The gender gap in competitive chess across countries: Commanding queens in command economies

Abstract

Currently, the World Chess Federation lists 1,643 male Grandmasters against only 37 females. While the greater attainment of men in competitive chess is well known, the lesser known fact is that the gender gap in competitive chess varies strongly across countries. For instance, for every 100 male players with the attainment level of Candidate Master, there are about 48, 47, 38, 4, 3, and 2 female players in Vietnam, Georgia, China, US (Japan), France (Sweden), and Denmark (Finland), respectively. Noting these large gender discrepancies, this paper constructs a cross-country panel to explore the determinants of these gaps. Controlling for main economic development indicators and several measures of gender equality, a legacy of command economy is found to be the most significant predictor of a smaller gender gap in competitive chess across countries. Various explanations and their implications are discussed.