Why do women have their own World Chess?

The current world chess champion, Ju Wenjun, and the title contender, Aleksandra Goryachkina, begin today a duel that is decided to the best of 12 games. The match, whose first half is held in Shanghai and the second in Vladivostok, has a prize pool of half a million euros. At stake, in addition, is the pride of two of the largest nations on the planet: since the fall of the Soviet Union, of the 14 world champions that have been crowned, nine have been Chinese, for a single Russian.

Nationalisms aside, this encounter also provokes the fiery confrontation between two other large blocks: that of those who think that women's chess competitions should be completely abolished, compared to those who justify them and even demand more support for them. The issue became a topic of debate in the European Parliament, when in 1999 the Socialist MEP Maria Sornosa made the proposal that female chess tournaments were eradicated.

There are female chess championships, but strictly speaking, there are no male championships. In 1986, Susan Polgar managed to qualify for the previous phase of the World Cup, which forced to erase the masculine word of the regulation, to go on to call it open. Any woman can choose if she chooses to play in one or another category, without restrictions.

It was precisely another Polgar, his little sister Judit, the first woman - and for the moment, unique - to reach the elite of chess, getting to be placed in the world top ten and reaping sound victories. Kasparov or Carlsen, for example, know what it is to bite the dust before the aggressive Hungarian chess player.

Withdrawn since 2014, Judit is now dedicated to organizing children's tests and promoting chess as an educational tool. And in their events there is not only no female category, but even the best player is not awarded prizes. For her, content to compete for being the best among girls imposes self-limitation that prevents fighting for higher goals. The famous glass ceiling. But not all agree with Judith. "Most tournaments in the world are open, open to people of all ages, sexes, and nationalities," explains Alexey Root, champion of the United States in 1989.

Other segregated tournaments

“But there are also competitions segregated by age, geography, and even by profession, such as the Armed Forces Championship. These segregated tournaments help those who participate receive extra attention from the media, gather financial support and establish relationships with other people with whom they have something in common. In the same way, women's tournaments do not mean that they are more or less able to play: they can simply help make the game more attractive to young players, for the financial and social reasons mentioned above. In most world federations, the number of players is estimated at approximately 15% of the total. However, in those countries where female competitions were experimentally suppressed, the participation of female players in mixed events was further reduced, while the federations that developed specific programs aimed at young female players, the results improved. The debate is open.

In chess, a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1999, anti-doping tests have long since ceased to be a novelty: several studies suggest that substances such as methylphenidate can increase a player's performance by up to 13%.

The recent sanctions imposed by the world anti-doping agency (WADA) against Russia, which include a ban on organizing international sports events in their territory for four years, pose a serious upset for FIDE, given the enormous popularity enjoyed by the Chess in this country.

The Chess Olympiad, scheduled for August in Moscow, could be the last sporting event that takes place on Russian soil in a long season, and with an additional affront: the Russian national team, a firm candidate for victory, will probably have to play in his own Olympiad, and before his audience, under a neutral flag. Similarly, if the winner of the next Candidate Tournament turns out to be a Russian, Carlsen's challenger would have to play without his country's flag on the table.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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