s mostly men, but they rip apart everything from how she looks, to how loud she speaks, to her speculating on what moves will come next in the game she is commentating. I don’t see the judgment of looks or getting excited when the game gets intense being used on Daniel Naroditsky or Peter Leko. This is where the sexism comes in. While male chess fans usually keep it about the games, some just can’t stop themselves from sexualizing women in the chess world. And it goes both ways too. I’ve seen people thirsting after the Botez sisters, not really paying attention to the games they are playing. Which that is fine, you do you boo, they are beautiful women, I get it. But I’ve also seen many, many, many comments against them talking about how they were only famous because they were pretty, or worse, calling them sluts. I will not lie and say that the Botex sister's attractiveness has nothing to do with how many subs they have, but I will say their looks are often weaponized against them and they are talented chess players and deserve to be in the chess realm. And they are not the only female players dealing with this. Womens International Master Sabrina Chevannes wrote an open letter just last year about this. You can read it HERE.

So because something as simple as getting excited while commentating, or simply being a woman can bring negative or unwanted attention to yourself as a female chess player, it makes complete sense to me that perhaps these women feel anxious or like they had to stifle themselves. As a woman, it seems impossible to just play chess, but it’s also difficult to be a top-level or celebrity player. There are so many extra things to deal with as a woman’s chess player. But there is also the fact that women don’t play men. There are mixed competitions, but usually, the FIDE scores of women are just too low for them to play the top male players right now. But why is that? Well, it’s complex and the reasons I’m going to list are all interrelated. First, chess is a male-dominated sport and around 85-90% of FIDE-rated players are male. Less than 2% of Grandmasters are women. The only positive thing about these numbers is it seems like there are girls in the younger age groups of players, even though there are still more boys overall in that group as well. Another reason the FIDE is lower in women is that the separation between men's and women’s tournaments can lead to an environment of less competition. The smaller number of women at the highest levels of play can have a greater impact on the average rating for women based on individual performances. The chess world will have to integrate men and women on more levels and in more competition for the top-rated women to catch up with the top-level men’s FIDE scores. I did see today there was some mixed play, and that is good. but we need MORE of it.

Chess.com does these great little vignettes of the different players so the person watching can get to know them better. My favorite one recently was Magnus Carlsen and David Howell playing chess while asking each other questions…while hooked up to a lie detector machine. It was fun and different and I thought it was cool. But these little interviews with the glossy slick lighting and interesting ideas are just not offered to as many women as men. Unsurprisingly, these men, particularly the GOAT Magnus Carlsen, are celebrities in the chess world, thus receiving more press than less popular players. I also know that it is mostly men-watching chess content (although many girls and women have recently begun to watch and play chess because of the amazing series The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix) and men seem to prefer men’s chess. I think though, if women’s chess is going to take off, the press and chess world should make space for up-and-coming female players, the same type of press they give to the men. I am not saying there is no attention given to women’s chess, just that there needs to be more promotion of it within the chess world. Women need a chance to show the chess world who they are without fear of retaliation, sexual harassment, or general abuse. I think that part of the problem with women’s chess is that it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Everyone thinks women aren’t as good at chess, and this leads to biases in the press and the fans’ eyes. I saw in the chat of a recent chess event that a man said he didn’t want to be “forced to watch women play because they aren’t as good as men, it’s boring,” and while I agree with him that it shouldn’t be “forced” (besides no one is forcing you to watch chess, there is not some law) there is a very simple way to fix this, more mixed tournaments. More of the top women playing the top men, even with a discrepancy in FIDE. I know it’s not done this way. But we need to create opportunities for women to improve their FIDE, but also for women players to gain more fans. The Chess world must most importantly create a safe, fair, and fun space for women to exist in.

I know also it seems like I am contradicting myself but saying that “women need to just play chess” and “women need to become celebrities or have more vibrant personalities”. But my answer to that is that we can have both. Additionally, I am not implying that all women players must be media or fan favorites. My point is that if they wish to have a higher public profile, they should be supported in their decision and feel secure in doing so. The more chess celebrities, the better! Women joining the popular chess tournaments and becoming more prominent in the chess world only furthers the sport, which gets more fans, more advertising, more chess!! But right now, I believe that the chess community stifles women players from becoming stronger and breaking the stereotypes imposed on them. On the other hand, I also know not all women want to be outgoing or loud or silly, and that’s ok too. There has been some improvement in the past few years, and I see an effort being made, but there just needs to be even more effort put into making the chess community more diverse and treating women in chess more fairly.

So for my part, I am going to watch more women’s chess, and I am going to promote it as much as I can. I think I was part of the problem, even though I am a woman. I also will try to be a little more confident in my interactions with the chess community and try to be more present at local chess events. The last two local tournaments were not ones you could spectate and I am trying to improve my game a little more before I enter one myself. So yeah, that was my random explosion about women’s chess.

Little me with my first Chess set that belonged to only me! It was an electronic set and I used to play against the computer for hours.

Again sorry I haven’t been around, I will be writing more soon!

Love, Aisling