Recently, more and more female chess players have decided to break their silence by talking about the unpleasant and annoying behavior they have been subjected to in their chess career.

On February 15, professional chess player and poker player Jennifer Sahad tweeted a message titled “Time’s Up” stating that chess champion Alejandro Ramirez is under investigation for inappropriate sexual behavior towards underage chess students.

Sahande claimed that Ramirez had attacked her twice in the past decade, adding that four other female chess players reported being harassed by the same person.

Time is over. pic.twitter.com/ItOv73lTX7

— Jennifer Shahade (@JenShahade) February 15, 2023

Since then, many female chess players have shared on social media the sexist treatment they have been subjected to, both by players and by referees or tournament organizers.

Anna Cramling, a 20-year-old chess player, told CNN of all the times when, while she was contemplating her next moves on the chessboard, her teammate either made inappropriate comments or made her feel embarrassed by her behavior.

The popular chess player, who has 400,000 YouTube subscribers, describes how female chess players sometimes receive unwanted comments from men and often feel uncomfortable during tournaments.

“I couldn’t stop looking at you during the match”

“I had a strange experience in the play space since childhood. From grown men complimenting me at chess tournaments to personal messages from my chess opponents saying things like, “I couldn’t stop looking at you during our chess game,” Cramling said, stressing that he often felt feel uncomfortable in long chess games.

Cramling, from a family of chess champions, took up the sport seriously when she moved to Sweden with her family. “Every day I studied for two hours a day. On days when I wasn’t studying, I kept hearing about chess and watching my parents analyze one game after another,” she said.

According to Chess.com, Cramling reached 2175 in the FIDE rating.

I got sexist comments about my outfit

Among other things, she describes how a referee made a sexist comment about her clothing during a youth tournament she entered when she was 15 years old.

Check out this post on Instagram.

This post was posted by Anna Cramling (@annacramling)

“It was summer and I, like many others, was wearing Bermuda shorts. Then the referee came up to me and said that I was distracting the players with my equipment. “I remember coming back to the tournament and feeling so embarrassed and guilty that I couldn’t focus for the entire game — I just wanted to leave,” she said.

Cramling noticed that women who play chess sometimes feel very lonely.

There are only 5 women in a 300-person tournament

“I have played tournaments with 300 people and only 5 of them were women,” she said, concluding that the chess scene remains very hostile towards women.

According to researcher David Smurdon, 11% of FIDE-rated players and 2% of grandmasters are women.

“Referees should be more concerned about the sexist comments that women in chess are receiving, and coaches and players themselves should behave accordingly to make everyone feel welcome in tournaments. After all, let’s not forget that chess is a game for everyone.”

“The more we talk about how badly some women are treated in tournaments and the more stories we hear, the more we can change.”

Source: CNN