Indian IM Divya Deshmukh alleges 'women in chess taken for granted by spectators'; Susan Polgar reacts
Indian IM Divya Deshmukh alleges 'women in chess taken for granted by spectators'; Susan Polgar reacts
Indian chess player Divya Deshmukh has alleged that she endured sexism from spectators at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands, saying they “focussed on irrelevant things like her hair, clothes and accent.”
The 18-year-old International Master, who won the Asian women’s chess championship last year, shared a lengthy social media post calling out the misogyny that women players face routinely while narrating her unpleasant experience in Wijk Aan Zee.
“I have been wanting to address this for a while but was waiting for my tournament to be over. I got told and also myself noticed how women in chess are often just taken for granted by spectators,” Deshmukh said.
“Most recent example of this on a personal level would be in this tournament, I played a few games which I felt were quite good and I was proud of them.
“I got told by people how the audience was not even bothered with the game but instead focused on every single possible thing in the world: my clothes, hair, accent and every other irrelevant thing,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday.
In the Tata Steel Masters tournament, Deshmukh finished 12th in the Challengers section with a score of 4.5.
The teenager added while male players were getting the spotlight for their game, the women were judged for aspects that had nothing to do with the chess board.
“I was quite upset to hear this and I think is the sad truth that people when women play chess they often overlook how good they actually are, the games they play and their strength,” she said.
“I was quite disappointed to see how everything was discussed about in my interviews (by the audience) except my games, very few people paid attention to it and it is quite a sad thing.
“I felt it was unfair in a way because if I go to any guy’s interview there would be way less judgement on a personal level, actual compliments about the game and the player,” she asserted.
Nagpur’s Deshmukh said female athletes are under-appreciated in general and often endure hatred.
“…every irrelevant thing is focused on and hated on while guys would probably get away with the same things. I think women face this on a daily basis and I’m barely 18.
“I have faced so much judgement including hatred over the years for things that don’t even matter. I think women should start getting equal respect,” she added.
Susan Polgar shares why she ‘chose to look ugly’
Former Women’s World Chess champion Susan Polgar shared her experience of the focus given to non-sporting aspects of female players. Hungarian-American GM Polgar stressed she voluntarily looked ugly to draw focus on her game.
Why I chose to look ugly, and the reasoning behind it!
I read what @DivyaDeshmukh05 wrote about her recent horrible experience. It is absolutely terrible. Here is an article I wrote more than a decade ago about similar things I experienced:
When I was a young chess player, I… pic.twitter.com/jVP2W5hcb4
— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) January 29, 2024
She posted her two reasons on X, earlier Twitter, “Why I chose to look ugly, and the reasoning behind it! I read what @DivyaDeshmukh05 wrote about her recent horrible experience. It is absolutely terrible. Here is an article I wrote more than a decade ago about similar things I experienced:
“When I was a young chess player, I consciously tried to look as plain and unattractive as possible. I never did not even touch makeup until I was in my 20’s. Most people never knew why. I never really talked about it. There were 2 main reasons:
“1 – It is because I was tired of being sexually harassed/assaulted and hit on constantly by male chess players.
“I was often the only girl in all-men chess tournaments. In fact, FIDE severely punished me by taking away my world #1 ranking for choosing to play only against men at that time. (I was the only woman in chess history to be brutally punished for wanting to play and beat male chess players).
“And the behavior of some of these male chess players was absolutely appalling. It sometimes became very dangerous. I was many times fearful for my life. Some male chess players cannot take NO for an answer, especially when they had too much to drink. Some tried to physically and sexually assault me.
“I wanted to prove myself on the board. I could not care less what people think about how I looked. I was NOT there to “pick up” men. I was very thankful that my parents (especially my Mother) were always with me at tournaments to try to protect me. It is better today but still bad at times.
“2 – We were so poor that I had no money for fancy clothes.
Most male chess players cannot understand what many girls/women have to endure in chess, especially back then. Sexism and discrimination in chess still exist today, just not as much.
“Many girls/women need to be able to set their feet in chess before they can fly. I took this problem head on for decades, and suffered so many severe consequences, so that girls and women of this and future generations can have an open path to bigger heights if they choose to. I am still being blacklisted by many today for exposing the real and serious problems in the sport I love and devoted my entire life to.
“Knowing what I had to go through, and the heavy price I had to pay, I would still do it again. It is a fight worth taking on for countless girls and women out there around the world.”
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