Searching for the Queen’s Gambit: An Exploratory Analysis of Male-Female Ratings Gaps in U.S. Chess

We examine the origin and evolution of male-female rating gaps for young chess players using two decades of data from the U.S. Chess Federation, the national chess association that tracks competitive tournament play and provides ratings for U.S. chess players. An important feature of our research is that we examine male-female gaps across a broad range of chess ratings, from novice to expert. We find large gaps favoring males at entry across the entire distribution. Once players have an established rating, we find similar returns to experience for males and females. Although female players have higher attrition rates than males, the net effect of this differential attrition on ratings gaps is null (to slightly equalizing) because stronger female players are at least as likely as males to persist. We find some evidence that that the male-female rating gap at entry declines modestly as female participation in the home locale rises, with an effect that is generally stronger for weaker players. Overall, the key explanation for differences in U.S male-female chess ratings is the gap at entry, which is large when first observed and persists over time.