The ratings gap and gender: Analyzing U.S. Chess Championships (Part I)

Percentage female?

When analyzing ratings and their distribution among United States Chess Federation (US Chess or USCF) members, keep in mind that there are fewer girls and women than boys and men. Among recent members (12/31/2020 or later expiration date), 12.4% are coded as female, 85.4% are coded as male, and 2.2% are uncoded (M. Nolan, personal communication, February 23, 2021). From 1972–2000, that percentage was 5% or lower.

Al Lawrence, Executive Director of USCF from 1988-1996, wrote a memorandum, distributed to the USCF Policy Board and the Women’s Chess Committee, about “Female Membership in USCF.” The memorandum is listed internally at USCF as “100 BINFO #93-397” with a date of October 22, 1993. There’s a hand-written note about some members not being coded for age or gender, affecting the percentages. According to his memorandum, in 1993 girls and women combined were 4.65% of the total USCF membership (3,340 of 71,794 members). Of those 3,340 females, only 612 were women ages 21 or older. In other words, adult women were .0085 of the total USCF membership in 1993.

Another memorandum, “105 BINFO #00-118,” summarizes a USCF membership survey conducted in April of 2000. It found that USCF membership was 95% male and 5% female. It breaks down USCF membership as a whole (not by gender) as 8% under age 10, 20% ages 10-20, 42% ages 20-50, and 30% as 50 and older. Given the two BINFOS, from 1993 and from 2000, one can assume that female USCF membership was always 5% or lower from 1972–2000.

USCF membership numbers, not separated by gender, can be found through 2000 at this link. Data in graphical form through 2020 is at this link, and current membership numbers 2000-2020 are at this link.

1950: Initial USCF ratings

The first USCF individual ratings and tournament rating averages appeared in the November 20 and December 5, 1950 issues of Chess Life. Compiled and computed by USCF Rating Statistician Kenneth Harkness, the ratings took into account dozens of tournaments, including six prior U.S. Women’s Championships and U.S. Championships.

Three U.S. Women’s Champions appeared on the spring 1954 individual list: Gisela Gresser, rated at 2080, Mona May Karff, 2023, and Mary Bain, 1902.

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

Modern USCF ratings, by Arpad Elo, debuted in 1961. The Fischer boom began in 1972, when Bobby Fischer won the World Chess Championship. “The USCF was founded in 1939 and grew gradually until 1972, when membership doubled due to interest in Bobby Fischer’s rise to the World Championship” (“United States Chess Federation,” 1996).

Methodology for 1972–2000

For the years 1972 through 1981, the U.S. Women’s Championships’ averages were calculated using the end-of-year (December) rating list or the top-50 list provided for that tournament’s year. For example, the 1972 women’s average is taken from those 11 players’ end-of-year (1972) ratings, averaged, except for one player whose only rating appeared on a list earlier that year. For 1978, the average was calculated using a Top-50 Women list which appeared in the January issue rather than the December issue of Chess Life. For tournaments held during 1984–1991, the ratings were included on the Chess Life crosstable of each women’s championship. For 1992 onwards, pre-tournament ratings from each tournament’s online crosstable were used to calculate that championship’s average.

From 1972–2000, the women’s tournaments were 10-, 11-, or 12-player round robins. If the highest-rated players did not accept, alternates were next on the list by rating. Starting in 1948, the winners of the U.S. Women’s Open were seeded into the U.S. Women’s Chess Championship, or the next highest finisher if the winner already had a spot  (“N. May Karff Retains,” 1948; “U.S. Women’s Open,” 1948). The U.S. Women’s Opens were held sporadically, sometimes as round robins alongside the U.S. Open, and the qualifying spot seems to have disappeared in the years after 1948.

The U.S. Championships invited most players by ratings. During the 20th century, all invitees were men. For most years, the U.S. Open Champion, the previous year’s U.S. Champion, the Grand Prix Champion, and the U.S. Junior Closed Champion received spots in U.S. Championships. The U.S. Junior Open Champion used to get an invitation to the U.S. Championship, though that qualifying spot went away after 1959 U.S. Junior Open winner Robin Ault’s 0–11 performance in the 1959–1960 U.S. Championship. The U.S. Championship was typically a 14-18 player round robin.

The U.S. Championships’ ratings were calculated using names of the players listed on Graeme Cree’s website, here. Click on each year for a link to that year’s crosstable, with participants’ names. Using those names, ratings were found in the corresponding years’ Chess Life magazines, available here.

Graeme Cree has posted links to U.S. Women’s Championship participants’ chess ratings on his site; scroll to the bottom of that page, after the list of champions. Cree has also listed rating averages for most U.S. Women’s Championships: Click on a championship year to find the players’ ratings and the average rating of the players.

From 1972–2000, for both championships, players who were not U.S. citizens had completed “one continuous year (12 months) of United States residency, as a USCF member with a U.S. Address, immediately prior to the event in question” and also who had refused “to represent other countries within the year... Playing for another country at any time requires a candidate for invitations to begin the year...anew” (“1993 Yearbook,” 1994).

The average USCF (Elo) ratings of each U.S. Women’s Championship field from 1972-2000 follows.

Master Class Vol.1: Bobby Fischer

No other World Champion was more infamous both inside and outside the chess world than Bobby Fischer. On this DVD, a team of experts shows you the winning techniques and strategies employed by the 11th World Champion.

Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco delves into Fischer’s openings, and retraces the development of his repertoire. What variations did Fischer play, and what sources did he use to arm himself against the best Soviet players? Mihail Marin explains Fischer’s particular style and his special strategic talent in annotated games against Spassky, Taimanov and other greats. Karsten Müller is not just a leading international endgame expert, but also a true Fischer connoisseur.

In part 2, we will analyze the gaps in average ratings between the U.S. Women’s Championships and the U.S. Championships for 1972–2000.

References

• N. May Karff retains women’s title at U.S. open championship tourney. (1948, August 5).  Chess Life, 2(23), 1.
• 1993 yearbook: USCF invitational event requirements. (1994, April). Chess Life, 49(4), 326-327.
• United States Chess Federation. (1996, June 9). http://www.uschess.org/archive/results/uscf/index.html
• U.S. women’s open championship restored at Baltimore tournament. (1948, June 20). Chess Life, 2(20), 1.

Links

• U.S. Women’s Chess Championship History
• ‘Women’s Chess’ and equal footing  
• What gender gap in chess?
• Dorsa Derakhshani: From Iran to the USA (Part 1 | Part 2)