We are a group of backgammon players from around the world and we want to make backgammon more inclusive for women. 

Together, we have developed some recommendations the WBGF can use to make backgammon tournaments more open to women. If your board approves of them (indeed, the best international players do), please share these suggestions with your national federations. 

 

Recommendations for tournament directors. 

1. When describing your event, use inclusive language. Some languages don't have any gender distinction between words like "player" or "winner", but others do. Try to be creative when talking about your participants and your community. Use "she" as often as "he" (or "they" when possible). 

2. Include women into your tournament organization committee. Encourage women to take positions of responsibility when organizing the event. They will help create a more women-friendly environment and attract more women players. 

3. When promoting the tournament, feature women players on your promotion pictures, videos and other documents, and interview women. While there are still more male players and tournament winners in backgammon, women are getting better and achieving better results. They deserve to be showcased. Avoid picturing women as accessories to the event rather than as participants. 

4. Put women on streaming tables. Women say that seeing more women players on YouTube encourages them to take part in backgammon events. As a start, we recommend making sure that at least 25% of streamed players are women. 

5. Be alert to sexist behaviour and actively prevent it. Any rude behaviour, towards either men or women, should be sanctioned. However, women face comments about their skill, their luck, and their looks far more often. If such comments are reported, speak politely but firmly with the offender and issue a warning. Experience shows that nipping such comments in the bud improves the general atmosphere of the event and its reputation. 

Recommendations to Backgammon Federations. 

In addition to the suggestions listed above, as a National Federation, you can also:

1. Encourage women to take positions of responsibility within your Federation. 

2. Include at least one woman player in your National Team, if her level allows her to take part in it. 

3. Sponsor one or several women players to take part in national or international tournaments. Invite them to your national team's training sessions. 

4. Encourage your local tournament directors to apply the recommendations listed above. Encourage your local YouTube streamers to stream more matches played by women. 

5. Take complaints about sexist comments and behaviour seriously. 

6. Promote backgammon among children, encouraging young girls to take part in classes. 

We hope that you will take these recommendations seriously and encourage your members to apply them in their countries. Together, we can help women fully explore their potential as players, and move world backgammon into the 21st century.