The Women in Chess Foundation was created as a response to those who have courageously shared their experiences with harassment. We aim to support & empower women in chess, while making the community safer for everyone through our Advocacy Initiative and Safety Guideline Reform.
Overall, all of you helped us raise $3700 for our organizations and women in chess!
Thank you to everyone who supported us and was a part of our charity stream. We could not have done it without all of you!
Happy Holidays from WICF! 🎄❤️♟️
Happy birthday to the reigning Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun! 🥳
She recently took part in the
#TataSteelChess
Masters notably winning against Firouzja and drawing with Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, ending the tournament winning 10 Elo points.
We did it!! We hit our $2000 goal! ❣️♟️
Thank you so much to everyone who has donated. We are so appreciative of all of our supporters.
We're still streaming until ~20:00 CET – Tune in to our SuperSub Battle at 19:00 to see some big names play against each other for WICF!
Emilia and Michael began work on WICF in March of this year. Their goal is to make visible change in the chess community for women by ensuring safety at tournaments and expanding the opportunities for women to participate.
Read more about them at:
We also are working with Federations & Clubs to help them draft & implement safety guidelines that are actually effective in preventing misconduct, acknowledging it when it happens, & having the processes in place to support survivors.
The Women in Chess Foundation is on track to have around 50 Advocates in 12 countries by the end of 2023!
So many amazing people have registered to take part in making their community safer and we thank them for it. Here's a testimonial from one of our current Advocates:
We're happy to announce that WICF will have an Advocate at the Houston Open Chess Championships (Nov 17-19) and the North American Open in Las Vegas (Dec 26-30)!
If you need support, reach out to them in person or via our website at
If you were looking for another reason to tune into our charity stream, we’re excited to announce that Hikaru and MVL will be playing against each other in our SuperSub Battle taking place at the end of the extravaganza!
Join us this Friday, December 8th, for our ‘Chess for Charity’ Christmas Extravaganza!!
We’ll be streaming live on Twitch from 12pm CET to raise money for our foundation and women in chess.
Be on the look out as we announce the events, rewards and many special guests appearing!
We are so excited to announce our collaboration w
@ECUonline
& ECU Women's Commission – the European Chess Union has committed to training 2 Advocates for every Member State & having Advocates at future ECU tournaments!
We are so thankful for their support in making chess safer!
We are proud to be collaborating w
@tatasteelchess
& are impressed with their commitment to bringing women to the top levels of chess!
They have amazing players this year: GMs Ju Wenjun & Harika Dronavalli and IMs Eline Roebers & Divya Deshmukh! Looking forward to amazing games!
The Women in Chess Foundation’s goal is to address the state of chess & take productive and positive action. Our website is now live for anyone to use as a resource in their time of need.
The Advocacy Initiative aims to put independent Advocates at every chess tournament so that those who experience misconduct have someone to turn to for help. Advocates are people you can confide in & with whom you can discuss your experience in order to understand your options.
You have 45 seconds on the clock! ⏰
The challenge is on! Can you name all the Women's World Chess Champions? 👑
Can you do better than the
#FIDEGrandSwiss
players and commentators?
#WomenInChess
@FideWomen
We’re fundraising!!
Donations that are made go towards subsidising the Advocacy Initiative so that it is accessible to people who may not be able to afford it and towards future WICF projects and events.
Any donation helps & thank you for your support!
Thanks so much to Susan for sharing the stories of these women and highlighting our organisation. Much work needs to be done but we’re on the right path forward!
Spoke to multiple women in chess for
@newlinesmag
(some chose not to be named for fear of being harassed all over again). Horror accounts of assault. A fightback is taking shape through non profits led by women. Chess needs to be safe for all.
Today was one of the most unpleasant experiences of my career. Not only did the arbiter not know the laws of chess, but he patted me on my bum while trying to usher me out of the playing hall. Surely this is harassment?
@ECUonline
What rewards will you receive for your donations during our Christmas Extravaganza?
Well our goal is to raise $2000 & luckily we have some incredible people lined up to talk & play chess as a reward! (and yes we will all actually get tattoos if you guys go above and beyond)♟️❣️
We are extremely excited to announce our partnership w
@ChessSligo
– The tournament will have 3 Advocates & have clear reporting, misconduct and consequence policies to ensure everyones safety.
Sligo is leading the way & setting the standard for how tournaments should be held.
Team French (Lula) vs Team Fiona Super SubBattle at 19:00 CET!
Come watch both amazing teams compete against each other and
@GMHikaru
and
@Vachier_Lagrave
go head to head!
This week our CEO & founder
@emiliacastelao
was interviewed on the famous Perpetual Chess Podcast!
Emilia &
@Bennyficial1
talked about the foundation, chess photography, chess history & more.
Join us at 3pm at De Moriaan for an Information Session about the Women in Chess Foundation!
CEO Emilia Castelao and Chairman Michael Duke will be there to talk about WICF programs and how you can get involved.
Thanks so much to
@tatasteelchess
for having us!
One of the first things we would like to announce is
@ChessSligo
receiving our SafePolicy Badge!
They have gone through our SafePolicy Program and developed & implemented policies dedicated to keeping women safe at their tournament.
Read them here:
Combining our Paypal Donations and Twitch Donations, we have raised $1183!!
We're only $900 away from dyeing Mr.Dodgy's hair pink!
Watch on and donate or via PayPal:
@NewInChess
featured President Emilia Castelao and Chairman Michael Duke in the inaugural opinion column!
