Thank you for agreeing to this interview, ChessChick. For those readers unfamiliar with you I will refer them to your column ChessChick's Guide To Girl Stuff at the “Tales of 1001 Knights” web site [This web site has been removed, but the ChessChick columns are now available here at the ChessChick Archive]. So far you have five columns posted with such eye-catching titles as “Will A WonderBra Improve Your Rating?” and “Warpaint”.

This interview took place at the end of May 2000 "on-line" with ChessChick answering my written questions. I'm sure readers will find ChessChick's replies of great interest.

JFC: My first question is rather obvious. Why have you chosen to write under a pen name, and why “ChessChick”?

ChessChick: Having a secret identity is very liberating. I can say outrageous things and while “ChessChick” gets flamed for it, my personal e-mail remains flame-free. <G> Practically everyone on the ‘net has multiple identities. The internet has the only culture I know of where having multiple identities is considered normal. ;-) As for the nom de plume “ChessChick”, I took the name from a character in an unfinished story I wrote some years back.

JFC: Tell us a little about your personal approach to the game. Are you a serious tournament player? How would you describe your style? Do you play in clubs, tournaments, on the Internet?

ChessChick: Yes, yes, and yes! I’m everywhere! <g> I’m not a serious tournament player in the sense that I play every tournament I possibly can, but I do play tournaments regularly and will occasionally travel to tournaments. I’m a serious, but not a fanatical or obsessive player. My playing style can best be described as “inconsistent”. ;-) On a bad day my opponents probably wonder why in the world I’m playing competitive chess because my game is not at all competitive, but on a good day they may very well regret sitting down across the board from me!

JFC: My readers will want to know if you play correspondence chess. Also, what are your viewpoints of cc? Do you share the opinion of some OTB players that cc isn’t “real” chess?

ChessChick: CC isn’t real chess???? I’ve never heard that before! How bizarre! I’ve never played correspondence chess, but I think if anything CC is in a way more real than OTB chess. It’s pure. Two minds working on a position, with no clocks ticking, no chairs scraping. If your opponent has the habit of twirling the pieces between his fingers between every move, pointing all the knights backwards, bouncing up and down in his chair, swinging his leg and hitting the table leg with every swing, or staring like a maniac….you’ll never know it, much less be distracted by it. The time controls are such that you can analyze a position thoroughly and not compromise on a move choice because of time pressure. Correspondence is most definitely “real chess”!

JFC: Some, such as Kramnik, believe the internet is ideally suited to our game. What are your views of chess on the Internet?

ChessChick: The internet is very well suited for chess. See my comments above about CC. Playing online you have total control of playing conditions. The room temperature can be perfect, you can have food or drink at hand, no other people moving around or talking. Just you studying a chess diagram on your screen. Very pure.

That is, of course, the ideal situation. The flip side is that people often play worse online because they play blitz, they play from work with co-workers popping in and talking to them, they play at home and their 4 year old kid drops a book on Daddy’s mouse-hand, or in the college dorm while their room-mate is playing Death Metal at full volume for the benefit of the dorm next to theirs, etc. While the internet provides potentially the best conditions for playing, it also provides potentially the worst conditions for playing!

JFC: Gaze into your crystal ball for a moment and tell us what you see in the future for chess on the Internet. Do you anticipate any special developments?

ChessChick: There is a lot that could happen, but what will happen is anyone’s guess. We could have major online tournaments with the best and brightest playing for real money. (There have been matches and tournaments online, but nothing like Linares!) We could have better online coverage of regular OTB tournaments. We could have online league play by state in the US. The future of chess on the internet is not going to be determined by technology; it will be determined by politics and money. For instance, sensor boards and sets which record and relay moves electronically. There are still some glitches in sensor boards, but I think they will be overcome. If sensor boards and sets were accurate, cheap and widely available---as cheap and widely available as the ubiquitous vinyl boards and plastic sets--they would be as widely used as the vinyl boards and plastic sets. That would mean that any tournament, even the little Saturday round robin in Podunk, USA could be broadcast online. The idea is staggering. Imagine dropping in and wandering from board to board watching a little local Swiss in a town hundreds or thousands of miles away. Chatting and analyzing with the players in a virtual skittles room between rounds. It would be wild! It would be amazing! It would be fun!! Heck, you could even enter and play in tournaments sponsored by clubs in other parts of the country—or on the other side of the world. The mind boggles.

