Chess rule designed to increase female participation forces all-women team to recruit a man

The UK’s only all-women chess team has been told it must recruit a male player after earning promotion to the country’s top division.

She Plays to Win Lionesses A secured a place in the first division of the Four Nations Chess League, but its promotion created an unexpected problem.

The 4NCL requires every team in its top division to include at least one male and one female player. The rule was introduced to increase female participation in chess, where women account for only around 11% of top-rated players.

However, it means the Lionesses now face dropping one of their eight female players to make room for a man, according to The Guardian.

While competing in the second division, the team was permitted to field an all-women lineup as long as it included one player under the age of 18.

All-women chess team says rule defeats its purpose

Lorin D’Costa, who founded She Plays to Win during the pandemic, said the requirement risks taking away what made the team unique.

“The Lionesses earned promotion the hard way, but now their reward is losing the thing that makes them special,” he said.

She Plays To Win

Player Emily Maton, 18, argued the rule was now working against its original goal.

“There’s no shortage of male players in the division,” she said. “The whole point of the team is to bring female representation when there isn’t really any at all, and they introduced this rule because there weren’t enough female players.

“We’ve had people tell us we don’t deserve to be in this division, that we’re not good enough. We got to the top proving everyone wrong, and now this undermines that.”

Alisha Vyas, who played on mixed teams previously, said she “was only there to fulfil the quota as a woman.”

The 4NCL defended its policy, explaining that its top division has required mixed teams since the league was founded in 1994. It also said team captains were surveyed during the 2025/26 season, but there was “no significant appetite” to change the rule.

“There is no evidence that the rule as it stands discourages female participation in chess,” 4NCL’s Mike Truran said. “Indeed, we believe that by requiring all teams in the top division to have at least one female player we actively encourage female participation in chess.”

The dispute comes amid continued debate over the treatment of women in competitive chess. Indian star Divya Deshmukh previously called out spectators for focusing on her clothes, hair and accent instead of her performance.

Meanwhile, a documentary examining women in chess was recently completed after Keanu Reeves spent five years helping teenage filmmaker Bianca Mitchell-Avila bring the project to life.