The first thing youβll notice if you attend a chess tournament is how few women there are. Itβs not uncommon for men to outnumber women by as many as 20 to one, often more, at these events.
Chess remains stubbornly dominated by men, especially among adults. At elite and professional levels, the bias is glaring. Globally, women make up only 2 per cent of Grand Masters, the Everest of achievements in the ferociously competitive chess world.
Despite the success Australia has enjoyed in womenβs sports domestically and internationally β cricket, rugby league, Australian rules, soccer, to name a few β when it comes to chess Australia is placed 108th of 119 nations for gender equality, which is measured by participation, rating performance and progression at international tournaments. Thatβs according to a report published in March by the University of Queensland and FIDE, the worldwide governing body of chess.
But chess is not the only sport that skews heavily towards men for participation, prize money, achievements and stigma. Men outnumber women in cue sports (billiards, snooker, eight-ball, pool) and darts, which have long been associated with cultures and settings where women donβt feel welcome, or been barred from playing.
The paradox is there are no physical, biological or financial barriers to playing these games, be that at a social or even professional level. Gender is a raw nerve at the heart of these sports. Here,
three champions reveal how they are hoping to boost female participation.
Julie Watson, 53, Australian Womenβs Billiard Champion 2023
βI started playing billiards as a teenager, then pool in my 20s. It was social, with loud music, drinking, partying. When I got into my 50s, it was the same environment but I didnβt like it anymore.
In 2022 I returned to playing billiards and snooker, and Iβve won 10 state and national titles in the past four years.
Historically, women werenβt allowed in billiard rooms. It was a place men could go and be themselves, smoke cigars, drink cognac. It was for the upper class. It was a menβs sport.
The biggest problem now is that men donβt see women as their equal in snooker; even if we beat a man in snooker, it will be their belief that we got lucky. Quite often even if I win, my [male] opponent will tell me what I could have done better, what I should have done better.
That happens in billiards as well but not as much. Itβs not as attacking as snooker. There tends to be less ego in it.
Funding is an issue for promoting womenβs competitions, because if there are seven women for every 500 men in the sport, the focus will be on the men. Thatβs driven us to incorporate the Womenβs Billiards and Snooker Network, which is solely devoted to promoting and developing womenβs cue sports. We have no objections to men being on the board, and we have no objections to men being involved, but the network is purely to encourage women to play the sport.
Women get scrutinised. Weβll be told, βShe looks good bending over the tableβ β really sexist remarks like that. Weight, whether we look good in our clothes β¦ theyβre things that come up regularly.
When I play in open events, Iβm often the only female playing. I donβt have an issue with that, but initially it was very difficult. Any new women who come in will be scrutinised. I donβt know what the answer is. You just have to get a thicker skin. You canβt be too sensitive if youβre coming into the sport.
Cue sports are huge in China, which has developed a new variant. Itβs called Heyball and thereβs massive money in it. One of our Australian girls just won the under-19 world championship.
I find the discrimination is more of a generational thing. Younger players are more accepting of women being part of the field. The 50-year-old to 70-year-old generation is very old-school. I was a firefighter for the Country Fire Authority and it was the same thing. I ended up leaving.β
Chloe Fan, 19, Australian Under-18 Girls Chess Champion 2023
βI didnβt really notice it until I was 13, but it was really common for me to be the only female chess player among 50 or 100 boys. After I won the girlβs title, I felt it was a better learning experience to play in open events than in womenβs. It wasnβt about gender, there was simply better competition.
Chess is a social game, so as a young girl I would watch the boys bunch together and make friends more easily than I did. There were a couple of incidents that made me feel on edge or more vigilant.
Sexism today looks quite different to a couple of decades ago, when Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov said women were weaker fighters. Itβs more covert and hidden [today]. If I win against a boy, he will complain to his friends that he lost to a girl. I have witnessed boys making unwarranted observations about girlsβ physical appearance.
I had close friends in chess when I was younger, but a lot of them dropped off because their passion was not worth the treatment and uncomfortableness.
CHLOE FAN
For a long time, I didnβt realise these comments were offensive. They were disguised as humour, jokes, trivialised. As Iβve got older, Iβve felt more confident to stand up for myself and for other girls. There definitely needs to be work in supporting girls who speak up because there are so many boys involved, both explicitly and as bystanders. There needs to be support from the whole community.
I had a lot of close friends in chess when I was younger, but a lot of them dropped off because their passion was not worth the treatment and uncomfortableness they felt. But things like more prize money and womenβs titles mean women are willing to stay and compete compared to previously.
There are no physical reasons women canβt play a board game like chess. The gaps between menβs and womenβs participation and achievement comes down to the number of men/women taking part and socialisation.β
Joanne Hadley, 65, Darts Pacific Masters Womenβs Winner 2025
βDarts is not just a pub game, which is what itβs thought of. When I was in my early 20s, there were no other women there. That environment of it being just a blokeβs game doesnβt exist any more.
A lot of women are playing. People like [three-time womenβs world champion] Beau Greaves inspire young players because sheβs only 22 and younger girls look up to her. And then you have the Luke Littler effect, as we call it, who has inspired younger kids to play. [In 2025, aged 17, Littler became the youngest ever world darts champion.]
There are a lot more tournaments for women and teenagers today. The stigma is not there as much as it used to be. Weβve had to fight hard to get where we are. A lot of women are getting the respect they deserve.
Itβs just a matter of having a go. It doesnβt matter if youβre male or female.
Thereβs still some people out there who donβt think women are as good, but weβre just as competitive and weβve earned our spot. Once you start beating blokes, you get respect. They know I can play, so they donβt take me lightly.
Prize money is weighted towards the men because they get more entries. I get annoyed because we are taking off the same amount of time to be away from work or our families as the men are. [Womenβs events] donβt always get the same number of entries. I understand why [womenβs prizes are less] but I donβt have to like it.
I tend to say [darts] is 95 per cent mental, 5 per cent body. Playing darts all day takes a lot. The concentration, standing up, youβre just exhausted at the end of the day. It can be physically exhausting.β
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