Women not on top in chess
DC | TN Raghu | 16 min 20 sec ago
Chennai: German chancellor Angela Merkel is setting the economic agenda for European Union members and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is able to snub the US, as she is upset with the super power’s spying network. A NASA trip into space is rare these days without a woman astronaut. But women aren’t equal to men in the world of chess.
While there is an unmistakeable buzz about the world championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen even before a piece has been moved, the ongoing women’s championship involving China’s Hou Yifan and Anna Ushenina of Ukraine has grabbed little attention.
The purpose of this article isn’t to hype up the issue from the feminist viewpoint but to highlight the glaring anonymity of the contest to decide the best woman player on the earth.
From prize money to media coverage, the Yifan – Ushenina meeting is no match to the widely anticipated gladiatorial battle between Anand and Carlsen. Admittedly, women have a long way to go to catch up with men in performance. In the FIDE ranking list based on elo rating, no woman finds a place in the top 50. Yifan’s rating is 2609 while Carlsen is at the top of the heap at 2862. As per FIDE‘s September list, Judit Polgar of Hungary has 2696, the highest rating for women and she is ranked 54.
The difference in rating and ability between men and women can perhaps be explained by science. But Susan Polgar, a pioneer for women in chess, knows what needs to be done to bridge the gender gap in the mind game. The US grandmaster of Hungarian origin – she was the first woman to become a GM (from OTB performance) – answered Deccan Chronicle’s questions on the subject, which is close to her heart, in an e-mail interview.
There isn’t even a blip on the media radar about the Yifan – Ushenina match. Why is the coverage poor for women’s title match? The media interest, on the other hand, is huge for the Anand – Carlsen match…
There are a number of reasons for the difference.
The women’s match is taking place in China. There is a huge difference in time zone. It’s true that there is usually a lack of interest in women’s chess in the first place. And this match-up is not very interesting based on the perception of the media and fans, as the rating difference is more than 110 points.
Ushenina is relatively unknown to chess fans. Other than the official report on the FIDE website, there is virtually nothing offered such as live commentary in English. There was no pre-event promotion. Therefore, it seems that even the organisers are not concerned about international publicity .
There is equal prize money for men and women in tennis. What are the steps necessary to get equal prize money in chess?
It took a lot to get women’s tennis on level terms with men. Billy Jean King was a force in changing women’s tennis. After winning the US Open in 1972, she refused to defend her title in 1973 unless women got equal money as men. Other top women players supported her position. She also led a movement to boycott events that didn’t offer equal prize money .
Unfortunately, chess players do not unite for better conditions. This problem is not exclusive to women. Top male chess players can make a very good living. Many of them are millionaires or quite wealthy, thanks to Bobby Fischer. However, most GMs aren’t making enough money.
When I stood up against FIDE protesting unfair conditions in my women’s world championship title defense in 1999, not even a single player (male or female) supported my fight for fair play. Consequently, prize funds for women went down further. Unless chess players, especially women, join hands, nothing will change. FIDE should get an experienced media/marketing and PR person to promote women’s chess and chess in general.
Yifan – Ushenina being treated on par with Anand – Carlsen match?
This is a very sensitive question. In general, I would like the prize funds for women to increase to men’s level. However, the players must also do their part to help create interest and marketability for their sport. No sponsor would come with millions of dollars for something that does not yield positive returns. In fact, FIDE had a hard time finding sponsors for women’s world championship.
It is unrealistic to believe that they can find sponsors for the women’s world championship at the same level as Anand vs Carlsen. In addition, there is too much politics in the world of chess that directly hinders the general growth of the sport, especially for women. I have faced a lot of hurdles in my efforts to promote women’s chess in the US.
I want to bring chess to the highest level to attract major sponsors and supporters. Chess politicians, on the other hand, only want to have power for life. So the battle is not with the media or sponsors. The battle for chess players from around the world is with chess politicians at all levels.
