Women's Chess?

I'd decided it was time to start writing again, it was just getting the inspiration to get on and do it. My own life is in a pretty good place at the moment, and I'm beginning to find good form in my chess. I'll be writing quite a bit about my chess and the things that are happening in my little part of the world over the coming months. But what has driven me to write this post is a subject I've talked about before, the inequality in our game between men and women.

Having worked with a number of young female players, I've seen them come up against both blatant, and non blatant sexism that seems to be ingrained in our psyche. The fact that we call chess played by women "women's chess" as if it is a different game to that played by men is an instant sign. In fact, in an event where there is no physical strength advantage for men over women, why on earth do we need to have a segregated game? Because that is essentially what we have! Federations, coaches, clubs, leagues etc all kow-tow to this gender difference though it shouldn't exist.

Now why, you may ask, am I getting worked up about this? Well I follow an author on Twitter, Joanne Harris, who tweeted about the poor press that women artists have received through history, and it resonated with me as being exactly the same issues as affects chess. Let's have a look at Joanne Harris' points and see how they can be applied to our chess world.

1. Make it hard for women to study art by controlling access to education. #TenWaysToSuppressArtByWomen

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) April 14, 2017

In chess there has been limited opportunities historically for women to compete with the best male players, and top coaches have given more time and effort to their young boys and men than to the girls.

2. Segregate men and women, allowing only men to study subjects like anatomy and the history of art. #TenWaysToSuppressArtByWomen

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) April 14, 2017

Segregation is overt in the chess world. Officials talk about giving female players extra opportunities by staging events such as the European Women's Championship currently being held in Latvia, but this is just another form of segregation. Chess is an activity that all can compete on an even footing regardless of age, social background, race, gender etc. I can understand age group events, but even then there are boys and girls sections as if we are preparing them for their segregated adult playing life.

3. Make sure the writing and teaching of art and art history is controlled primarily by men. #TenWaysToSuppressArtByWomen

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) April 14, 2017

How many chess books by women authors do you own? How many can you even think about? There are thousands of chess titles by men, most of which are average or below in quality. How many women coaches can you name? Actually, it is the same in art where I was embarrassed to struggle to name any female artists throughout history. I'm no art buff, but nevertheless, this is a shocking omission in my knowledge, and it is not all my fault as art is presented to me by men of primarily male artists. Chess is the same.

4. Make sure art critics and other influencers are all male. #TenWaysToSuppressArtByWomen

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) April 14, 2017

The answer above still applies to this.

5. By limiting the education of women, create the myth that women are intellectually weaker than men. #TenWaysToSuppressArtByWomen

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) April 14, 2017

Really? Is the eminent British author suggesting that women's brains aren't "hard-wired differently" to men's like the eminent British chess player once suggested? To be fair to Mr. Short, he is not the only one in our realm to believe this, though others are not so forthright in expressing their opinions.

6. By keeping women in the home, create the myth that women's art is "domestic." #TenWaysToSuppressArtByWomen

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) April 14, 2017

This is an argument I've heard so many times in chess circles. Women can't reach the top because of their domestic role. Housekeeping, child rearing, cleaning up after the main bread winner of the household. Couples order their lives based on the joint abilities of each partner. Caroline was the skilled partner in our household and I deferred her the role of main breadwinner happily. In time, circumstances have changed and we are now more even in our professional and domestic roles. It's the 21st century for heaven's sake! Equality is about opportunity for all regardless of gender or social status (though perhaps not in Trump's new medieval America).

7. When a woman does manage to create outstanding art in spite of all obstacles, attribute it to a relative. #TenWaysToSuppressArtByWomen

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) April 14, 2017

 If you haven't read anything by Judit Polgar, then I suggest you do, her books are excellent, she is an ambassador for women's rights championing the planet50-50 by 2030 campaign, as well as being the strongest female player in history. In her efforts to become a strong player she encountered overt and covert racism, which she has related in her books and writings. Even so, shemade it into the world's top 10.....

8. If a woman suceeds in spite of this, make sure you tell everyone she was unnatural, unfeminine or unhappy. #TenWaysToSuppressArtByWomen

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) April 14, 2017

....where she was branded a man by default, more male than female, and all the other things which belittled her status as a great player who had just been born a girl!

9. If all else fails, comment on her appearance, rather than her achievements. #TenWaysToSuppressArtByWomen

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) April 14, 2017

 Though I'd rather not go there, this is another jibe girls and women have to endure. I cringe to think about some of the things I've heard people say at chess clubs about female players, and I admire those girls and women to rise above it and just keep carrying on. The same things aren't thrown at men, and this is simply an ignorant form of discrimination.

