Shanghai (AFP)

Failure of the king. Two of the biggest chess players on the planet compete this week in Shanghai for a title of world champion and a record prize pool, in a discipline still largely dominated by men.

The 500,000 euros that will reward the defending champion Ju Wenjun and her Russian rival Aleksandra Goriatchkina constitute the biggest loot in the almost centenary history of the Women's World Championship.

The International Chess Federation (Fide) sees it as a historic moment for a category that has long lagged behind notoriety and prizes won by men.

The winner, who will win after 12 games played in Shanghai, but also in Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East, will leave with 300,000 euros.

The total prize pool is up 150% compared to the previous championship, according to Fide. The format of the competition has also been modified to align with that of the World Chess Championship proper, in principle open to all but in practice monopolized by men.

"We are working to increase the prestige of the women's tournament and also to close the prize gap with the men," said Fide vice-president Nigel Short.

A policy set in motion after the election, in October 2018, of former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkadi Dvorkovich as president of the International Federation.

On the eve of the tournament on Sunday, rising Russian chess star Aleksandra Goriatchkina, 21, said the changes were "very positive" but said she was playing for the title, not for the money.

Shohreh Bayat, referee of the match between the young Russian and her Chinese rival, 28, does not believe that the failures have reached a "MeToo" phase, in reference to the international movement to denounce sexual harassment.

The Iranian referee, however, acknowledges the existence of "numerous complaints from women against the format of the tournaments and the amount of the rewards".

She hopes that one day the best players will win as much as Magnus Carlsen, the current Norwegian world champion.

But "if we compare the rankings, men are currently better than women, that's the big difference," she said.

- For equal arms -

The 500,000 euros reward represents only half of the stake given to the participants of the World Championship (men). And some believe that the very existence of a tournament reserved for women is an obstacle to gender equality.

"One wonders if it would not be better to abolish women's tournaments and the prizes reserved for girls," acknowledges specialist journalist David Cox, who contributes to the Chess.com website.

"After all, chess is a sport for which men and women play on equal terms. This would encourage more girls to aim higher and to try to become the best short player rather than the best in the female category," observes there.

Male domination is simply explained by the fact that women are much less numerous than men practicing the discipline, underline Mrs. Bayat as Mr. Cox.

For example, only 14.5% of licensees in the American chess federation are women - double their proportion from 20 years ago.

Jennifer Shahade, director of the women's program of the American federation, judges that Fide is on the right track with the increase of the prices given to the best players.

"Building a large pool of players is crucial to developing the game of chess," she said.

"In our era of permanent distraction, where the intellectual is in tow of the immediate and the visual, chess plays a crucial role", remarks this former national champion.

"Men, boys, but even more women and girls, need the help of chess more than ever," she said.

© 2020 AFP