The adolescent claimed that although male players were given the spotlight only for their abilities on the chess board, female players were judged on factors unrelated to their chess abilities.
Indian chess player Divya Deshmukh has claimed that she was subjected to sexist behavior by fans at the recently finished Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands, claiming that they “focussed on irrelevant things like her hair, clothes, and accent” during the competition. The 18-year-old International Master from Nagpur, who won the Asian women’s chess championship last year, wrote a lengthy social media post condemning the misogyny that women players confront on a regular basis and detailing her bad experience in Wijk Aan Zee.
“I’ve wanted to address this for a while, but I was waiting for my tournament to end. “I was told, and I’ve noticed, that women in chess are frequently overlooked by spectators,” Deshmukh said.
“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 said in a post to her Instagram account on Sunday.
Deshmukh finished 12th in the Challengers class with a 4.5 in the Tata Steel Masters.
The adolescent claimed that whereas male players received attention solely for their performance on the chess board, female players were graded on factors unrelated to their chess ability.
“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 stated.
“I was a little let down by how little attention my games received from the public during my interviews; it’s a sad situation that not many people talked about.
“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 said.
Despite advancements in women’s sports in terms of pay scale, female athletes continue to face discriminatory behavior and are frequently queried about their clothing.
According to Deshmukh, female players are generally underappreciated and frequently face hostility.
“…any insignificant item is focused on and criticized, whereas men would probably get away with the same things. I think women endure this on a regular basis, and I’m just 18.
“I’ve received so much criticism and vitriol over the years for things that don’t even matter. “I think women should start getting equal respect,” she said.