10. And most of all, when talking about her art, make sure you call it "women's art", rather than just "art." #TenWaysToSuppressArtByWomen

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) April 14, 2017

 Yes, absolutely. We have "women's chess". It is an inferior form of the game. You don't have to be so good to play it as the 'normal' game'. To be a male Grand Master you have to reach a 2500 rating level, whereas in "women's chess" the Grand Master title is only 2300. The same incremental difference can be seen for International Master's etc. The rationale? It encourages women a bit! WTF??? It encourages them to be worse. It rewards girls for achieving a lower level than boys.

Now how anybody can think this is not discrimination is beyond my understanding. The chess world is unfairly biased against women. The chances of us getting a top female player are minimal because girls have to undergo abuse, discrimination, assumed inferiority, segregation, and are given less opportunity than boys to perform at a high level. I'm an #heforshe advocate and it's time that we developed an equal playing field for girls and boys, treating kids the same, adults the same, giving them the same opportunities and rewarding them for attaining the same levels. Until that happens, I'm sad that my beloved game is discriminatory against girls and women.

#HeforShe in Chess

I popped into the Melbourne Chess Club today to check out the Australian Women's Master's that is currently taking place, and to touch base with my favourite club. I haven't been to the Melbourne Chess Club for probably over 6 months, and have missed the place somewhat. When I walked in the door, the first person I saw was Elizabeth Warren who used to be vice-President of MCC when I was on the committee a few years back. She doesn't live that far from me and I've always found her easy to talk to and get along with.

Elizabeth told me that she had taken some time off the committee, but she still regularly hangs around the club helping out and playing at Saturday Allegro tournaments, and on a Tuesday night. We had a chat, a laugh about times gone by, and then she dropped that she was standing for President of the MCC, and if elected, the first female President of the MCC in it's glorious 149 years history. Although this doesn't surprise me, the fact that women have been so under represented in positions of authority in Australian chess (and World chess, for that matter) is, when you think about it, quite appalling.

The ACF has no women represented at all in it's staff. I am fairly new to Australia, but I'm guessing that the ACF's history won't be filled with female Presidents, and a look through the archives will probably show that there has been a general lack of representation for women at the administrative level. Chess Victoria does a little better, with Elsa Yueh on the executive, and Katrin Aladjova-Kusznirczuk as ambassador and former President. I have no idea again, if there has been much in the way of representation for women in the history of Chess Victoria, but I would guess not.

While these trends aren't particular to Australia, I've used these organisations as examples because that is where I'm based. Chess is a game organised in a non inclusive way, to the detriment of women, among others. Just the fact that there is a an Australian Women's Championship, and exclusive women's events are organised in this country, but there is no department for women's chess, no officer in charge of promoting or organising this, regardless of gender, is somewhat of an anomaly. But here's a list off the top of my head of some issues which make chess a male dominated game:

- lack of female representation in chess organisations
- lower expectation's of performance, for example the significantly lower norm requirements for women
- lower numbers of girls playing the game, and encouraged to play the game at a lower level. There is a well reasoned article by Greg Shahade on the benefits of girls only tournaments, but why strong girls shouldn't play in them published in 2014.
- women only events (I'm actually rather creeped out by this, it has somewhat the feeling of segregation about it)
- BUT, if women's only events are so important, why was the women's World Championship delayed last year, and still has not been played? There was no such problem for the men's event, even after some difficult negotiating by the parties involved.
- AND, inequity of prizes for men and women. I mean, if they are to be separated, then at least make the prizes similar for men's and women's tournaments, or even girls/boys events where the inequity even exists!

Currently, WIM Anne Haast is playing in the B-section of the Tata Steel event and is on 1.5/3. If she scores 5/13, she qualifies for an IM norm and 7/13 should get her a GM norm. She can also qualify for WGM/WIM norms from this event if I correctly understand rule 1.45 of the FIDE handbook section on Title Regulations. So I guess what I'm saying is what is the need of round robin women's only events? Shouldn't strong female players be encouraged to participate with strong male players, and then we can drop the gender issue and just call anyone and everyone a player of their level? Because even saying things such as a "strong female player" has a bias to it. No women played in either section of the Australasian Masters tournament held in December, round robin tournaments held to offer norm opportunities to players.

I won't be going to the MCC AGM, but I left my vote with Elizabeth as a proxy for her to cast for me. Essentially, I have cast my vote for Elizabeth in the election, and I hope she becomes the next President of the MCC. I personally would like to see more encouragement for women to participate in our great game, at a player level, an administrative level, and as an equal to their male opponents.

For those of you not sure about gender equality issues and why men should take a part in gender equality and feminist issues, then take a look at this video, which helped to kick start the HeforShe campaign that took shape last year.  It will give a good introduction to the subject, and listening to Emma Watson's speech, you can hear things which definitely apply in the world of chess, marking us as acting in unequal ways.