Veronica Hitchlock is the women’s co-ordinator at the Chess Federation of Canada.
When top chess players gathered from around the world in Toronto in April to compete for a chance to play in a World Champion game, some observers were puzzled. Why did the International Chess Federation (FIDE) run two separate tournaments – an open tournament for players of any gender, and a category for women? Separate competitions for men and women in sports such as hockey and soccer are common, but chess is a mental sport where physical differences shouldn’t matter, so why would women need their own tournament?
The debate over women’s tournaments is often heated. These conversations usually focus on the capabilities of female players but miss the heart of why women’s tournaments are important: they attract and keep women in the game by building community.
Even though the Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit brought women’s chess into the limelight, it still has a long-standing reputation as a boys’ club. Chess is a very male-dominated game, with women making up only 11 per cent of competitive chess players.
In sports such as soccer, girls and boys play in roughly equal numbers. In chess, young children of both genders participate at a similar rate, but once girls reach middle school, many leave the game. The reasons girls leave vary, but often it’s because they lack the social connections in chess to keep them involved.
Women and girls in male-dominated environments often face discrimination and in certain circumstances outright risks to their safety. In 2023, an American Grandmaster was publicly accused of sexual assault. The women bringing forward the allegations say that for years, the organizations involved had failed to properly investigate their claims.
Safe Play policies have been adopted by many chess federations, outlining what behaviours are unacceptable. These are a good start but must be accompanied by fostering a safe community for everyone.
Pub and university chess clubs in Canada have done an exceptional job of this. Almost all Canadian university chess clubs have at least one woman on their executive and on their competitive teams, a much higher representation than more traditional clubs. So what are they doing that more traditional chess clubs aren’t? They’re focusing on building community.
The casual environment of pub chess games encourages chatting while playing and meeting new people. University chess clubs are often a similarly relaxed environment and opportunities such as the annual Canadian University Chess Championship provide an opportunity for team building. These dynamics foster friendships in the community that allow anyone who might feel nervous about participating to feel supported.
Another factor is role models. The higher representation of women already in the pub and university chess communities can inspire other women to take the leap and join. This leads to clubs that can recruit more women, drawing in exponentially more in the long term.
Women’s events at the local level offer a similar opportunity, giving women a chance to try chess in a lower-pressure environment and build the connections that will support them in the chess community. At the elite level, events such as the Women’s Candidates Tournament shine a light on strong players to inspire young girls to pursue chess.
That being said, women’s tournaments alone aren’t enough to bring more women into chess. Traditional chess clubs need to work to build a welcoming community to bolster their women’s membership and should take notes from what’s working in more casual clubs. One idea would be running more community-focused events, such as a social night where potential members can meet current members, or hosting casual blitz and rapid tournaments to encourage chatting with your opponent.
The chess community needs more people to create those spaces, so seasoned tournament directors as well as people who have only played online should consider watching, organizing or participating in a women’s event in the future.
When we move the pieces blocking our queens from joining the attack, the discoveries we can make are endless.