Activism

This Indian Woman Chess Player Has Called Out Sexism In Chess And People Are So Inspired By Her Bravery

18-year-old Divya Deshmukh’s post inspired other women chess players to come forward to share their own stories of discrimination and harassment.

Isha Jain

Feb 16, 2024 — 2 min read

This Indian woman chess player called out sexism in chess and people are inspired by her bravery.

Divya Deshmukh Indian chess player sexism

In an Instagram post after a tournament, 18-year-old Divya Deshmukh spoke out about how women chess players often don’t get equal respect as male players.

Deshmukh said that she has been told that the audience doesn’t care about the games she’s playing but are focused on things like her appearance and accent instead.

Divya Deshmukh calls out sexism in chess

She said that even though she’s only 18, she has already faced a lot of judgement and hatred for things that are irrelevant to her games, pointing out this is not the case for male players.

Indian Chess Player faces discrimination

Deshmukh said she has been told to ignore the comments and focus on her games, but she didn’t want to stay quiet about the issue.

Indian Woman Chess Player Divya Deshmukh

Her post inspired other women chess players to come forward to share their own stories of discrimination and harassment.

Indian chess player sexism divya deshmukh

They include Hungarian-American former World Chess champion Susan Polgar, who said she had tried to look unattractive during games so she wouldn’t get hit on by male players.

Susan Polgar Hungarian-American former World Chess champion

Women represent just 10% of licensed chess players worldwide as of 2020, according to The International Chess Federation.

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This Indian Woman Chess Player Has Called Out Sexism In Chess And People Are So Inspired By Her Bravery

Isha Jain

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