Will any of that happen? It depends on how financially feasible it is (technology isn’t always cheap) and whether the governing chess organizations world-wide manage to uh, gracefully embrace internet and cyber-technologies. A lot people running chess organizations are not “the internet generation”; we may have to wait a while for the kids who grew up online to get into positions of power. And, of course, there is the eternal bug-a-boo, MONEY. You have to pay webmasters and sys admins; you have to make high tech stuff cheap and widely available; everyone has to have a computer. It’s theoretically possible to build a chess utopia in cyberspace, but it will take time and money.

JFC: Your writing focuses on women’s involvement in chess. You also attempt a balanced view. On one hand you describe the silly claims of Mr. Cowley, who claimed he lost the South Australian Championship because he was distracted by the cleavage of his opponent Ngan Phan-Koshnitsky. You also criticize Miss Forbes, who claimed she was "sexually assaulted" in a 4NCL tournament in England. How would you characterize your objectives for your column?

ChessChick: Objectives….hmmmm…I’m not sure I have an overall objective. I write whatever strikes my fancy. I want the columns to be interesting and entertaining. I can’t write the columns regularly because I don’t have anything to say about women’s chess every month. There are enough women playing chess that I could write a serious chess column every month (WGM Lalic had a regular column on women’s chess for a while on the Chess Café site.), but I don’t really want to write a serious column. I’m not that good. I’d rather leave the deep analysis to higher-rated players and talk about the chess sub-culture---and the sub-sub-culture of women players.

Right now there are so few women players (not counting juniors/scholastics) at any given tournament in the US that female players really stand out. (Male) friends of mine come up to me and say, “Hey, did you see…there’s another woman here; she’s in the U1600 section.” Guys are amazed and fascinated by female players; it’s like they’ve discovered a cat who sings arias.

I figured from the beginning that guys would read ChessChick’s stuff because they are curious about women players. If I had a dime for every guy I know whose wife or girlfriend doesn’t understand and disapproves of them “wasting time” studying chess and playing in tournaments, who even forbid them to play more than once or twice a year, I’d be a wealthy woman. Part of guy’s fascination with ChessChick is that they didn’t know someone like me existed! A gal who cares about chess! I’m grateful to my male readers for sticking with me though I don’t write often, and to S.F. Strahan for publishing my stuff online, but I’ve just in the past year started getting a noticeable following of female readers. I’ve never been quite sure who my audience is. I’ve sometimes thought I’m writing for a non-existent female audience. I’m very gratified by the mail I’ve gotten from female readers saying, “Yes! We’re out here! You go, Girl!”

In fact, it was a letter from a female reader that gave me the idea for the poll on women’s chess. In response to the column, “Pillowfight: Packing Bricks”, one woman wrote asking some very good and pointed questions about women’s titles and tournaments, essentially asking, “Why should we care?” I decided that it was about time I tackled the sticky questions about “women’s chess” since I was ostensibly writing a column on “women’s chess”!

JFC: I enjoy your mix of humor and no-nonsense approach to discussing issues. How would you characterize the state of women’s chess in today’s world of tournament chess?

ChessChick: I’m hoping that we are just in an awkward transitional phase and that women will be more conspicuous and numerous in the future. The number of women players is climbing and the number of good women players is climbing as well.

There are plenty of girls involved in scholastics in the US, but it remains to be seen how many will continue to play competitive chess as adults. The USCF (United States Chess Federation) has a BIG problem right now converting scholastic memberships (both male and female) to adult memberships. What this means is not that kids stop playing chess when they become adults, but rather that they are less likely to continue playing tournaments after a certain age.

Personally, I’m optimistic about the future of chess; I’m convinced that there is a HUGE gap between the number of chess players in the world and the number of tournament players in the world. A lot players who fall into that gap are women. The internet is providing a place for people to play and to remain involved in chess even if they no longer have time to compete in long OTB tournaments. Correspondence chess, I’m sure, also picks up some of the people who vanish from the crosstables of OTB tournaments due to the pressures of job and family.

JFC: In the past you’ve mentioned your acceptance and good treatment by men in chess clubs and tournaments but that your Internet experiences have been less satisfactory. Could you relate some of your bad Internet experiences and tell us if you have any explanation for such treatment of women?

