The congress EXPOCHESS VITORIA-GASTEIZ 2016 aims to attract women to Chess, from the widest and most modern sense of the concept “woman”. To do so, a major effort to modernize and adapt is a need to be met in Chess world.

We will try to enhance female participation in all spheres on Chess.

In this context, we have launched the 1stInternational Congress regarding Women’s equality in Chess with the moto “Women conquering the Chess World”. Starting from the current situation, causes will be analyzed and methods proposed in order to reach a higher female participation in all spheres of Chess on a more equal footing. Among the representatives who will take part in the congress, there will be eminent professionals in the realms of psychology, sociology, psychiatry, philosophy, pedagogy and journalism; also representatives from public institutions; and, as could only be expected, the Chess world will be represented by the best female chess player in history, together with delegates from Chess federations and institutions, FADA (Chess Federation from Alava), FVA (Basque Chess Federation), FEDA (Spanish Chess Federation) and FIDE.

All the benefits of the festival will be spent to finance the project for Women Equality in Chess.

With the results sprung from investigation projects and those measures promoted in this congress, we will try to enhance female participation in all spheres on Chess: pedagogic, executive, organizational, and of course in Chess practice.

In order to undertake these proposals, the investigation teams will require sufficient financial and human resources to guarantee the proper implementation and execution of the project, which might be regarded as a decisive step forward in the enforcement of laws that promote gender equality.

Gender equality in Chess is a subject we need to approach from inside.

We deem this congress a need, based on the fundamental assumption that both women and men are born with the same potential to reach the highest intellectual challenges, although we can do so through different ways. It is the historical, sociocultural and educational context what creates differences from childhood and along puberty. It is also remarkable that the current pedagogical methods for teaching Chess emanate from a plainly competitive view, which might be less attractive for women.

Those shortcuts or criteria coming from other fields, although they are surely well-meaning, don’t match the reality of this sport-science. This was shown in the early years of our century, when the Ombudsman –at request of some MEP’s, urged the regulatory institutions for Chess to introduce changes in tournaments regulation, aiming to avoid gender discrimination. In that way, in 2002 the Spanish Chess Federation (FEDA) issued a circular order to inform that from that year on, women’s tournaments were to be removed, prognosticating that the female playing level would rise in the medium-term, due to the high competitive level in mixed tournaments; this rule extended to all Regional Federations. However, from the beginning and for various causes, many prominent female chess players disagreed with this measure. What is more, the effects were the opposite of what was anticipated: in 2006 the FEDA derogated this decision and restored the Women’s National Championship.

In conclusion, this congress aims to promote certain actions of the public institutions in order to contribute to effective equality between women and men in Chess, far from sexist clichés and prejudices.