Former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov shared his opinion on gender inequality in chess. Topalov says that holding separate tournaments is a choice of organizers, and believes that to achieve equality, there should be only one World Championship.

Veselin Topalov

Veselin Topalov

Former FIDE World Champion

“Gender parity in tournaments? This is a choice that belongs to the organizers. Over the past twenty-five years, great progress has been made. But there are still significantly more boys playing chess than girls.

In my opinion, true equality will be achieved when only one World Championship remains.”

The most prestigious FIDE events, such as the World Chess Championship Match, Candidates Tournament, Grand Swiss, World Cup, and others have division into Open and Women’s sections. Some Open tournaments use a division system, including Norway Chess 2026, Tata Steel India and others.

Hungarian GM Judit Polgar is the only female player in history to reach 2700+. She reached a rating of 2735, and is No. 66 of all time. Six players, including Judit, reached a rating above 2600. The No. 1 female chess player is Chinese GM Hou Yifan (2596), as of June 2026.

Credit: Gibraltar International Chess Festival