ChessChick: I’ve had guys follow me around and harass me; guys who won’t take “no” for an answer; guys who make rude remarks when they beat me; guys who make nasty remarks when I beat them. One gets this sort of stuff on the ‘net because the anonymity and inherent distance of interactions make some people think the rules of polite social behavior don’t apply. I’ve also gotten repeated declarations of love from people I don’t know, and have never talked to or played. Bang! Right out of the blue someone just pops up on my screen telling me they love me, they adore me--while I’m trying to play a game or chat with people I know. They followed me everywhere. (This has never happened to any guys I know!) They badgered me with questions, not about chess, but about my personal life. They just started right in with “Do you have a boyfriend? How old are you? Where do you live? What do you look like?” If a guy walked up to me in the grocery store said, “Where do you live? Do you have a boyfriend?” I’d call the cops!

Apparently there are dweebs online who think this is the perfect opening gambit for a conversation with a female chess player in an online playing environment. They don’t want to play, analyze or talk about chess. Sometimes I look in their notes and see note #1 “I am looking for a girlfriend.” Though, truth be told, what they really want is someone to project their fantasies on. I can’t understand guys who join ICC and spend most of their time online trolling for women, but these guys do exist. Did someone tell them that the chess servers were just teeming with loose women?? And they were dumb enough to believe it?? Haven’t they heard that there are thousands of websites created especially for “guys who don’t want to talk to women about chess”? <g>

My experiences are not unique; other women who log on with female names less provocative than “ChessChick” have had similar experiences. (I no longer use the “ChessChick” handle to play online; I use more ambiguous names.)

Now, having said that, I must also add that I have made male friends online both by e-mail and on chess servers. These friendships were formed as a result of playing, analyzing and discussing chess. They were also formed 3-4 years ago when I first got online and was naive enough to talk to strangers. I’m more reluctant now to engage in online chat with people I don’t know, though I still sometimes get pulled into discussions and analysis with opponents after a game. I read the mail I get, but “ChessChick” often doesn’t answer her mail because I don’t want to encourage the guys who write to me and sometimes they ask stuff that isn’t any of their business.

JFC: Many people, including women such as Helen Warren, a USCF Policy Board member and Director of APCT (American Postal Chess Tournaments), believe special women’s events and titles are out of place in today’s society. In fact, many believe special competitions and titles actually impede the progress of women in chess. This can be a quite emotional issue, in my experience. What is your view on how useful and appropriate such competitions and titles are today? Why should people support women’s events and special women’s titles?

ChessChick: I think women’s tournaments and titles served a purpose in the past, but I think they are anachronisms in 21st century competitive chess. There are, however, some problems inherent with doing away with women’s titles. We must be careful, if we eliminate women’s titles, that we do not discard the dignity and accomplishments of women who currently hold those titles. Also, I would not be in favor of banning women’s tournaments. An occasional women’s tournament could be fun…in much the same way thematic tournaments are fun. (I will have more to say on this in an upcoming ChessChick column.)

JFC: You have been running a poll on opinions concerning women’s events and titles parallel with your column at “Tales of 1001 Knights”. What have you learned from this poll so far?

ChessChick: I can’t tell you (she says coyly) because I’m going to write a column about it myself. You can take a look at the poll results and draw some conclusions for yourself, but you’ll have to wait to see if your conclusions match mine. (She smiles.)

JFC: Do you believe women face unique problems in chess competitions? I’ve heard speculation that women often don’t attend chess clubs because of the inhospitable environment.

ChessChick: One of the interesting things about that particular bit of speculation is that I’ve heard it from men. I’m not sure what to make of this self-damning bit of speculation! No chesschick has ever told me that she doesn’t go to clubs because of “an inhospitable environment”. Indeed, some clubs have a fair number of female players, “chess Moms”, who bring their kids to the chess club---which argues strongly for a good club environment. The gals I know who go to chess clubs are comfortable with the guys at the club and enjoy playing. No doubt there are obnoxious men who make some women uncomfortable, but I think this is the exception rather than the rule. I’ve run into obnoxious guys, but they were a pain in the neck to everyone. It wasn’t a male-female thing.