Women players make too little money. They are afraid to lose what little they have if they get on the wrong side of chess politicians.
Please give your general opinion on women’s chess.
Women’s chess can be very exciting. It has grown tremendously since I became the first to earn the GM title in 1991. Today there are more than 2 dozen women who have the GM title. Women are also incredible fighters on the board. There are a lot more decisive results in women’s chess. They also generally dress well and conduct themselves better than men. However, we still have a long way to go.
There are still fewer women in competitive chess. It remains very hard for a woman to make a living as a professional chess player. My sister Judit and I are an exception. Therefore, it is a Catch-22. If it is hard to make a living in chess for women, few will be interested to pursue chess at the highest level. And if there are fewer women players who can successfully compete with men in the same level, there will be less interest in women’s chess.
Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com
Women make peanuts.
Susan, well said.
That’s what is happening now and it sad. This politics in chess world have only self interest. Women’s chess should be treated equally with men’s chess. Poor FIDE because luck of support to Women’s chess. I believe, GM’s on elite level can help the promotion of Women’s chess with greater influence to public.
*If All Women Gm’s stand up for this issue and address to FIDE, there will be change.
Good morning Susan,
You are just great with the sharpness and clarity you describe the situation in a very mature way. It really shows that you have insight and understanding. I have read your blog post carefully because I want to clarify why female chess is so anonymous. Without you and your sisters’ extensive work had female chess perhaps barely existed. Everything you describe is summarized one part of the problem. Another part of the problem is my own theory that women may suffer from lack of the winning instinct. I updated my FB profile yesterday, with some of my own thoughts upon the same theme “The third Women’s Grand Prix has begun in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The tournament is part of the Women’s World Championship cycle and features some of the strongest women chess players.” (ChessBase)Well, the summary from the first day consists of mistakes and the influence of time pressure. Not good. Alexander Alekhine would never accept pressure of time as an excuse to play bad chess. He is considered one of the greatest chess players ever. “…not winning is just not an option” is a quote by Magnus Carlsen. He is #1 of our time, the highest ranked player in the world. Perhaps the ladies must dare to be tougher on the board. I think they are just too cautious. Maybe.” You and your sisters probably would not have been able to reach the top without adding both being moxie and tough on the board. But you have also had an extremely unusual support from your father- and last but not least, the sister support you have from each other. I think it is possible to lift the female chess to a new, higher level by looking at each element individually, analyze the problem and then go in to solve it.
Remember that you sisters are hugely inspiring players and fantastic role models. I wish you good luck with everything! Have a nice day.
Yours sinc. Silja
Every markrting guy knows Sex sells.
More and better women players will ultimatelly make both womens chess and chess overall more popular with the public.
Every chess player, fan or sponsor should continue to support and encourage women in chess, especially at the club level.
Acrtic Knight
In a free market system, the market forces determine the value.. Lets not compare women tennis to women chess.. the top 10 women player endorsements carry lot of weight – so the sponsors make money.. It is not about women chess. Chess in general will not have high sponsorship value..
The reason is simple: Chess is a brain sport, not a sport where women are inferiour to men by their genes. Therefore the womens title will be artificial, just like a WC title for black or blue eyed or whatever would be.
There are very good social reasons to have womens tourneys or disabled tourneys etc, but the only real WC title is and will be THE WC title between two best players, whether they are dwarfs, redheads, muslim, men or women.
Thank you! Finally someone who understands! Chess these days are equal and the only reason women aren’t in top 50 is because there is a lack of interest from their gender. End of discussion.
dear Susan,
I think Dilma Russef is rigth about snub Us, because the Us and NSA think that can to Spy everyone!! OBAMA MUST EXPLAIN THESE ESPIONAGE!!
