Britain’s only all-female chess team have slammed the “extremely disappointing” requirement to add a man to their squad to comply with league regulations after earning promotion to the top tier of the game.
She Plays to Win Lionesses A Team, who secured their place in the Four Nations Chess League’s first division, have run into a gender diversity requirement that mandates every team include at least one player of each sex on its roster.
Ironically, the rule was originally introduced to encourage greater female representation in the sport, yet it now forces the only all-female side in the UK to accommodate a man on their team.
Complying with the regulation would require the team to remove one of their eight elite female players to create space for a male competitor.
Members of the squad have voiced strong opposition, arguing that such a change would erode the team spirit they have built together.
The players have also warned that the enforced inclusion of a man could have the opposite effect to the rule’s stated aim, actively deterring women from competing in chess rather than drawing more of them into the game.
The Four Nations Chess League encompasses teams from England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, with a dozen sides competing at the highest level in its first division.
Across all tiers of the game, female players account for roughly 11 per cent of those with top ratings, underscoring the scale of the gender imbalance the sport continues to grapple with.
Britain’s only all-female chess team must add a man to their squad to comply with league regulations
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GB NEWS
One team member, Alisha Vyas, told GB News: “I started playing when I was six years old, and I was lucky to have access to the game through my school, which was an all-girls school, and it was taught as a lesson.”
“I was extremely lucky in that case. I grew up surrounded by girls playing chess, which was amazing. I know that that’s absolutely, absolutely exceptional.
“The more I started playing tournaments, I realised that I was a minority, and this was the reality of the situation.”
Fellow team member, Anusha, said: “We have fallen victim to this rule.”
She Plays to Win Lionesses A Team secured their place in the Four Nations Chess League’s first division
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GB NEWS
She added: “Our team has been promoted to the first division in our league, but now we must have a male player as part of the rules. The rule was initially designed to encourage female participation, of course, being the other way around. So that an all-male team must have a female player.
“But now, as the first exception, we have been told that the rule must be applied the other way around, and it’s honestly extremely disappointing. It’s quite counterintuitive. And our aim is to encourage all girls to participate in chess.”
“The rule was initially included to encourage female participation. And the whole point is that in the higher divisions, there’s a lot of male representation. It’s usually the females who are quite underrepresented.
“We’re going in as an all-girls unit. We’re encouraging female participation, encouraging younger girls to get involved, and introducing this role as a step backwards. It defeats the purpose of what the team is all about.”
The team has run into a gender diversity requirement that mandates every team include at least one player of each sex on its roster
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GB NEWS
Mike Truran, from 4NCL, told GB News: “Since its inception in 1994 the top division has always been a mixed-team competition, each team requiring a mix of males and females.
“We remain the only league in the UK that we are aware of that encourages female participation in chess by requiring mixed teams.
“We surveyed all the team captains during the 2025/2026 season about whether the rule should be changed; there was no significant appetite on the part of the captains to do so. We remain open to changing the rule in future should captains’ opinions change.
“There is no evidence that the rule as it stands discourages female participation in chess. Indeed, we believe that by requiring all teams in the top division to have at least one female player we actively encourage female participation in chess.
“We believe that changing the rule to one that has no mixed-team requirement at all, such that teams in the top division are not required to include a female player, would serve to actively discourage female participation in chess.”