Proportion of Women in Chess
I was interested in plotting the proportion of male and female chess players over time. The following plots were created using FIDE player data and therefore only show the trend in players who have an official FIDE standard rating.
The number of chess players registered with FIDE has more than tripled since 2012. Female players continue to make up about one in ten, a proportion that has not changed over the years.
When filtering to only ‘active’ players – those who have played in a tournament in the previous 12 months - the proportion is similar. Interestingly, the impact of COVID-19 in 2020 also becomes apparent - a sudden decrease in the number of FIDE-active players which is then spikes back in 2021 (perhaps reflecting an influx of newer players who came to the game during pandemic lockdowns, or after the success of The Queen’s Gambit Netflix series?)
I wondered if there might have been an increase in the number of girls competing over time - particularly in recent years. Comparing active females and males by age groups (below), we can see that around half of female chess players are under the age of 18, compared to around a quarter of males. This is unsurprising, and consistent with the understanding that girls tend to drop out of chess much sooner than boys.
|
Breaking this down further and looking only at active players under the age of 18, we can see that there has been a small increase in the number of girls playing (FIDE-rated) chess. However, the number of boys playing chess has also increased - and at a much faster rate - meaning that boys still outnumber girls by more than three to one.
|
Recommended reading:
Gender Differences: The Chess Delusion
Checking Gender Bias: Parents and Mentors Perceive Less Chess Potential in Girls