ChessabellésMore women and girls at the board
Fewer than one in ten players at chess tournaments in Australia are women and girls. Chessabellés exists to change that: to help more girls start, keep playing through their teens, and compete with confidence.
<10%
of players at chess tournaments in Australia are women and girls.
Why so few?
Many girls stop playing in their early teens, and many women never start. Often it isn’t the chess: it’s walking into a room where you’re one of only a few girls, with nobody you know and nobody who looks like you at the front.
A place with other girls and women, coached by young women who play competitive chess themselves, makes it easier to begin, to keep going, and to compete with confidence.
Why women-only works
Room to ask anything
Girls and women often go quiet in mixed groups where they're the only one. Here every question is a good one, and everyone is in the same boat.
Coaches who've been there
Every coach is a young woman who plays competitive chess, and knows what it's like to be one of only a few girls in the room.
Teammates, not strangers
Squad members go to tournaments together, so nobody walks into her first rated game alone.
How we’re getting there
A way in at every stage, like a pawn on its way to becoming a queen.
- Holiday programsGirls-only chess days in the school holidays: a friendly first taste of chess, or a boost before next term.
- School programsGirls start young, in their own space at school, with female coaches who know the interschool competitions from the inside.
- Girls' squadA weekly group of girls who learn together and go to tournaments together, so nobody walks into her first rated game alone.
- Women's groupFor women learning from scratch, coming back after years away, or playing rated chess for the first time.
- Private lessonsOne-on-one coaching for girls and women aiming higher, from a first tournament to a national title.
Begin your chess journey today
Whether she’s six or sixty, every great player started with a first game. Send a few details and we’ll reply with available times and current rates. Parents and schools are welcome to enquire.