Content note: A version of this story has also been published on The charlatan.
The Hart House in Toronto was packed with over 200 players from 23 universities, glued to chessboards and eager to compete at the Canadian University Chess Championship.
When Dana Van Loon entered the Great Hall for the opening ceremony, she peered around, curious to track down how many women were there. She said she was unable to count above 10.
“I was happy there were other women around, but of course, the representation overall is lacking,” she said.
From Jan. 16 to Jan. 18, Carleton University made history by sending five female players to compete at CUCC, tying the national record. The University of Toronto was the only other known institution to send five women to compete at CUCC in 2023.
The lineup was composed of players from a variety of skill levels and experience, but all five women were motivated by a shared goal — compete, but also learn and enjoy.
This was the first tournament for Van Loon. Other players like Banan Abulaila played one other tournament in Jordan, but CUCC was her first one in Canada. This was also the second tournament for Bemi Igban.
Playing board four for the Carleton A team, Stefaniia Shevtsova was one of only three women competing in the tournament’s crown section.
She competed in tournaments in Russia and Canada, and was returning for a third time at CUCC.
Currie was the highest-scoring player at the tournament out of 21 players in the reserve section.
“This level of representation for women is extremely uncommon for women at the university level, with the vast majority of universities sending either zero or one female players,” Currie said.
This was the fourth time competing at CUCC for Currie. She is also the president of the Carleton Chess Club and said she has observed a “significant” growth in female membership.
“When I first joined the club, it was only me. I was the only female player from Carleton at the tournament in 2023,” Currie said.
“It was one of my main goals to get more women into the club when I ran for president, and I feel like now, we can finally see the effort pay off.”
Abulaila, Igban and Van Loon joined the club after developing a general interest in chess, but were drawn to stay and progress after seeing how “supportive” and “inclusive” members were.
“I feel like there’s more of a support system [at Carleton] and there’s a lot of community, and I think that makes a difference, because it’s not like that everywhere. And I feel like it should be,” Currie said.
She added that her goal for the club moving forward is to make the male-to-female ratio close to equal.
Women continue to make up a small share in competitive chess globally. According to the International Chess Federation (FIDE), in 2023 women made up 11 per cent of “FIDE classical rated players.” Moreover, “… Out of 100 adults playing chess only 1 is female.”
Stephen Wright, a national chess master based in British Columbia, wrote in a study how historically chess was exclusively played by men and women were discouraged from participating. There were also barriers that made it difficult for women to practice and compete.
In Canada, Wright said women’s chess “lagged far behind … women’s chess elsewhere in the world,” noting that the Canadian Women’s Championship wasn’t held until 1975, compared to Britain’s first in 1904.
Wright attributes the delay to a lack of female players.
“The situation has improved lately with the rise of youth competitions to nurture and develop young female players,” he said. “… But even now Canadian women’s chess often seems to be an afterthought or of secondary importance.”
Without the support of four other women alongside her, Van Loon said she would have felt “alienated” by the low percentage of female players at the tournament.
“I can’t imagine how tough the mental pressure must have been for [Currie] and [Shevtsova] in previous years with fewer women around.”
After a few games, Currie said male opponents told her they “underestimated” her before playing. “I have the highest score, so they’re saying that because of my gender or appearance instead of my chess skills,” she said.
“There are other women at this tournament [who] have great chess skills and deal with similar problems.”
For Igban, she feels as though she stands out in tournament spaces, as a person of colour and a woman. “Sometimes I do think people might underestimate me a little because of all the attributes to my appearance.”
At first, Van Loon was concerned about her lower skills reflecting poorly on female players.
“Even if [some players] are beginners, they shouldn’t have to deal with being stereotyped for being a woman. It should be good enough that they showed up and they have the opportunity to play to develop their skills without being judged,” Currie said.
Van Loon felt relieved after her opponents treated her with kindness and respect, but she said that this isn’t always the case.
“I’ve heard some horror stories and honestly, if I [were Currie] I probably would have quit after the second or third time some guy started projecting his attraction to me into harassment, or made some out-of-pocket comment making it clear I was an outsider,” she said.
“But once the tournament got started, I didn’t think much about gender, past feeling flashes of satisfaction when I saw a woman winning.”
The chess club returned with successes across the board. Iassen Pelev defeated Dario Martinez, Ryan Fu was awarded Carleton’s top unrated player, “with a ¾ score and a 1605 performance rating on team D’s third board,” and Currie earned Carleton’s top scorer “with ⅘ points on team B’s fourth board.”
But the best move the five women made was not one made on the chessboard. Rather, it was coming together to develop a future for more female competitors in chess.