Divya Deshmukh – 18 years of age and among India’s brightest young female chess players, has had enough. At the end of the recent Tata Steel Chess tournament in the Dutch coastal town of Wijk Aan Zee, Divya put out an Instagram post that spoke of the constant sexism, ‘judgement’ and ‘hatred’ she has been facing in the game as a teen.
“I played a few games which I felt were quite good and I was proud of them and I got told by people how the audience was not even bothered with the game but focused on every single possible thing in the world, my clothes, hair, accent and every other irrelevant thing. I was quite upset to hear this…the sad truth is that when women play chess, they overlook how good they are, their games and strength,” the International Master wrote on Instagram.
It’s an unfortunate, although hardly a surprising revelation. Women in chess have been fighting sexism and misogyny for generations now.
The Tata Steel Chess organisers issued a statement in support of Divya on Tuesday, alluding to the sexist comments she’s faced. “Because we are an open tournament, both men and women play. Completely obvious for us, but apparently not for some other people… As a leading tournament we remain committed to promoting women in chess and ensuring a safe and equal sporting environment,” it read.
At Wijk Aan Zee, Divya finished 4.5/13 and among her three wins, one came against a 2615-rated player, that’s roughly 200 Elo above herself. She had a terrific Tata Steel tournament in September last year where she came in as a last-minute replacement and despite being the bottom seed won the rapid event ahead of several top players, including reigning women’s world champion Ju Wenjun.
Divya clarified that the ‘audience’ she was referring to in her Instagram post wasn’t the spectators at the Wijk Aan Zee tournament. “The tipping point for me was the YouTube comments,” Divya told Hindustan Times, “If you look at it from a distance it can seem like nothing. But it’s been years of this. It has been happening repeatedly to me for the past five years. I don’t like to pay attention to such things but sometimes it’s just too much and crosses all limits of tolerance.”
While many of the disparaging YouTube comments appear to have been taken down by the Wijk Aan Zee organisers, they ranged from remarks over her height, physical build, dental braces, and accent to those that were sexually suggestive. Grandmaster and former women’s world champion Susan Polgar responded to Divya’s post saying she ‘consciously chose to look ugly, plain and unattractive’ as a young player herself to avoid drawing male attention. It’s a thought that crossed Divya’s mind several times too. “But then I thought why should I change how I dress because of some disgusting comments or not-so-nice people? I don’t think I should give them that power or control over me.”
Divya belongs to a generation that has been bred on online chess and social media. The unsolicited remarks that come with it are almost inescapable. It’s not what an 18-year-old girl playing a game she loves should ideally have to deal with. “All of this started when I was 13-14 years old. Now I block everything out during tournaments and choose not to care but it still doesn’t change the situation.”
Vitriol from nameless, faceless online trolls aside, Divya says she’s often had people come up to her and make condescending remarks about her appearance. “They’ve even gone to my parents and spoken ill of my behaviour and looks. Sadly, most of these people were parents of other players.”
Women continue to remain a minority in chess – comprising only roughly 11 per cent of overall classical-rated players and 2 per cent of Grandmasters. The skewed starting pool is often down to social and cultural barriers and there’s a higher drop-out rate of women in chess, presumably due to sexism among other factors. “So many guys have thrown tantrums when they lost to me, just because I’m a girl,” Divya said, “I feel boys tend to underestimate girls and can’t stand losing or even drawing against them. Of course, not all boys, but a majority of those I’ve seen.”
The Indian teenager believes that it was necessary to speak up now after being at the receiving end of sexist comments from a young age.
“A lot of female players before me have faced it too and brought up this issue. I want to try and make sure that the generation after me doesn’t go through a similar experience,” she said. The problem in itself is far too deep-rooted in gender stereotypes and the phantom of cyber hate and online trolls far too pervasive to be wished away overnight. It never hurt though to have one more voice being raised in protest.