Women's Chess News

Twitter account for global Women's Chess News!

[Women's Chess Coverage @OnTheQueenside]

Are you backing Tania Sachdev for Commentator of the Year?

Cast your vote in the poll below!!!
#chess #womeninchess

[Women's Chess Coverage @OnTheQueenside]

Are you backing Pia Cramling for Commentator of the Year?

Cast your vote in the poll below!!! 🙂
#chess #womeninchess

[Women's Chess Coverage @OnTheQueenside]

Are you backing Jovanka Houska for Commentator of the Year?

Cast your vote in the poll below!!! 🙂
#chess #womeninchess

[Women's Chess Coverage @OnTheQueenside]

Are you backing Fiona Steil-Antoni for Commentator of the Year?

Cast your vote in the poll below!!! 🙂
#chess #womeninchess

[Women's Chess Coverage @OnTheQueenside]

The next 2024 Award: Commentator of the Year! 🎙️

Who was the defining commentator of 2024? 🤔
#chess #womeninchess #ChessYearAwards

[Women's Chess Coverage @OnTheQueenside]

👑 Queens of India!! 👑

📷: Vivek Sohani
#chess #womeninchess #TataSteelChessIndia

[FIDE Commission for Women's Chess @FideWomen]

Happy #internationalchessday! Join and explore our beautiful game open for everyone regardless of gender, age and physical abilities!

#womeninches

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

❤️♟️ Happy International Chess Day 2023! ♟️❤️

Chess is growing by leaps and bounds. Let’s do our part to create a helpful and welcoming environment for EVERYONE! 

As a reminder, I recently created the “ChessTips” chess community (over 600 members so far) on Twitter so everyone can share information and knowledge with each other.

https://t.co/FFRrKKPBMM

@FIDE_chess @ECUonline @WOMChess

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

I am still in the middle of writing my biography. It will cover everything from the time I accidentally discovered chess at age 4, all the way until today, a span of 50+ years! A lot of the information in the book are not known to the public. Here is just an early unedited excerpt.

I do not expect it to be released (by a major mainstream publishing company) until Spring or Summer 2024.

“As the winner of the district event, I qualified to compete in the 1973 Budapest Elementary School Chess Championship, or the "Pioneer's Olympics" as it was then called in classic Soviet fashion. The competition was divided into girls' and boys' sections, which was standard practice in Eastern Europe back then. As with the previous tournament, almost every other girl playing was at least twice my age. Some were nearly three times my age -- and noticeably larger.

I actually had to sit on a stack of phone books in order to reach the entire board, and writing down my moves (as players are required to do in official tournaments) was still a clumsy affair for my little four-year-old fingers. After one game, someone asked me why I had chosen to put my opponent's king in check in the manner I had. "There were two ways to give check in that position," I explained. "I picked the one that was easier for me to reach." I wasn't kidding.

It's fair to say that the results of that tournament changed my life forever. Not only did I take 1st place, I did so with a perfect score -- winning all ten of my games. To commemorate the victory, the tournament organizers awarded me a certificate, which my parents have saved to this day.”

@FIDE_chess @ECUonline @EuropeEchecs @WOMChess

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

The champion retained her crown after winning final game 12. Experience does matter and that is precisely the reason why I picked Ju Wenjun in a very close match over challenger GM Lei Tingjie.

@FIDE_chess @WOMChess

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

Many make a huge mistake by underestimating the importance of EXPERIENCE and STRONG NERVES in chess, especially in a big match!

@FIDE_chess @ECUonline @WOMChess

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

Here is another unedited excerpt from my upcoming autobiography:

“Hungary in the late 1960s was still a communist country firmly in the grip of the Soviet Union. The state-run economy condemned most Hungarians to lives of unrelenting hardship. My parents were surviving on around 4,000 forints a month (the equivalent of about $40) in those days, and they felt lucky to have it. Even basic conveniences like a telephone or a car just weren't available to us. And there was little reason to believe that things would ever get much better.

Still, my parents were astoundingly hopeful people, and they were diligent about investing in the future. They borrowed a little of money from their family to buy our first home, a cramped two-room house in a neighborhood called Angyalföld ("Land of Angels"). And they worked multiple jobs so that they could pay their debts off quickly. If it was in their power to give me even a fighting chance at a better life, they were going to do it, no matter the sacrifice. And raising me to be exceptional in some way was part of that project.

So no, I wasn't a victim. And I certainly wasn't helpless. I was lucky. I had two parents that recognized that my best hope of escaping these circumstances was to be great at something. They also knew that a typical Hungarian education would almost certainly squander any potential I had.”

@FIDE_chess @WOMChess @ECUonline

I am still in the middle of writing my autobiography. It will cover everything from the time I accidentally discovered chess at age 4, all the way until today, a span of 50+ years! A lot of the information in the book are not known to the public. I do not expect it to be released (by a major mainstream publishing company) until Spring or Summer 2024.

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

Happy birthday to my amazing sister Judit! We all know how great she was on the chess board. But what she had done since retiring from competitive chess is equally impressive!

