Final congress EXPOCHESS 2016

EQUALITY A GOAL FOR CHESS

On July 13, 14 and 15, the 1st International Congress for Equality of Women in Chess was held at the Gran Hotel Lakua in Vitoria-Gasteiz. It was an intense day of reflection and debate, with the aim of attracting women to the practice of chess.
Some papers focused mainly on the biological and social causes of less female presence in the sport. With this approach, the psychiatrist Fernando Mosquera analyzed the biological differences and the different roles between men and women, emphasizing the importance of the will over the destination. In turn, the psychologist José Antonio Montero, spoke about the ability of the human being to influence his own brain.
Other papers focused on the search for proposals aimed at bringing women closer to the world of chess. In this regard, the journalist Leontxo García emphasized the need to educate children in equality, an idea also emphasized by the psychologist Lorena García, whose lecture focused on coeducation and educational chess as tools in teaching.
In the same line also spoke the chess players Sabrina Vega and Anna Matnadze. The first emphasized the importance of motivation and education for the involvement of girls in the practice of this sport. The second, on the other hand, addressed the issue of equality in her country, Georgia, where traditionally there has been no social differentiation between women and men.
The controversial point came from the hand of psychologist Nikola Lococo, who pointed out that women do not want to compete with men to avoid a possible conflict.
For her part, FIDE Vice President Beatriz Marinello focused her exhibition on the search for results, defending a global marketing plan to show the reality of women in chess.
The final touch was put by Judit Polgar, recognized as the best chess player in history. His lecture gave three keys to success in chess, extrapolable to other areas of life: practice, perseverance and passion.
As a result of the brainstorming and analysis of the presentations, two provisional conclusions were reached:
• The need for education in schools and in families to bring chess closer to girls.
• Greater internal knowledge and greater external projection, for image and communication
The common denominator of the conference has been the need to achieve equality between women and men, both in life and in chess.

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