Progress in women’s chess, but more can be done to close gender gap, say grandmasters

SINGAPORE – When Alexandra Kosteniuk signed her daughter up for a football camp some time ago, the latter refused to continue after one session because she was the only girl playing.

The Swiss-Russian chess grandmaster knows all too well what it is like to be a female player in a male-dominated game.

Growing up, her peers at chess tournaments were mainly boys and while that did not hinder her progress, she acknowledges that it is one of the key factors that may deter girls from getting into the game.

On her daughter’s football experience, she said: “It was only after that I realised that for most of the girls, it’s a very important factor. They do need, not only role models, but some female friends who also go with them because they can be shy, they don’t feel comfortable if there are boys around.

“It depends on the individual, of course – for me, it was not the case, but for many girls, it is. That’s why we need to have girls playing chess, so other girls also start playing and start considering coming to chess clubs, to chess tournaments, because they’re going to have fun with their friends.”

The 40-year-old was speaking after a 20-board tandem simultaneous exhibition on Dec 7 with Ukrainian grandmaster Anna Muzychuk at Sentosa’s Equarius Hotel, where the Fide World Championship is taking place.

While Kosteniuk and Muzychuk feel the circumstances for women players have improved significantly as compared to the beginning of their careers, the gap between the genders still persists.

This is evident from the number of players holding the highest chess title of grandmaster – 42 women and 1,804 men.

It is a numbers game, with Kosteniuk and Muzychuk pointing to how there are still fewer girls playing chess than boys.

Attributing this to several factors, Kosteniuk said one is the perception that parents do not consider chess a game for girls, which prevents them from even getting started.

Agreeing, Muzychuk said: “The more girls, the more women join chess, the better. It’s important to speak about it because being a chess player is not such a bad profession after all.

“If you show them the opportunities which chess gives and women can be good chess players, I think more and more girls will join, then of course, the probability that someone will get better results is higher.”

Kosteniuk, a former women’s world chess champion, also noted that self-imposed limits hinder the progress of female players.

“Sometimes subconsciously, even though they have good intentions, coaches say to the girls, you’re going to work, you’re going to become a women’s world chess champion,” said Kosteniuk, who also won the 2021 Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship.

“Why do people put the bar (there), which is not low, of course, but significantly low as compared to overall world champion, if it’s possible and I don’t see why it shouldn’t be.”

To promote greater participation, there are separate tournaments for women and titles that are solely for them, though this is a subject of debate among the chess community.

Muzychuk, who is the fourth woman in chess history to attain a Fide rating of at least 2,600, is a supporter.

“We should have it separately because this is a big stimulation for women, to get women started, to win tournaments, to get confidence,” said the 34-year-old, who won the Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship in 2016 and the Women’s World Blitz Chess Championship in 2014 and 2016.

“The situation we have now is better, it creates those opportunities.”

Although Kosteniuk understands the rationale behind gender-specific titles and competitions, she cited Hungarian grandmaster Judit Polgar’s suggestion to abolish women’s titles and have them based purely on ratings, for example.

She said: “I agree that even though these gender separation titles are great to motivate girls, sometimes it’s confusing for people to see GM (grandmaster), WGM (woman grandmaster)...

“We cannot stagnate, we have to go on, we have to analyse, we have to grow somehow and it’s possible that it’s going to be changed.”

Meanwhile, in game 10 of the Fide World Championship on Dec 7, reigning champion Ding Liren and challenger Gukesh Dommaraju played to a seventh straight draw, leaving the contest even at 5-5 with four games to go.