NEW DELHI: Koneru Humpy, the former World Rapid Chess Champion from India, emphasised the importance of organising additional chess events specifically for women in the country with an aim to cultivate a larger pool of female players and promote gender equality in the sport.
Humpy, a 36-year-old Indian Grandmaster, also highlighted the challenges faced by chess players, particularly the inadequate financial support they receive to compete on a larger scale.
“If I take India's case, I still feel that compared to the boys, the number of women players is quite less. Probably we need to work in the direction to increase the number of women players. Once that happens, probably the talent will come up slowly," Humpy was quoted as saying in a press release.
2006 Asian Games gold medallist Humpy said players must be provided with proper training once their talent is unearthed.
“There needs to be more tournaments for women in India, especially for young girls. Once they find the talent, they should pick them up and train them. Training plays an important role in growing the pool of talented players in any sport,” Humpy said.
“I believe in any sport if the financial support is high, more people will get attracted to it. Even when IPL started, we see the amounts going higher every year and I believe it is the same for every sport,” Humpy added.
Speaking about the overall state of women's chess, Chinese GM Hou Yifan said, "The general situation of women's chess has evolved dramatically in the past few decades."
"I remember when I was young, most of the events for women will only be FIDE official events and very few invitational events. Even for some open events, the chances for women players to win it weren't as good as today."
The two GMs are currently participating in the Global Chess League in Dubai, which has male and female chess champions competing in the same team.
"In the past few years, there are more organisers and sponsors paying attention to women's chess. There are stronger women players in the open chess tournaments," Yifan said.
