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More Than Just Opponents: The Barriers Women Face In Chess

@computah23 What are your thoughts concerning the post?

@computah23 What are your thoughts concerning the post?

I am not a woman itself, but I agree that people should have equal rights, no matter the gender.

I am not a woman itself, but I agree that people should have equal rights, no matter the gender.

I agree that the titles such as WGM present a double-edged sword. I feel that women who earn these titles ought to be encouraged to strive for the GM title. Judit Polgar was once ranked 8th in the world (counting women AND men). If her success is any indication, more women can reach that level and above. I believe that there are some serious challenges facing women in chess. I also believe that if a little girl says she wants to be a grandmaster in chess someday, we should support her dreams. She might someday give up her dreams, if that is her choice, but we should not force the issue. We should not make fun of her, dismiss her, or ignore her. It would be a shame if no women ever took the World Champion title simply because society does not believe they can succeed.

I agree that the titles such as WGM present a double-edged sword. I feel that women who earn these titles ought to be encouraged to strive for the GM title. Judit Polgar was once ranked 8th in the world (counting women AND men). If her success is any indication, more women can reach that level and above. I believe that there are some serious challenges facing women in chess. I also believe that if a little girl says she wants to be a grandmaster in chess someday, we should support her dreams. She might someday give up her dreams, if that is her choice, but we should not force the issue. We should not make fun of her, dismiss her, or ignore her. It would be a shame if no women ever took the World Champion title simply because society does not believe they can succeed.

As a man I completely agree. In chess, I feel like women and men should be able to compete together. For example, Ju Wenjun (I believe) could comfortably beat any GM from 10th to 100th in the rankings!

As a man I completely agree. In chess, I feel like women and men should be able to compete together. For example, Ju Wenjun (I believe) could comfortably beat any GM from 10th to 100th in the rankings!

@WuraolaA said in #1:

Comments on adjva4.dpdns.org/@/wuraolaa/blog/more-than-just-opponents-the-barriers-women-face-in-chess/d3aP3TW2

Nice write up. Can you attach a link to your previous article in the post to make it easier to locate

@WuraolaA said in #1: > Comments on adjva4.dpdns.org/@/wuraolaa/blog/more-than-just-opponents-the-barriers-women-face-in-chess/d3aP3TW2 Nice write up. Can you attach a link to your previous article in the post to make it easier to locate

@saturnris6 said in #3:

I am not a woman itself, but I agree that people should have equal rights, no matter the gender.

Exact same ideas here.

@saturnris6 said in #3: > I am not a woman itself, but I agree that people should have equal rights, no matter the gender. Exact same ideas here.

The board is not equal, don't listen to the thumbnail. White is +0.4 to start the game.

The board is not equal, don't listen to the thumbnail. White is +0.4 to start the game.

Judit Polgar was the result of a educational experiment, reducing social contacts and activity from very early childhood on. This cannot count in respect of possible abilities of women. Chess Girls get more attention and incentives than boys and a lot of that what's written in the article is at best to a minor part true, e.g. that boys get more training. Most boys are on their own, studying chess without a coach what today is as easy as it was never before.
The "barriers" and there impact on women's chess are not the real hindrance and in the article superficial explaind and overestimated.

Judit Polgar was the result of a educational experiment, reducing social contacts and activity from very early childhood on. This cannot count in respect of possible abilities of women. Chess Girls get more attention and incentives than boys and a lot of that what's written in the article is at best to a minor part true, e.g. that boys get more training. Most boys are on their own, studying chess without a coach what today is as easy as it was never before. The "barriers" and there impact on women's chess are not the real hindrance and in the article superficial explaind and overestimated.

Women just don't do as well at board games in general. Not because they aren't as smart but because they generally have less of an interest. Psychological studies have shown that men are more concerned with things, and women are more concerned with people. This makes a woman less likely to play any board game really seriously. Of course there will be cases of really good female players, but there won't be as many of them. And whether female players have their own league and set of titles should be up to them. I have no problem with female players playing in a co-ed chess league but they ought to have their own league if they want it.

About harassment from male players, how common is it? Could we have some numbers on this? That short of behavior is inexcusable and ought to be stopped.

Women just don't do as well at board games in general. Not because they aren't as smart but because they generally have less of an interest. Psychological studies have shown that men are more concerned with things, and women are more concerned with people. This makes a woman less likely to play any board game really seriously. Of course there will be cases of really good female players, but there won't be as many of them. And whether female players have their own league and set of titles should be up to them. I have no problem with female players playing in a co-ed chess league but they ought to have their own league if they want it. About harassment from male players, how common is it? Could we have some numbers on this? That short of behavior is inexcusable and ought to be stopped.