Unlocking the potential of Women in Bridge

Priyanka Gulati

One would assume Bridge does not require physical prowess and is a mind game hence there should be no gender distinction.

However, the data speaks differently.  The top ranked woman player as per current World Women’s Ranking has an Open Ranking of 1812. Statistically, it could be that she has not participated in open events. The bigger questions, though, are : Is it that men perform better at the table? If that is true then why is it so?

The participation gap between men and women is huge and hence, to look at only the outcome as a measure of success, is not fair.

How many women are playing serious bridge from an early age i.e. what is the denominator? Some don’t make it to the table. Others who do are not cheered and given the support and encouragement, that advancing male players are given (BFH is, in general an exception - Eds).

How many get the chance to break into all boys’ teams. Travel/ family makes it difficult to opt the game.

Is there a neurological sex difference in terms of the brains and competency required for the game?

Sandra Landy, in her essay "Women and Bridge" suggests that the ‘male game is tougher and more aggressive because of testosterone levels. Men concentrate better while women are multitasking.’ Also, she says, women are more balanced and lead less obsessive lives. Historically, the female brain is wired to protect, while the males have more risk-taking ability

Male dominance is so high that you will rarely see the feminine pronoun (she) being used for a player in any book on bridge.

Every patch of sky on a dreary day is beautiful, but the striking difference between the colours of the rainbow make it beautiful. The idea is not to change the colour of the rainbow but to give due to each colour, to ensure that value of each colour stands out and is not a gender blip.

What does success look like?

1. Celebrate the women role models (in no order).  Asha Sharma, Puja Batra, Kiran Nadar, Marianne Karmarkar, Himani Khandelwal, Bindiya Naidoo, Richa Sriram, Hema Deora, Monica Jajoo, Vasanti Shah, Srihari Varghese, Bharati Dey, Devi Bhatnagar, Dr. Nikita Kamal, Meenal Thakur and, of course, the young vibrant favourites Kalpana Gurjar and Vidya Patel.
2. Enthuse current promising entrants e.g. Sadhana Gupta, Ratna Tadepalli, Sarika Mittal, Bindiya Kohli, Priya Balasubramanian, Subashree Basu etc. and enable their participation.
3. Work with other juniors like Kamryn Menezes, Kavya, Rekha B, Rashi etc and ensure their participation in events
4. Encourage new players like Deepa Jacobs, Anjali Karthikeyan, Sumitra Vishwanath and perhaps even me to increase our level of participation in the open game. In all fairness, I have been given a lot of encouragement by many people, but these names are just some thrown at me by my editor.
5. Increase competitions for women players, improve participation gap by enabling the participation of young girls into the game
6. Track metrics like women participation in tournaments and growth in the percentage of women in teams’ events, women’s representation through the talent pipeline

In short, it probably means that the BFI should consider developing a training program for women much the same way it has a program for juniors. Look how our juniors performed at Salsomaggiore recently. There is no reason why the standards of women's bridge in India cannot be improved.

With a record number of women in the executive committee of the BFI, I am extremely hopeful some large and positive steps will be taken in this direction.

Any country which will focus on these dimensions and be diligent about execution—driving through the recommendations will see Bridge grow not just with women but across society.

Disclaimer : All opinions are entirely those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the BridgeFromHome Team.