Chess has long had an image problem: bespectacled men in tweed jackets unable to string a sentence together. Entirely unfair of course. But one part of the stereotype is true; 95 per cent of registered players in Britain are male.
It isn't like that at the beginning. At primary school, large numbers of girls and boys enjoy chess.There's even been a run on chess sets in the lead up to Christmas.
So what happens to all those little budding grand masters? Jenni talks to Claire Summerscale, Director of Women's Chess at the Great Britain Chess Fed and to Grand Master, Jovanka Houska.
