The history of Chess Olympiads spans back to 1927, yet women's tournament was introduced only in 1957. While traditional division between men's and women's events was, and still it, predominant, technically speaking there are no "men's" Olympiad in chess, since they have always been open for every player, regardless of his or hers sex. This article thoroughly guides through the history of women's participation in the "men's olympiads". And it has never been easy for women to be successful, given there are no gender parities prescribed in chess, and all of them qualified for the national teams only because there were no stronger male players in sight.

Definitely the first woman who threw down the gauntlet to the men's world was Vera Menchik. Born from Czech father and British mother she was raised in the Soviet Union, from where she left for Great Britain. She took her first World Championship title in 1927 with 100% performance and had since outclassed her female opposition in consecutive championship tournaments. (....)

Click here to read full story...