Remember when The Queen’s Gambit was released on Netflix and it was all the rage? So many of us were *obsessed* with the idea of becoming chess pros only to soon realize we had absolutely no idea how to move a piece on the board. Well, for one individual—unlike the rest of us—the show was *actually* quite similar to her reality. Dorsa Derakhshani is an Iranian chess player who has had quite the journey. While she started out playing in Iran, she’s become quite the international player as she currently plays for the American chess team. With a long list of accolades—including most recently finishing third in the 2020 US Women’s Championship—Dorsa has quite the story to tell. We spoke to her about her journey, all things chess and of course, The Queen’s Gambit.

Cosmo ME: When and where did your journey playing chess begin?

Dorsa Derakshani: Being the first child my parents had, they diversified my education not only academically, but in other areas to improve my creativity and curiosity. This included learning sports, languages, music, painting, and eventually, chess. My dad was always fond of chess, so when he had the opportunity to introduce me to this game, it was a very unique bonding experience. I was around two years old when he taught me how to play and the very basic rules of chess. It wasn’t until I was six years old that I wanted to try and play a game to win. The following year I ended up winning the Iranian National Youth championship for girls in my age group.

C: Did you have any female role models playing chess in Iran?

D: Despite having chess embedded in Iranian history over thousands of years, chess was forbidden in Iran for years after the revolution, there was no real chess history to look up to. There were improvements being made as I was growing up. For example, the ladies who were just a few years older than me would share their stories on how they were not allowed to play in tournaments with men just because they were women. So they had to play only among females, which were a very limited number of women playing chess and very few times a year.
By the time I was an adolescent, the rules started to change for the better, and more girls (with [an] age limit) were allowed to play among men. That just felt, looked, and sounded wrong to eliminate a whole gender from an activity due to their sex.

C: Were your family and friends in Iran supportive of your decision to play chess competitively?

D: Yes! My parents were my biggest support[ers]. I received very discouraging comments throughout the years from teachers, school staff, chess federation officials, and anyone else who you can think of! My mom was my rock and always pushes me to want to be better.

C: Can you tell us a little more about how you ended up playing chess for the US team?

D: Well, I was already moved out of Iran after graduating high school and was living in Spain when I started receiving opportunity offers from American Universities to join their chess team. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to join one of the European teams and stay in Europe, or take a step towards academics and move to the USA for college. I ended up deciding to give it a try and so I did the SAT and TOEFL back in 2016 and finalized my school of choice, Saint Louis University, by end of that year. I was done playing for Iran national team due to its discriminations and its phoniness since 2015, so the whole shebang during the Giblartar tournament in 2017 didn’t impact my decision to not want to play for Iranian national teams at all. I ended up moving to the USA in 2017 for college to follow my dream to be a doctor and started playing for the USA. in 2020, I managed to score bronze in the USA women’s championship.

C: We have to ask, did you watch The Queen’s Gambit? If so, what did you think of it?

D: It was such an inspiration to everyone around the world! The chess world saw such a huge spike in interest in chess and that was very great for me to be a part of. I enjoyed being able to share my voice towards this masterpiece and help move the chess society forward supporting a more cohesive connection between people all over the world. Side note, the wardrobe was just superb! I need to figure out where to get myself some of those.

C: One of the reasons the show did so well is because it highlighted women succeeding in a male-dominated industry. Do you find this is still the case – is it still a male-dominated industry?

D: Yes. the chess society is still a man’s world. This is very unfortunate and painful to admit, but that is the truth. The statistics show the imbalance between genders’ involvement in the chess world and the numbers are quite concerning when we compare how many men play chess vs. how many women play it. I can see improvement being made in society and more support and encouragement for women playing chess, but it’s still a long road ahead of us. I’m very proud of the progress being made and being able to openly talk about the issues at hand.

C: How would you say being a female chess player has changed over the last few decades?

D: Firstly we have more female role models to look up to. This means that every little girl finding an interest in chess can identify with these role models and follow and dream big. Also, as a teacher, I am able to see how younger minds can work together in virtual classes and camps, without making offensive gender-related comments such as “You play like a girl” or “How [can] girls can play chess.” That is such a revelation for me to witness and be proud of. Not just on a younger scale, but also in more professional settings in chess society, I’ve faced [fewer and fewer] sexist comments. It’s not eradicated yet, but having more female chess players means less sexism as well. Here at SLU, we have a full girls team and I am proud to be the captain of this amazing all-womens’ team.

C: Have you ever faced any stereotypes as a female chess player from the Middle East?​

D: I am pleased to say no. Here in the USA, I have never experienced judgments [or] discrimination due to my Middle Eastern ethnicity. I know that racism exists in the USA, I’m just lucky enough not to have experienced it first-handed yet.

C: Lastly, what is one piece of advice you would give young girls trying to pave a path for themselves in fields where they face challenges or are underrepresented?

D: Never stop dreaming! There are always going to be obstacles and people who will want to bring you down, but you gotta keep pushing and finding connections and resources to succeed. This way, you’ll be able to make the road for others to follow and improve this path too