CFC Women's Coordinator has an opinion piece in The Globe and Mail today

[Larry Bevand]

Veronica Hitchlock defends the need for women having their own chess tournaments. Page A11.

[Olga Mushtaler]

I can't read it, is there a way to read it if you are not subscribed?

[Peter McKillop]

Here you go, Olga:

"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."

[Hans Jung]

Building community, building community, building community, building community, lets say it until it sinks in.

[Bob Gillanders]

Thanks Peter. I hit the paywall as well.

Thanks Veronica. Great article.

Definitely more women and girls welcome. I will never forget my experience as an arbiter at the CYCC 2022 in Hamilton.
Most of our attention kept being drawn to the youngest group, U8. Specifically the boys.
To be fair, this was right after the COVID shutdown, so many of the youngest had very little over the board experience.

But the contrast between the U8 boys and U8 girls was stark.
Most of the boys were well behaved etc. but many complaints about their opponents: going to the washroom too often, he is staring at me, my opponent is sick, he is annoying me, etc.
Meanwhile, the girls mostly thanked us for running the tournament. So sweet.

[Bob Armstrong]

I am in favour of women's sole tournaments, as I am in favour of senior, junior, junior girls, and adult male sole tournaments. This encourages sub-communities, and widens the scope of chess.

But I argued some time ago, that the position of the chess powers should now be that the use of female only (Adult/Junior Girls) tournaments as the "incubator", gently leading females towards "open" tournaments, has now had its day. The junior girls now are equally represented by gender in the open junior tournaments.....check the percentages now, some years after I put my position.

The position now should be a full court press on women/Girls heading into Open Tournaments.

So, IMHO, it is time to cease separate, sole female gender, FIDE and other titles. Women are now capable of battling it out in open tournaments to obtain the gender neutral titles.

I want to say again........I am all for a Women's World Chess Champion through a sole gender tournament ... it is a significant achievement. But the whole female title system, in my view, is now dubious.

Bob A (Former Editor of Toronto Chess News & Views, where my articles can be found)

[Neil Frarey]

I want to say again.... But the whole female title system, in my view, is now dubious.

Bob A

Good to read you're finally coming around, Bob A.

I've been shouting out load and clear for decades ... FIDE is a two tiered rating system structured to discriminate ... simply put it is patriarchal and somewhat misogynistic.

Example?

Here's just one ...

Woman Candidate Master is the lowest-ranking title awarded by FIDE.

Seems go along to get along folks ... such as the CFC Women's Coordinator ... are more the same old same old.

Sigh.

[Vlad Drkulec]

I am in favour of women's sole tournaments, as I am in favour of senior, junior, junior girls, and adult male sole tournaments. This encourages sub-communities, and widens the scope of chess.

But I argued some time ago, that the position of the chess powers should now be that the use of female only (Adult/Junior Girls) tournaments as the "incubator", gently leading females towards "open" tournaments, has now had its day. The junior girls now are equally represented by gender in the open junior tournaments.....check the percentages now, some years after I put my position.

I don't think that is true.There are more boys than girls playing in most junior events. The father of some very well known young women once told me that they very much appreciated the women's titles. We should not take away any of the incentives that encourage girls and women to continue to play chess. The ones that do, learn lessons that apply far beyond the chess board. My touchstone story is always the 2013 under 14 girls section in CYCC where two of the girls from Windsor tied for second (Rachel Tao and Erica Forshaw). Qiyu Zhou finished first and a year later was a world champion at WYCC. She became a social media star, a women's grandmaster and a multiple times member of our women's Olympiad team.The Windsor players are both engineers who have graduated from the University of Waterloo. Pretty much every one of the girls in that tournament went on academic distinction and are immersed in careers that are promising.

The position now should be a full court press on women/Girls heading into Open Tournaments.

So, IMHO, it is time to cease separate, sole female gender, FIDE and other titles. Women are now capable of battling it out in open tournaments to obtain the gender neutral titles.

The girls and women don't agree with you. The parents don't agree with you. I don't agree with you.

If you want more women playing chess, it is probably a good idea to ask them and not pay attention to what the old democratic marxist is opining on the matter. It is predictable that the usual bitter, malcontents [not you Bob] try to diminish Veronica and what Veronica said in the article and indeed attack her.

They belong to yesterday and have little relevance to how chess is unfolding in the modern world today and in the future.

[Peter McKillop]

I don't think that is true.There are more boys than girls playing in most junior events. The father of some very well known young women once told me that they very much appreciated the women's titles. We should not take away any of the incentives that encourage girls and women to continue to play chess. The ones that do, learn lessons that apply far beyond the chess board. My touchstone story is always the 2013 under 14 girls section in CYCC where two of the girls from Windsor tied for second (Rachel Tao and Erica Forshaw). Qiyu Zhou finished first and a year later was a world champion at WYCC. She became a social media star, a women's grandmaster and a multiple times member of our women's Olympiad team.The Windsor players are both engineers who have graduated from the University of Waterloo. Pretty much every one of the girls in that tournament went on academic distinction and are immersed in careers that are promising.



The girls and women don't agree with you. The parents don't agree with you. I don't agree with you.

If you want more women playing chess, it is probably a good idea to ask them and not pay attention to what the old democratic marxist is opining on the matter. It is predictable that the usual malcontents [not you Bob] try to diminish Veronica and what Veronica said in the article and indeed attack her.

They belong to yesterday and have little relevance to how chess is unfolding in the modern world today and in the future.

Well said, Vlad. Especially this: "They belong to yesterday ...."

[Hans Jung]

Clearly we should give women and girls what they want in regards to tournaments - why is it so hard for some to receive this message?

[Vlad Drkulec]

Well said, Vlad. Especially this: "They belong to yesterday ...."

We had a good look at what today and tomorrow's chess leaders can accomplish at the 2024 Candidates tournament in Toronto.

Yesterday's chess people have an oversized influence on some. They demand respect and yet don't offer any. They pretend that they represent the golden age of chess and yet it is only as their time fades from the public memory that we can shed their predictable legacy of stagnation and apathy and even hatred when it comes to organized chess in Canada.

[Halldor P. Palsson]

I support the program. When the RA Chess Club and the EOCA organized the 2016 Women's Zonal in Ottawa it had not run for some years.

Looking at our current situation the CFC can be very proud of the women's program. We have homegrown WGMs and WIMs and a lot of participants at all levels. Mandated tournaments are run and the numbers are way up.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Clearly we should give women and girls what they want in regards to tournaments - why is it so hard for some to receive this message?

Some are trolling, some are playing homage to an ideological agenda, some are just sad individuals who are hateful. They don't like to see things change. They need to get used to it. We have managed to get women into positions of authority on the board of directors of the CFC and all have been effective and have contributed to the CFC's recent success.