Those who binge-watched Netflix series in the early years of the pandemic will be familiar with The Queen’s Gambit, a 2020 miniseries that tells the story of fictional teenage chess prodigy Beth Harmon.

Set in the 1960s, the series shows Harmon’s constant struggle to be recognized in the international scene as a female chess player, as she is constantly looked down upon by her male peers.

But that era of male-dominated competition may be waning, as these days, more and more women are becoming world champions at chess, including Indonesians.

“There are quite a lot of female chess players in Indonesia now compared to before – like in Malang, [East Java],” 17-year-old Almaas Tsabita told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Almaas is one of the many women chess players who participated in the 2022 JAPFA Chess Festival at Gedung Serbaguna Senayan in Jakarta, which was held from Saturday to Wednesday.

“I’ve loved chess since I was in the second grade of elementary school,” she said, adding that she befriended a number of female chess players in Malang along the way.

For 18-year-old Zata Dirayati “Dira” Adani from Central Sulawesi, chess has been a passion since kindergarten. Her father eventually noticed her talent and helped guide her in chess competitions starting in the fifth grade of elementary school. She was even supported by the school’s headmaster.

“There’s no more stigma in chess that ‘women should not play’ or that we can’t be better than men,” Dira said.

Other players agree.

“My family, especially my eldest sister, is very supportive of me [playing chess],” said Almaas, whose sister came all the way from Malang to cheer for her.

And Indonesia’s female chess players have their own homegrown idols.

“I look up to Irene Kharisma Sukandar,” 12-year-old Najwa Murfida Isnaidi from Gresik, East Java, told the Post on Tuesday. “I have no other idols outside Indonesia.”

Meanwhile, Dira gushed about Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen.

“But from Indonesia, it has to be Irene,” she said.

The competitors in the 12^th JAPFA Chess Festival got to see international master Medina Warda Aulia, Indonesia’s youngest woman grand master, playing on the podium against Singaporean woman grand master, Gong Qianyun.

“I want to be like them,” Almaas said of Irene, Medina, Chelsie Monica and other renowned Indonesian female chess players.

Dira, who was competing in the JAPFA Chess Festival for the third time, saw Irene and Medina’s careers as charting a course for her to follow.

“They motivate me,” she said. “I hope there are more and more female chess players in Indonesia.”

“I feel proud seeing them in big, international competitions, but I want to be better than them,” Najwa said with a smile.

She added that Gresik now had a number of female chess players as well. “I want there to be more woman grand masters like Irene.”

The woman grand master board of the 12^th JAPFA Chess Festival finally saw a win on Monday, putting Medina under pressure with a loss as white.

In home preparation for both competitors, her opponent, woman grand master Gong Qianyun decided to play the Caro-Kann as black, returning the favor to her opponent as they commenced the day before.

On Monday, however, black’s defense translated to a point as Medina resigned after blundering a knight in the endgame. Qianyun is now leading the standings with 2 points with three games left to play.

For the men's grand master board, the game ended in a second consecutive draw, despite a sharp start with the Kramnik-Shirov counterattack against the English opening.

Playing black, IM Mohamad Ervan managed to neutralize grand master Darwin Laylo’s attacks with early trades. It is likely that Ervan will play the rest of the games safely, aiming for draws, as he is one point ahead of Laylo.

Deni Ghifari contributed to this story.

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