LaviChess

Do men and women play chess against each other?

Yes. Almost every chess event is open to everyone, and men and women play each other there. On top of that, there are events and titles for women only, such as the Women's World Championship, which has been played since 1927.

Vera Menchik

Vera Menchik

The first. Won every championship she played.

Nona Gaprindashvili

Nona Gaprindashvili

The first woman to become a grandmaster.

Hou Yifan

Hou Yifan

The youngest women's world champion, four titles.

Open to everyone

The open section isn't a men's section. It's open to everyone, and women play in it at every level, from club tournaments to the strongest events in the world. So the open world title can be won by anyone.

Women are still few. On the November 2026 list of FIDE, the world chess federation, 63,721 of the 573,481 players are women, or 11.1%.

Women in the big events

A few milestones.

YearWhat
1927The first Women's World Championship is played, in London. Vera Menchik wins. She also played in the great tournaments against the best men in the world.
1950FIDE introduces the title of International Woman Master, today called Woman International Master.
1976FIDE introduces the title of Woman Grandmaster.
1977FIDE President Max Euwe rules that women can't be barred from open tournaments.
1978Nona Gaprindashvili becomes the first woman to be awarded the grandmaster title.
2005Judit Polgár plays the eight-player World Championship tournament in San Luis. No other woman has played for the open world title in a match or a tournament that small.

The highest climbers

Judit Polgár is the woman who has climbed highest on FIDE's open list: eighth in the world at her best. She never played for the women's world title. You can watch her beat Garry Kasparov in 2002.

Hou Yifan, who won the Women's World Championship four times, peaked at No. 55 on the overall list, in May 2015.

The highest rating any woman has had is Polgár's 2735, from July 2005. More under Who is the best chess player in the world?

Titles for women

The women's titles require lower ratings than the open ones, but women can earn both kinds. 44 women on the list are grandmasters, and 540 are woman grandmasters. The requirements are under What is a grandmaster?

Sources

  • FIDE: the standard rating list, November 2026 (downloaded and counted November 8, 2026)
  • Wikipedia: Women in chess; Women's World Chess Championship; FIDE titles; Judit Polgár; FIDE World Chess Championship 2005; Vera Menchik
  • FIDE, March 20, 2025: How women's world champions shaped chess; FIDE Women's Commission: Judit Polgar
  • World Chess Hall of Fame: Nona Gaprindashvili
  • ChessBase, May 2015: the FIDE list (Hou Yifan at No. 55)
  • The player pages on this site and their sources (Menchik, Gaprindashvili, Hou Yifan)

The facts on this page come from the sources above and, where possible, were checked across several sources. Where the sources disagree, we say less or say what each one says. A number that is an estimate says whose it is, and a counted number comes with its date.

The photos:

Updated November 14, 2026