English Chess Forum

Hi All,

I have recently taken on the role of Manager of Women's Chess for the ECF. The primary aim is to try and encourage more women in to the game, and to keep participating in chess.

Some of the approaches that I feel may help aid this is are through:

• organise additional female-friendly events;

• trying and make it easier for female players to get in contact with each other to share accommodation and travel arrangements;

• provide a point of contact for any questions or queries;

• arrange informal events during tournament evenings, such as group dinners and drinks;

• encourage tournament organisers to provide occasional discounted
  tournament entries for female players.

I have set up a Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=110812582264018); all are free to join.

I would love to hear any comments or suggestions that people have to help improve the accessibility of chess for female players, regardless of age or ability.

Thanks!

Ljubica

Hi - one thing that might be worth doing is encouraging more women to join this Forum. Looking back, Lawrence's posts in this area don't seem to have achieved much feedback despite his hard work. I know that's not just because of the male-female ratio on the Forum, but you will notice that once people start building up a head of steam, then more replies follow.

Hi John,

This is a very good point you make! I shall try my best (and would encourage others) to get more people to join this informative forum!

Lju

Let's try to encourage those sentiments by keeping to the point of this thread please

Carl Hibbard wrote:Let's try to encourage those sentiments by keeping to the point of this thread please

I think the deleted post asking what makes an event "female-friendly" was a reasonable one. The answer is not obvious to me.

Yes you are right sorry about that a little eager in my moderation there to be honest

You have asked the question again of course now

yeah thanks for deleting my question. it was genuine. maybe you'd care to answer it if it's that obvious to you Carl?

Gareth Harley-Yeo wrote:yeah thanks for deleting my question. it was genuine. maybe you'd care to answer it if it's that obvious to you Carl?

As I have pointed out deleting yours was a mistake (sorry...) it was only the additional post after yours that deserved that fate

From my perspective, weekend congresses don't tend to enjoy the rich social aspect that 4NCL has. I haven't played weekend congresses in a long time though, and this may well have changed!

Ljubica Lazarevic wrote:From my perspective, weekend congresses don't tend to enjoy the rich social aspect that 4NCL has. I haven't played weekend congresses in a long time though, and this may well have changed!

Ah I see! So "female friendly" means more social. This ties in with your other comments about arranging something for women to do/partake in between rounds/days.

I do think the idea of putting women in touch for hotel arrangements make a lot of sense. Many of the females at the 4NCL have single rooms; they’d save money if they shared. But then again most of the females at the 4NCL command conditions so the team ends up paying for them in any case. But certainly for any females thinking of playing in division 3 or at local congresses, shared accommodation could make an event seem much more attractive.

I do however have reservations with the idea of discounting their entry fee. I’m not sure how pleased I’d be competing for a prize fund that I’m challenging for against a female who paid less to enter but is of equal strength. It makes sense for a titled player to pay less entry as they attract more people to play in a tournament. I guess you could compare it with some night clubs giving free entry or queue jump to women, as they feel a club full of females will attract more males. I don’t think this rule applies in the chess world though. If two people of equal strength are entering a tournament for a monetary prize I think they should pay exactly the same to enter. A more sensible option would be to have a prize for best female as is done in many welsh congresses (I don't know about english ones). What do others think?

A fair comment Gareth. Discounted fees was suggested to me, although I'd feel a lot happier if the 'discounts' were subsidised through sponsorship, rather than a hit on the prize fund. A female's prize is also a nice idea, but it may take a while before it is realistically going to draw more female players to a tournament. Once for the 4NCL however... that'd be nice to see

Gareth Harley-Yeo wrote:I do think the idea of putting women in touch for hotel arrangements make a lot of sense.

I've observed a number of men attempting to persuade women to share their room of an evening

Seriously though, are entry fee reductions or women's prizes really going to attract additional female players? I get the impression that it's the whole atmosphere that's off-putting at many events (hence why the 4NCL seems to be the exception).

I'm happy to offer to trial any sensible suggestion at my events to try to see what works.

Sean, I sent you a message on Facebook, please let me know what you think!

Sean Hewitt wrote:
Seriously though, are entry fee reductions or women's prizes really going to attract additional female players?

One of the local female players in my club is rated around 120. She has specifically entered Minors/Majors because they've had a 'best woman' prize, knowing she wouldn’t be in the running for the major prizes but the female turnout would likely be low.

The Welsh Chess Union also holds the women's championship as part of the main welsh championship, which encourages our strongest females to enter the event. They get to play men and women, the one who finishes on the most points picks up a cheque and a prize. I think this is a better format than holding a 'women only' tournament as the turnout is likely to be so low it wouldn't cover the overheads.

Ljubica Lazarevic wrote:Discounted fees was suggested to me, although I'd feel a lot happier if the 'discounts' were subsidised through sponsorship, rather than a hit on the prize fund. A female's prize is also a nice idea, but it may take a while before it is realistically going to draw more female players to a tournament.

Back in 1994, the then BCF sought to promote lower fees or free entry for women players as part of Vera Menchik year. The idea had to be abandoned when a well known organiser from the North West threatened legal proceedings under anti-discrmination legislation. The legal problem arose because, with effect from 1st April 1994, the BCF ceased to be a membership organisation (under the old levy system) and was instead financed through the Game Fee Scheme.

Women's prizes aren't a problem, apparently (or at least that was the situation then). A number of Congresses had them in the 1990s, but they seem to have gone out of fashion.