An all-female chess team faces having to replace one of its players with a male team member, under current league rules.

The She Plays to Win Lionesses A team were crowned champions of the second division of the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL), earning promotion to the top flight.

They will be the first all-female team to compete in the top division of the UK's national chess league but a rule introduced to boost female participation requires teams to field at least one player of each sex.

The 4NCL said there was "no significant appetite" to change the rule.

Only 11% of rated chess players are female, so in an effort to address the imbalance the top division of the 4NCL requires teams to field at least one player of each sex.

She Plays to Win is a charity organisation which encourages schoolgirls and young women to take up chess.

Team member, Oxford University student Emily Maton, 18, said: "I love the logical aspect of chess, it's such a challenge, you really get to think.

"Most people are supportive but we do still face some comments, people telling us we don't belong, that we're going to struggle at that level, that we're good 'for a girls' team."

Having earned the right to compete in the top division, Maton is frustrated that the rule could lead to changes to the team.

"It obviously has great intentions. It's a really good effort to try and get more women playing that top level, but I don't think they ever expected a female team to get promoted and for that to become a problem".

She said the team may have to include a "token man".

Lorin D'Costa founded She Plays to Win six years ago and has since helped 1,800 female chess players.

He thinks they should still be allowed to field an all-female team when the league starts in October.

He said there was "some discussion" as to what the team should do.

"The team, the community and the camaraderie of the team is so important for females in chess", he adds.

"You can go to most tournament halls and its just a sea of men".

Seventeen-year-old Larissa from Poole in Dorset also competes for She Plays to Win.

"When I'm at tournaments I'm usually one of the only girls because there's not a lot of women who play chess", she says.

"But we're hoping that that can change".

Larissa is disappointed that the all-female team would be allowed to compete in the top division, under the current rules.

She said the team had "put in a lot of effort" to get to the top flight.

"The girls should be able to play as a team because they're representing all women," she said.

In a statement, the 4NCL said that requiring all teams in the top division to have at least one female player "actively encourages female participation in chess".

"We surveyed all the team captains during the 2025/2026 season about whether the rule should be changed; there was no significant appetite on the part of the captains to do so".

"We remain open to changing the rule in future should captains' opinions change".