Greatest Female Chess Player Calls for Removal of Women’s Titles

During an interview on the New in Chess magazine podcast, renowned Chess player Judit Polgar suggested that eliminating women’s titles would be advantageous for all players.

In competitive chess, there are four titles that are exclusively attainable for women: the Woman Grandmaster, Woman International Master, Woman FIDE Master, and Woman Candidate Master. These titles have a lower threshold for obtaining norms and a high rating compared to the gender-neutral titles.

In addition to their gender-specific titles, women have the opportunity to earn the other four chess titles and many top-level players hold both.

During her interview, Polgar proposed a revamp of the system to focus more on rating and to standardize titles across all levels.

“She suggested that it could be worth considering removing gender-specific titles and instead having rating-based titles for players, such as 2000, 2200, 2300, 2400, 2500, 2600, and 2700. She questioned the need for separate titles based on gender, and proposed that having rating-based titles would be more beneficial.”

@GMJuditPolgar shares an interesting perspective on women’s titles in chess.Full podcast: https://t.co/wR6Ed4Fw4N pic.twitter.com/uwf6VhrMqq

— New In Chess (@NewInChess) September 1, 2024

Polgar clarified in a later podcast that this would serve as an initial measure towards addressing the gender gap in chess, as it would alter the mentality of female players participating in tournaments.

She said, “In a sudden shift, women’s mindset would also declare, ‘It doesn’t matter if I compete in an open tournament or a women’s tournament, my goal is to win this title. This title represents my skill and expertise, not my gender. It’s about my strength, my knowledge, and what I can achieve, right?’”

In 1975, FIDE introduced the first women’s title, WGM, and subsequently added more titles in the following years. The idea of removing these titles from competitive chess was initially proposed in 2009, but FIDE has not seriously entertained this notion.

The response to Polgar’s proposal has been divided on social media, with some players expressing support for the idea, while others are calling for a