If—

• Judit Polgár, I might never have become a chess grandmaster if I’d stuck to women-only tournaments, The Guardian, November 30, 2019

Imagine if the Chinese grandmaster 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) — who became women’s world champion in 2010 at the age of 16, and is now the highest ranked female player in the world — had played in open tournaments since her teenage years. She has announced that she is not interested in women’s tournaments any more, and it will be interesting to see how much this improves her rating. [Read more].

Judit Polgár playing 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kimovich Kasparov at the 18th SuperGM Linares Chess Tournament in Linares, Spain, in February 2001. Photo: Enrique Alonso/AFP.