Explained: Divya Deshmukh's Post On Sexism In Women's Chess And Susan Polgar's Comment On It

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A day after Divya Deshmukh, an Indian chess player, denounced the widespread sexualization of female players by spectators, chess icon Susan Polgar opened up about the misogyny she encountered during her career.

18-year-old Divya, an International Master with a standard rating of 2420, discussed how chess spectators handled women by focusing on their "clothes, hair, accent, and every other irrelevant thing" in a post on social media on Sunday following her campaign at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament.

"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. I feel women are under-appreciated and every irrelevant thing is focused on and hated on while guys would probably get away with the same things," Divya worte on X.
"I think women face this on a daily basis and I'm barely 18. I have faced so much judgement including hatred over the years for things that don't even matter. I think women should start getting equal respect."

Grandmaster Susan Polgar shared personal anecdotes in response to Divya's post. She claimed that during her early playing days, she "consciously tried to look as plain and unattractive as possible" in order to avoid being sexualized.

"When I was a young chess player, I never did not even touch makeup until I was in my 20s. There were two main reasons: I was tired of being sexually harassed/assaulted and hit on constantly by male chess players. And we were so poor that I had no money for fancy clothes. Sexism and discrimination in chess still exist today, just not as much.

"I wanted to prove myself on the board. I could not care less what people think about how I looked. I was NOT there to "pick up" men. I was very thankful that my parents (especially my mother) were always with me at tournaments to try to protect me. It is better today but still bad at times," she wrote.

In the past, Polgar has spoken about being sexually assaulted by people in the chess fraternity during events.

"I was often the only girl in all-men chess tournaments. And the behavior of some of these male chess players was absolutely appalling. It sometimes became very dangerous. I was many times fearful for my life. Some male chess players cannot take NO for an answer, especially when they had too much to drink. Some tried to physically and sexually assault me," she added.