Gender and Chess - "The Women of Chess"

WOMEN of CHESS
Gender and Chess - The Ever-Changing, Never-Ending Question...

An Ongoing Inquiry...

In these pages, we present an overview of women's achievements in chess.
Additional contents appear under the following sub-sections of our site:

Because of their "place" in society, women were not part of the development of chess until the Middle Ages. However, there is ample evidence in literature that they played. Primarily a game of leisure hours, frequently contested between wives and husbands and occasionally between lovers. in literature, women were generally cast in the role of a partner who, oddly, is a good player and who could have won, but who, for the sake of the story, somehow "throws" the game.

This stereotypical outline is clearly evident in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". In one of many subplots, The Bard suggests that women can be tricked by men and may actually enjoy playing up to the opportunity. Some additionally unflattering projections accrue and as final proof of the universal subservience of all women, Titania, a "fairy queen", is given no other choice but to relinquish her "Indian Boy" to Oberon, the fairy king", for inclusion among his legions. Similarly biased themes appear in many other classical literary works. Most certainly, women played - but were not supposed to be very strong players.

On average, an aura of nobility pervades literary examples, showing women who participated in chess to be "above the average among women" - which made them suitably exceptional for inclusion in a story. The prevailing thought in those days must have been that women were not generally as capable as men. However, this never stopped them from playing, even though their own "place" in society could often interfere with their game. Through their play, women have discovered for themselves that it is not a matter of too little imagination or too little logical ability, too much tenderness or too little aggression. Lazarevic understood the problem. Girls and women have until recently been expected to do other things.

Glass ceilings being what they are, a degree of militance among women players is to be expected. Few men have raised the suggestion that the only real difference between men and women chess players might be one of opportunity. Since many of the world's most proficient players are women. there is need for a more equitable approach to internationally sanctioned professional opportunities. Then, perhaps, players such as Gary Kasparov might take greater interest in playing women, rather than conjuring ways to checkmate "Big Blue".

From the Foreword to "Women in Chess, Players of the Modern Age"
by John Graham
(McFarland & Company, Inc. 1987)

"I disagree with women (and men) players who say, "The fact is that women are definitely not as good at chess as men." Fiddlesticks! Any past belief a woman may have had that she cannot be a top-ranked chess player is null and void today. Each year that I have directed the U.S. Open, more and more women participated. Their interest in chess is growing, as is the women's movement in general, which has created an independent spirit well suited for the game of chess, which is an independent game.

"When you play, it is your game. To be a good chess player, man or woman, you need, among other things, a good memory, and men and women have that equally. (My wife Leah has a better memory that I have, in fact.) Also needed are combinational ideas - and men and women are equally noted for their wiles and strategies; will power we all have that; egotistical traits - why not? Male players have it in abundance; and patience.

"When you read Women in Chess you will see that the world has had, and still has, outstanding women chess masters. Now they are taking high places in international grandmaster tournaments - and rightly so! If more attention was given to promoting chess among women, I would not be surprised if before long we have a woman as world champion. This attention to promotion will have to include offering the same monetary awards as are offered to male players at major tournaments."