Chess Streamer Anna Cramling Receives Vile Sexist Abuse After CNN Interview

Swedish chess star Anna Cramling has done well to keep the reputation of her family heritage but has recently become a victim of disgusting sexism. The 20-year-old has earned a reputation for her orthodox approach to not just looking to excel in Chess but also transitioning into a successful streamer.

Indeed, Cramling has over 100,000 followers on Twitch and over 400,000 subscribers on YouTube, where she spends her time participating in online chess matches. She has even uploaded her match against grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, and her enticing streams allow users to learn more about chess and how a professional player operates as well.

The 20-year-old is the daughter of Swedish grandmaster Pia Cramling and her father Juan Manuel Lopez is also a Spanish grandmaster.

As a result, she has had quite a lot of pressure throughout her career to keep the family heritage intact. Cramling has done admirably well for herself, having won the Woman FIDE Master Title at the age of 15 in 2018 and receiving a peak FIDE ELO rating of 2175 in the same year. ELO rating in Chess, for that unknowing, is a method for calculating the skill level of a chess player and the higher the rating is – the better ranked the player is. 

Her current rating is about 2072, which is far off from the world’s no.1 female chess player – China’s Hou Yifan who has a 2628 rating. In a recent interview with CNN, Cramling opened up about the reality behind being a female chess player.

What did Cramling say?

Speaking about her experiences in being a professional chess player since she was a little child, Cramling told CNN: “I’ve had weird experiences in the chess world ever since I was a kid. From adult men complimenting me at chess tournaments to receiving DMs from my chess opponents saying things such as ‘I couldn’t stop looking at you’ during our chess game.

“This made me feel very uncomfortable, as a chess game typically takes four or five hours, so it felt weird knowing that someone so much older than me had been thinking about me in that way for so many hours.”

Cramling has alerted many chess fans with her revelations, hinting at a side of pedophilia in the chess community and the other side to some of the ‘geniuses’ who are much revered for their intelligence.

Cramling receives sexist comments for exposing issues in the Chess Community

Cramling’s interview with CNN, where she exposed some o the problems female chess players face has gotten a lot of members of the chess community talking.

While she has received a lot of support from her fans and others as well, Cramling appears to have ticked off some of the Chess fanatics. She has become the victim of some shameful sexist trolling for her comments.

Some fans have argued that Cramling has no right to talk about such problems and aimed at ‘nepotism’ taunts as well. Indeed, some have hinted that she can’t ‘whine’ about such subjects because of her privilege coming into the professional chess scene.

Others have even indicated that she shouldn’t be bothered about male chess players eyeing her, because her mother also married a male chess player.

Fans have also accused her of trying to bring up the ‘#MeToo’ trend with her comments and complaining about being looked at due to her attractive nature. Cramling is yet to address the sexist comments made toward her.

But considering how she’s adapted well to dealing with the toxicity of social media with her streaming career and how she has managed to survive the uneasiness of the same throughout her time as a pro chess player – Cramling will probably find a way to survive this uneasy period too.