As for problems unique to women in chess competitions…the one thing I’ve heard over and over is the problem of kids. I know some women who don’t compete (but have opted to work tournaments) because it’s difficult to keep track of their kids, corral them as each of their games finish, see that they get lunch, analyze their games with them, and PLAY in the tournament themselves. I’ve also heard a couple of women talk about being distracted while playing by the sound of a baby crying. Particularly when they have young children themselves, the distant wail a child will instantly break their concentration. Other chess-playing Moms worry about their (little) kid finding the way to the bathroom and back during their game or getting lost in the crowd in the hall at big hotel tourneys. You can’t apply your whole mind to a very tough and exacting game like chess if somewhere in the back of your mind you’re tracking your kid(s) and wondering how they’re doing, if their game is finished, will you all have time for lunch, etc.

One family I know has found a solution; since both Mom and Dad are players, Mom plays one tournament while Dad rides herd on the kids, then Dad plays the next tournament while Mom tracks the kids. The parents are each playing half as much as they’d like (and half as much as their kids are!), but it beats not playing at all.

JFC: Today there are a few examples of women among the top chess competitors. The Polgar sisters are well known, especially Judit who is often invited to Super GM events. Mrs. Olita Rause (Latvia) is ranked 6th in the world on the latest April 2000 ICCF rating list. Do you feel women are achieving more success today than in the past? If so, what could explain this success?

ChessChick: I think women are achieving more success today than in the past. Very likely it’s simply a matter of more women playing, therefore more women make it to the top levels.

At other times in history the list of things women could devote their life to---without suffering any backlash---was a very short list. Chess wasn’t on it. We now live in a culture with fewer restraints on behavior and a greater emphasis on personal fulfillment and the achieving of personal goals (for both men and women) than we have in the past. Mom and Dad would probably still prefer Daughter to be a Doctor rather than a professional Chess Player, but there are so many people doing so many strange things these days that chess players are not the ultimate oddballs and outcasts in society. <g> We can pass for normal. ;-)

JFC: Do you have any particular female chess players you look up to? Who are your heroines in the game? Who are your favorite male players?

ChessChick: I keep an eye on what Judit Polgar is doing and surf over to Susan Polgar’s site periodically. There are a lot of women much lower in the ranks who play dynamic games, too. Sift through game files of recent tournaments (such as the weekly TWIC download) and you’ll sometimes find gems being played by women you’ve never heard of. Really, I’m more interested in games than personalities.

JFC: So far you have five articles, a survey, and a list of chess links (women on the Internet) included in your feature ChessChick's Guide To Girl Stuff at the “Tales of 1001 Knights” web site. Do you plan additional features for the near future?

ChessChick: The next column will probably be about the poll on women’s chess—unless something hilarious or shocking happens that I feel compelled to write about first. ;-) I haven’t decided yet when I’ll do the column on the poll or if I’ll keep the poll running after the column is written. I could add additional questions to that poll or run a new poll in the future. I’m much better about planning in a chess game than planning my columns. ;-)

JFC: The Internet has been an exciting development for the chess world with explosive growth in the last few years. Are female chess players part of this growth?

ChessChick: Absolutely.

JFC: Thank you for sharing your views with us. Do you have any additional comments you’d like to leave with the readers?

ChessChick: There’s one question you didn’t ask…and it’s the one single question that I’ve been asked more than any other. I’d like to take a moment to address that, since so many of my readers ask.

“Who are you, really?”

I’m not anyone famous; I’m not a titled player (nor do I expect to become one). I’m not a man-hater; I just have a low tolerance for jerks. ;-) If you want to know who I am, you may find someone like me at your local chess club or tournament. I’m the quiet girl who plays well, but then makes a big mistake and blows the game. I’m the talkative ditzy one who plays odd moves that can’t possibly be right---and beats you anyway. I’m the fractious grandma who glares and stares, the chess Mom who remembers her daughter’s lessons. I’m the woman you see around at tournaments, the one standing next to you as you puzzle over the next round pairings. I’m calm, nervous, exhilarated; I’m happy I won. I’m the person you borrowed a pen from, the person you asked for aspirin before the last round. (I’m not the one in the low-cut top and the short skirt who looks like she took a wrong turn on the way to the hotel’s bar.) I’m not looking for a boyfriend, a girlfriend or a pen pal. I love tactics and brilliancies.

To all those who wonder who I am…the next person you play online could be me. Show some respect. ;-)

For all the ChessChick columns go to ChessChick Archive