Searching for the Queen's Gambit: An Analysis of Male-Female Performance Gaps in U.S. Chess

We examine male-female rating gaps for young chess players using two decades of data from the U.S. Chess Federation. A contribution of our study is that we analyze the evolution of male-female gaps across a broad range of chess ratings, from novice to advanced. We find large gaps favoring males at entry and beyond across all percentiles of the ratings distribution. We find similar returns to tournament experience for males and females. Although female players have higher attrition rates than males, the net effect of this differential attrition on population ratings gaps is null. We find some evidence that male-female rating gaps at entry narrow modestly as female participation in the home locale rises – an effect that is generally stronger for weaker players. The key explanation for male-female differences in the population are ratings gaps at entry, which are large when first observed and persist over time.