In this piece, they tell you how to make your tournament more appealing and inclusive.♟️Get a digital version of the issue free for a limited time:
Want to learn about the Women in Chess Foundation in person?
Come chat with us at our table at the US Masters this Saturday, November 25th!
Board member, Chris Callahan, will be there to answer any questions you have about our organisation and active programs. See you there!
We want to give a big thank you to
@BBCSounds
and
@BBCWorld
for highlighting the current issue of sexism in chess and including WICF President
@emiliacastelao
!
We encourage everyone to listen and learn about the struggles women in chess face everyday.
We had a fantastic first official round of Advocacy Training today!
Advocates are be able to be found on our 'Find an Advocate' page. If you have experienced any misconduct in your chess community, please reach out to us!
We're here to support you.
You thought those were the only rewards we had? You thought wrong!
Any of these individual donations will be rewarded with some bonus rewards during the Christmas Exrtravaganza!! 🎄✨
Jerseys are on the way! Expecting to start being in stock early December for $64.99.
Half of all profits will go to
@womeninchess
, a charity to help provide advocacy for women at chess events. Learn more:
#Chess
#ProChess
#ProChessLeague
We have raised over $500 in our first hour! Thank you to everyone who has donated. We're only ~$1500 away from our goal!!
Join us for when we Tier List some Grandmasters and Prank Call a Mystery GM and come claim some of our bonus rewards!♟️🥳
WICF and
@tatasteelchess
have joined forces to not only have Advocates in Wijk aan Zee, but our first in-person Advocacy Training on January 18th!
WICF Advocacy Training will be held at De Moriaan in Wijk aan Zee and be from 9:00-14:30!
Sign up here: !
WICF currently has Advocates on 3 continents. Should you need support regarding misconduct that happened to you, whether it was recently or not, reach out to us confidentially and anonymously at contact
@womeninchess
.com.
Learn more at: .
@fionchetta
interviewed Emilia Castelao and talked about WICF’s collaboration with
@tatasteelchess
and the plans our organization has for 2024!
Watch it here:
The path to becoming an advocate & supporting your chess community couldn't be simpler.
Also, due to a (pleasantly!) unexpected demand, we've increased class sizes & adjusted the class times to make advocate training more accessible to even more people!
Our next advocacy training session is on Sunday and we only have one open spot left. Places are now extremely limited for the other dates too!
Sign up here:
Are you attending any of these tournaments?
We will have WICF Advocates there!
Should you need anything, feel free to reach out to the Advocates themselves or WICF directly at !
Mia Sahely 🇰🇾 was one of the participants in last years Queen's Gambit Challenge. Her love for chess has grown so much. She recently did a project at school about the gender gap in chess. I'm so proud of her, and I am very optimistic about the future of women's chess 😍❤️🤗
What an insane round 5 of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament!
Both Eline Roebers and Ju Wenjun scored the biggest wins of their careers so far, while Dutchmen
@anishgiri
(Masters) and
@erwinlami
(Challengers) are in pole position after five rounds.
#TataSteelChess
We're saddened to hear about the discontinuation of the PCL. We thank the Garden State Passer though for their unwavering support and commitment to women in chess. ♥️
As we don't know when we'll compete as a team, we're discounting all jerseys in stock and not be replenishing them and offering free shipping for the US:
We will continue to honor our agreement with
@womeninchess
and donate the same amount per sale.
1/2
Massive thanks to
@alexandrabotez
for a $1000 donation to
@womeninchess
, which she pledged upon completion of my rating challenge.
I donated as well. Maybe you can chip in? Link below.
WICF's Advocacy Program has a few more spots open for their training on February 11th from 6-11pm CET!!
Sign up at the link below to take part in making your chess community a safer place!
Happy New Year from the Women in Chess Foundation! We have a lot of exciting projects in store for you in 2024 and look forward to a year of supporting
#womeninchess
♟️❣️
Join us TODAY for our Christmas Charity Extravaganza at 12pm CET!! We'll start off with a special event from Mr.Dodgy and then head into our 2-hour Arena.
Watch here:
We will have Sligo Civil Defence first aid teams at the tournament to address any medical or health issues. The safety of the players and their families are our highest priority. We appreciate the dedication and support of the Civil Defence volunteers.
#chess
#chesspunks
Just a small example of what women chess players deal with... this is what came up and the tik Tok auto search function on a video with
@alexandrabotez
having a very serious talk about chess...
@JenShahade
@womeninchess
In the new year, we're working with many organisations to develop and implement completely new SafePlay Guidelines that focus on robust policies that protect everyone.
Read more about our SafePolicy Program and how certification works here:
If you don't want to donate via Twitch feel free to donate through our PayPal Charity page! Any donated amount helps us support women in chess.
Donate here:
The 'Sponsor an Advocate' program is our aim to subsidise the cost of training and required background checks needed to become an Advocate. Once certified, they will be available to assist those in need and help make chess safe for all.
Donate here:
Up next on the Christmas Charity Extravaganza: a Tier List of How Likely GMs are to Survive the Apocalypse and
@JenShahade
at 16:00 CET teaching us puzzles from her new book!
Watch at:
In the mood to play some chess? Play for Charity!
Join our 2-hour Arena on
@chesscom
that is being streamed during the WICF Christmas Charity Extravaganza!! It starts at 13:00 CET so register now!
Join here:
@edwardian23i
There is the option to donate both publicly and anonymously! As per our 501c3 status, an overview of our financials will be reported at the end of the tax year.