In 1991, Hungarian chess player Susan Polgar made headlines as the first woman to earn the coveted rank of grandmaster by meeting established performance standards. While competitive chess remains primarily a male activity, women have made impressive progress since then.

According to David Jarrett, executive director of the World Chess Federation, women make up about 10% of the organization's estimated one million members, 7.6% of 100,456 rated players, and 2% of the top 1,000 players world-wide. More significantly, the caliber...