New Directors of Women's Chess

[Sean Hewitt]

So, here is my small contributuion to Women's chess. Female players can play in these two events free of charge

Is this legal?

It seems not.

However, there is something far more challenging in that document for Sabrina and Loz to get to grips with

Separate sporting competitions

Separate sporting competitions can be organised for men and women where:

â–  physical strength, stamina or physique are major factors in determining success or
failure, and
â–  one sex is generally at a disadvantage in comparison with the other.

Separate competition for girls and boys may or may not be allowed, depending on the age
and stage of development of the children who will be competing. At some ages and in
some sports, it is not possible to say that boys and girls have significant differences of
physical strength or stamina or that one sex is at a disadvantage in comparison with the
other. Only if it is possible to say this will separate competitions be allowed.

This seems to spell the end of women only events and prizes in this country if I've read it correctly.

[Alex Holowczak]

There's been an oversight here.

sporting

Chess isn't recognised as a sport, remember?

[Sean Hewitt]

There's been an oversight here.

sporting

Chess isn't recognised as a sport, remember?

No oversight. If chess isn't a sport then it's even worse. That means you can't differentiate between men and women under any circumstances.

[Alex Holowczak]

There's been an oversight here.

sporting

Chess isn't recognised as a sport, remember?

No oversight. If chess isn't a sport then it's even worse. That means you can't differentiate between men and women under any circumstances.

Oh dear. No one seem to have told the UKCC, with it's £1,000 top girl's prize...

[IM Jack Rudd]

I suppose you could argue that one sex is at a disadvantage, because FIDE's competitions and titles (which are outside UK jurisdiction) mean a female player is likely to be much better placed to do well out of the game than a male player of the same standard.

Whether the argument would succeed is another matter.

[Sean Hewitt]

Oh dear. No one seem to have told the UKCC, with it's £1,000 top girl's prize...

It's a new law. Only came in on 1st October 2010 apparently.

[John Saunders]

I think people may be jumping to conclusions about the new Equality Law...

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uplo ... ociety.pdf

If you navigate to page 19 and look at what it has to say about positive action.

Positive action
However, it may be possible for an association to target people with a particular protected
characteristic through positive action if it can show that they have a different need or a
track record of disadvantage or low participation in its activities. This could include, for
example, offering reduced rate membership if this would be a proportionate step to take.
An association which is thinking about taking positive action needs to go through a number
of steps to decide whether it is needed and what sort of action to take. You can read more
about this in the list of words and key ideas.

The bit that I have put in bold may be relevant. I think it is readily demonstrable that female participation in chess is proportionately low, so it looks like a strong case for running women-only competitions and perhaps even offering preferential membership rates or entry fees.

Obviously, the whole of the wording needs to be carefully examined but from a cursory glance I wouldn't expect standard chess practice would be outlawed by the act.

[Sean Hewitt]

Obviously, the whole of the wording needs to be carefully examined but from a cursory glance I wouldn't expect standard chess practice would be outlawed by the act.

I hope you're right. I've sent an email to David Anderton - hopefully he and the ECF can advise on this.

[Brendan O'Gorman]

Schedule 3 to the new Act lists a lot of exceptions. Schedule 3, para 26(1), for example, says:

"Separate services for the sexes
26 (1) A person does not contravene section 29, so far as relating to sex
discrimination, by providing separate services for persons of each sex if—
(a) a joint service for persons of both sexes would be less effective, and
(b) the limited provision is a proportionate means of achieving a
legitimate aim."

I'm not a lawyer, but this sounds like commodious wriggle room.

[Brian Valentine]

You can also target your advertising or marketing at a group with particular protected characteristics, so long as you do not suggest you will not serve people with a particular characteristic (unless one of the exceptions applies). You can read more about advertising and marketing in Chapter 2.

This comes from the guidance to service providers 2. What equality law means for your business p41. I think this is what Sean has done.

[David Shepherd]

Scotland have 7 girls at the World Junior Championships - England 3.

[Matthew Turner]

David,
That is true, but it is not the whole picture. Scotland had no representatives at the European Youth Championships and England always sends their players with excellent coaching support. We could not do this if we sent more players. That is not to say that I disagree with the point you are making, I am merely pointing out it is not a black and white issue.

[David Shepherd]

Maybe England should have done the same as Scotland, but also only having 3 players means that we have no female players in 3 of the age groups for a championship that is geographically fairly well placed in relation to us. I believe this reflects partly the lack of girs playing the game at the moment.

[Alex Holowczak]

Maybe England should have done the same as Scotland, but also only having 3 players means that we have no female players in 3 of the age groups for a championship that is geographically fairly well placed in relation to us. I believe this reflects partly the lack of girs playing the game at the moment.

I think we should wait to see how the Scottish girls do in relation to the English girls before we start making comparisons. If the English girls all "beat" the Scottish girls, then sending 7 makes no difference. You could send 45 if you wanted...

[Matthew Turner]

David,
You are right about this
"I believe this reflects partly the lack of girls playing the game at the moment."

That will be very difficult to address. If we cannot get an U10 and an U16 girl to have two weeks in Greece with fabulous support, how are we going to get girls to play at tournaments in England.
Good luck Sabrina, Jovanka and Peter Purland