Why are men better at Chess than women?

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slave
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30 Aug 2015, 10:20 pm

I do not have any idea and am curious what others think.



Feyokien
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30 Aug 2015, 10:25 pm



You sure about that



slave
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31 Aug 2015, 12:56 am

^^^ :lol: :lol: :lol: ^^^
well played



traven
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31 Aug 2015, 1:30 am

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_chess_players or more interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1rPolgár has rarely played in women's-specific tournaments or divisions and has never competed for the Women's World Championship: "I always say that women should have the self-confidence that they are as good as male players, but only if they are willing to work and take it seriously as much as male players. :thump:
played it quite a lot, but only the younger brother took it to a competition level
I recommended it lately, to friends/parents of a boy with some control/anger issues, father understood but mother got worried about the idea <better is a children-version of chess>??? she's teacher, I'm from Barcelona, haha
http://www.susanpolgar.com/susan-polgar-foundation-benefits.html



xenocity
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31 Aug 2015, 9:44 am

Not necessarily.

It depends on the person.


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slave
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31 Aug 2015, 6:34 pm

traven wrote:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_chess_players or more interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1rPolgár has rarely played in women's-specific tournaments or divisions and has never competed for the Women's World Championship: "I always say that women should have the self-confidence that they are as good as male players, but only if they are willing to work and take it seriously as much as male players. :thump:
played it quite a lot, but only the younger brother took it to a competition level
I recommended it lately, to friends/parents of a boy with some control/anger issues, father understood but mother got worried about the idea <better is a children-version of chess>??? she's teacher, I'm from Barcelona, haha
http://www.susanpolgar.com/susan-polgar-foundation-benefits.html


I am quite familiar with the Polgar's and they are excellent.

Judit is, of course, the best female ever @ 2735.

To keep this in perspective, she would place in 23rd amongst the men in Sept 2015 FIDE Elo and in 1st amongst women besting the 2nd place by a staggering 64.

No female has ever been close to Judit.

Yifan Hou the current female No. 1 is at 2671 and is thus ranked No. 72 amongst the men.

Why?

I know of no Neurological or Psychological explanation.



slave
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31 Aug 2015, 6:35 pm

xenocity wrote:
Not necessarily.

It depends on the person.


Could you further explain your perspective?
:)



xenocity
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31 Aug 2015, 6:46 pm

slave wrote:
xenocity wrote:
Not necessarily.

It depends on the person.


Could you further explain your perspective?
:)

Those who are more analytic and better at strategy tend to do better at Chess.
It's just personal traits.

You can learn Chess to a degree, though if you aren't naturally analytic and strategic, then you will struggle to be good at games that require that.


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Humanaut
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31 Aug 2015, 6:53 pm

slave wrote:
Why are men better at Chess than women?

Because men are smarter than women.



Barchan
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31 Aug 2015, 7:45 pm

Maybe because chess is boring?

You move pieces around on a board, and try to subdue the opponent's king. Every piece is visible at all times, and has a limited number of moves it can perform, so it's not really possible to deceive or surprise your opponent. Most strategy games have some element of deception to them, which chess does not. To me that's just not exciting.



slave
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31 Aug 2015, 8:29 pm

xenocity wrote:
slave wrote:
xenocity wrote:
Not necessarily.

It depends on the person.


Could you further explain your perspective?
:)

Those who are more analytic and better at strategy tend to do better at Chess.
It's just personal traits.

You can learn Chess to a degree, though if you aren't naturally analytic and strategic, then you will struggle to be good at games that require that.


Understood. :)



Butterfly88
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01 Sep 2015, 7:21 am

I don't think so. I think perhaps more men play chess than women but that doesn't mean the men who play are better than the women.



tombo12boar
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01 Sep 2015, 8:00 am

In the countries where Chess is big, like Russia, they put more effort into training men and boys. A female would not get the same pushes or chances/pressure to practice. Though I've always thought it was stupid that they divide Chess tournaments by gender, as its not a physical sport.



slave
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01 Sep 2015, 7:41 pm

Butterfly88 wrote:
I don't think so. I think perhaps more men play chess than women but that doesn't mean the men who play are better than the women.


Men are objectively better as shown in the FIDE Elo ranking system.

Some women compete exclusively against the men, like Judit Polgar(now retired), and she did so her entire career. She had access to the best books, teachers, competition, etc... It can't be access to training materials, not anymore. Every single FIDE game is online, complete with expert analysis.

Yes more men play than women but how does that prevent ever single woman on Earth from excelling in Chess and becoming equal?

Women excel in all STEM disciplines, how do any of the cognitive tasks in Chess differ?

Spatial relations, memory, sequencing, analysis, problem solving, reasoning, logic, tactics, strategy, etc....



traven
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02 Sep 2015, 1:28 am

slave wrote:
Butterfly88 wrote:
I don't think so. I think perhaps more men play chess than women but that doesn't mean the men who play are better than the women.


Men are objectively better as shown in the FIDE Elo ranking system.

Some women compete exclusively against the men, like Judit Polgar(now retired), and she did so her entire career. She had access to the best books, teachers, competition, etc... It can't be access to training materials, not anymore. Every single FIDE game is online, complete with expert analysis.

Yes more men play than women but how does that prevent ever single woman on Earth from excelling in Chess and becoming equal?

Women excel in all STEM disciplines, how do any of the cognitive tasks in Chess differ?

Spatial relations, memory, sequencing, analysis, problem solving, reasoning, logic, tactics, strategy, etc....


I can't see if it's a confirmation or a real question, if it's not nature it's likely nurture

But that's the sour part, don't stand up to your father, girl! Your mother's not your allie!



iBlockhead
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02 Sep 2015, 12:10 pm

slave wrote:
I do not have any idea and am curious what others think.


Judit Polgar showed that women can do it, but she started extremely early and was one of the most competitive players ever.

It is amusing that the Nigel Short, who rekindled all this, had a losing record against her - and apparently this gets more flack than when he said correspondence players should be executed on a live webcast!