Chess beauty contests: pros and cons

The Hindustantimes has been one of the numerous newspapers that has published an article on Vladislav Tkachiev's forfeit after being heavily drunk and falling asleep at a chess board. A truly grandmaster-level PR move! It's too bad that Toiletgate, drunk GMs & their fights over a pretty female chess player seem to be the only way for chess to make the news.

However, our topic today is different: beauty contests among women chess players. In the screenshot above you can see a mention of one of them, here's another story. Opinions on this subject differ: some people believe that such contests are an excellent way of promoting chess and chess players. Others point out that women should prove their strength and earn popularity over the board, not by posing for glamorous photo shoots. WGM Natalia Pogonina doesn't pay too much attention to such events. She finds them fun, somewhat provocative, but not that important.

And what's your opinion? Does it make sense to hold chess beauty contests? Please leave your comments here, vote in a poll, or even ask your friends what they think.