Lots of laughter and mockery ensued last week when the International Chess Federation announced that trans women (men who call themselves women) would not be allowed to play in women’s tournaments.
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Even some conservatives opined that this is one “sport” where physical strength is not an issue, so who cares if men play women? I bet not one of these “experts” ever played chess, at least not seriously, or stopped to consider why women’s tournaments exist.
When I was a young teen, a family friend used to host a “friendly” chess tournament every year. Categories were simply adult and youth. The adults were always ALL men, and among the non-adults, I was usually the only girl. A lot of them took the game seriously—throughout the year, they read chess books and played-out famous games to improve their skills.
I rarely won a game at this neighborhood event, but when I did, it was often met with anger. Partly because I was a girl, of course, but mostly because I didn’t know or care about “opening gambits,” “end games,” and whatever comes in between. I just liked playing. In fact, I most likely won because I didn’t follow the expected pattern.
I pretty much stopped playing after high school, though I did teach my daughter the game. In middle school, she joined the chess club and actually went to some tournaments with timers and referees, and rule books. Sadly her experience was similar to mine, though worse as these were not “friendly” events. They were serious—no one chatted, some of the boys were very aggressive, and the kids were even expected to dress up. There were never more than a couple of girls, and as partners were chosen by draw, the girls rarely played each other even though they wanted to. My daughter didn’t enjoy the tournaments and soon gave up chess altogether.
I’ve never been to one, but I’m guessing the women-only events are run to encourage more girls to play and stick with the game. I read that only 12% of all chess players are women, so one can see that without a women’s category, a girl would rarely play another girl.
Any woman who wishes to can play in open tournaments. If a trans individual wants to play competitively, he/she can do that too. I applaud the chess federation’s decision to maintain women-only tournaments. I hope it encourages many girls and women to continue playing rather than drop out like my daughter and I did.