Why arent Susan and other female GMs talking about the elephant in the room like Awfulh. mentiomed…that women are equally capable to be nr 1.? Some top female GMs say women have different nervous system from men and therefore the segregation is needed. The reason for few female top players and few female chessplayers in general, are due to historical and social reisens, gender issues, not genetics. I suggest FIDE vote that the olympiad in 2018 will be the last year for womens chess and wc matches. There might be private initiatives but no official.
I hate to be critical here, but you left out one glaring fact.
What is the point of a Women’s World Championship when we all know who the best female player in the world is? When Kasparov broke away from FIDE, no matter what FIDE tried to do, everyone knew Kasparov was the world title holder as we know Judit is the de facto Women’s World Champion.
If there is to be a glimmer of interest in this, Yifan needs to be playing at Judit’s level. Only at that point there is something to decide that would attract sponsorship money.
Finally, the message that the best female player in the world has been broadcasting over the last decade is that women should be competing directly with the men, not in a separate female exclusive division.
How does a reporter even write an article about the event? A match to determine the second best female player in the world? It would be lucky get as much press as some of the minor men’s tournaments do these days.
I hope this is not too harsh here, but I hope you can see the marketing problem with the product. Not that women’s chess is not a worthy goal.
The article incorrectly uses Yifan for Hou Yifan’s family name, e.g. Yifan – Ushenina. Hou is her family name/surname, not Yifan. (Chinese names are reversed, giving the family name first)
So it should be Hou-Ushenina.
Many countries, women are not treated equally as men in most areas of social and sporting life. In some countries women are at the lowest level of the social ladder – they are not even allow to drive a car! Until women are treated equally there will always be a disparity.
Look at Koneru and India. She gets hardly any support from the Indian government or chess federation.
China support their women sport (including chess) better because women bring more medals and glory to China. That is why Chinese women perform better in Chess ( or other sports).
“Billy Jean King” *facepalm* How much respect could you possibly have for her?
Female players are awarded less money and coverage because it’s an inferior level of chess. Inferior chess doesn’t draw the same level of excitement. This is the reason one ever clamors that junior champions or amateur-level winners should be paid the same as the true world champion.
If any woman ever reaches a world class level, she won’t care what’s going in women’s events because she’ll have higher aspirations.
The closest has been Judit, but her breathtakingly awful classical scores against most of the top men shows us that she was never truly THAT close.
Articles like this one are only going to cause the level of respect for women to drop. Don’t demand equal pay before you can demonstrate equal play.
One day maybe Hou will challenge Magnus Carlsen in a WC and _then_ _if_ she wins _then_ she will become _real_ WC.
To Anon – Sept 20 11:30 am.
“Yifan needs to be playing at Judith’s level’ & “a match to determine the 2nd best female player in the world?” etc.
Now, not taking away the fact that Judith was a superlative player, right now Yifan is the best female player out there. She easily took out Judith the only time they faced off. Right now Yifan will defeat Judith in a match up. Youth,modern training techniques etc. I guess the same goes for Carlsen vs Anand. The new gives way to the old – a fact of life. If not Karpov would still be World Champion.
Reason #1: Polgar sisters spurned women’s chess championship and opted for men’s tournments.
Reason #2: Women do not take chess as seriously as marriage and children. For example, Xie Jun, Zhu Chen, and Xi Yuhua (women’s chess champions) all left chess for marriage and raising children.
Reason #3: Little opportunities to play best men players.
Hou Yifan is a chess prodigy from birth (gifted). Unlike the Polgars, she was not raised to play chess. At 5 yrs old she was beating adults. She is currently playing at ELO 2700+ strength. She is attending Beijing University.
FIDE should waiver her into the championship cycle. Only fitting for God’s gift to man.
OOPS! You made a mistake!
The prize money in tennis is not equal!
Women make more money!
They play fewer games and endure less stress then men for the same money.
They don’t work as hard.
This is a wage gap that must be addressed. Pay the men more for the sake of equality
What an idiot & sexist post by Anon 11-23. So longer movies should be charged more? 120 min movies $20 while 90 min movies $10? It is about entertaining value you moron.