Image by anw.fr via Flickr

As a young girl growing up in rural Connecticut, it was hard to find many chess tournaments – certainly there were none for kids. My father had to drive a ways to find one and I was usually the only girl.

I remember the adult males being very supportive of me, allowing me into their fold. It was a very positive experience for me.  One would think there would be a lot of sexism in chess. Really there isn’t.

Today many girls play in scholastic chess tournaments around the country. As a chess coach, I can tell you that our classes have an equal number of boys and girls.

I have never seen any prejudice amongst our students. Why would there be?  It just doesn’t occur to them.

One of the plus points of chess is that you can sit down and play anyone, and you are on equal footing. Think about it. You both start with the same pieces, which have the same rules of movement.  It all comes down to who creates the winning position – who best uses their intelligence and imagination.

There are no gender, racial or economic barriers. Even age doesn’t matter. The color of your skin, your gender, your job, all don’t matter.

One of the things I always loved about playing in chess tournaments was that you’d find the room filled with people from all walks of life.  A doctor might play a stay-at-home mom, a teacher might be paired with a construction worker and a rocket scientist could play a high-school freshman.

Who wins? Really it boils down to who plays the better game, who makes fewer errors.  Bottom line, chess players respect a good game.