@FIDE_chess @ECUonline @WOMChess

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

Over the years ❤️

@FIDE_chess @ECUonline @EuropeEchecs @WOMChess

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

For decades I get the same question. Is there a rivalry in the family?

1) No, we are not the Kardashians and our lives are not reality TV.

2) I used to change her diapers and taught her chess, countless hours.

3) It was always the three of us vs. the world. We root for each other and fight for one another.

4) I was always happy and proud when either of my sisters won, and very sad when they lost, even to me. Not only they are my sisters, they were my first ever students.

5) I have always given my all to be the best I can be, with my limited ability, on and off the chess board. If my best was not good enough then so be it. I was never jealous of the success of others, especially my sisters.

6) Aren’t the above answers enough? 😁

@FIDE_chess @ECUonline @WOMChess

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

Sexism in chess does exist 😢

Many people know that when I qualified for the “Men’s” World Chess Championship, I was NOT allowed to compete because of my gender. But most do not know that it was NOT the first time. Here is another unedited excerpt from my upcoming autobiography:

“If sexism is still common today, just imagine the attitudes that prevailed behind the Iron Curtain. My first real encounter of chess' gender problem came in 1974, when I was just five years old. My parents had entered me in the district qualifier for the Budapest Elementary School Championship, just as they had the year before. Only this time, they signed me up for the boys' section. Their reasoning was pretty straightforward: For me to keep improving, I needed to play against better opponents. And, for whatever reason, the stronger players in that age group happened to be boys. Fortunately for us, the event's organizers didn't seem to mind. 

By then, I was already a known quantity in our local chess community. So it came as no great surprise to anyone when I won the tournament, or that I did so without losing a single game. Now, ordinarily, winning that event automatically qualifies a player for the Budapest Elementary School Championship -- that's the tournament's entire purpose. 

But the Budapest Chess Federation had other ideas. The organization's president, Mr. Mohacsi, was a strict believer of the game's gender line. And he didn't like that a five-year-old girl had even entered boys' district qualifier, much less that I had swept the field. As far as he was concerned, it didn't matter how convincingly I had earned my spot at the championship. The event was for boys only, and he saw to it that my name was withdrawn from the pairings weeks before the competition took place. Nobody bothered to inform me or my parents of this decision, of course. So we spent the run-up to the event training intensely. It wasn't until we arrived in the playing hall that we learned that I'd been disqualified.”

@FIDE_chess @ECUonline @EuropeEchecs @WOMChess

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

My chess improvement recommendation

Many chess enthusiasts who want to become stronger chess players often ask me the following question:

How can I improve in chess even if I do not have a chess coach?

Having a coach will surely help but it is a luxury. Even if you do not have one or cannot afford one, that is not a problem.

Here are the 3 simple steps to self-improvement in chess efficiently:

1. Self-assessment: Review the last 10-15 games that you lost. Analyze (it can be done with or without the help of an engine) them objective to come to a conclusion why you lost those games. Was it because of opening, middle game, endgame, tactic, nerves, carelessness, tiredness, etc.

2. Target training: Once you come up with the reasons why you lost your last 10-15 games, you can then work on improving those specific problem areas. Do not waste time studying everything at once. You have to target problem areas first.

3. Repeat this process: As long as you continue to lose, figure out your area of weakness and keep working on fixing them.

I personally would not waste time, money, or energy playing one tournament after another and keep on losing the same way(s) without any improvement game plan.

Only you can decide how good you want to be. I have seen people with little talent (I am one of them) becoming strong players because of hard work, sacrifice, and dedication. But if you do not care about fixing your weaknesses, then play for fun but do not expect great results. Good luck!

@FIDE_chess @ECUonline @WOMChess

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

👀🤔 Comments? 🤔👀

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

First time in Andorra. Absolutely love it! The weather is amazing! Beautiful, clean, safe, etc…and chess in every school! 🇦🇩♟️👍

[Susan Polgar @SusanPolgar]

I am often asked the question “Why is there a need for Girls’ or Women’s Tournaments?” It has nothing to do with ability or IQ level. I explained some of the reasons here:

https://t.co/p8MbCjGJYm

Sadly, after I initially published it, here were some of the comments I received 😡

– Why is it a problem if some girls are sexually harassed by male players at tournaments? It will make them stronger to deal with the real world.
– …shielding girls from the realities of the world isn’t the way to improve the conditions. What this does is subconsciously reinforce the notion that they are somehow inferior.
– If the girls didn’t provoke first, there would be no problem at all.
– If you have Girl or Women’s tournaments that exclude men, then shouldn’t you have Men’s tournaments that exclude women?
– Oooh, you’re so pretty. Are you married?
– If girls can’t deal with the reality of chess, maybe they could try something less challenging?
– Get a grip. Girls won’t ever be as good as boys.
– It’s good to have more girls in chess, especially the pretty ones.
– Chess is a men’s sport. You can’t change the fact.
– Girls are surely seeking attention when they go to chess tournaments. What do they expect?
– Why do you always wanna to rock the boat? Why can’t you accept it?

Even years after I published the article, some men still feel the same way.

@FIDE_chess @ECUonline @WOMChess