Broken heart...defeated a friend then was accussed of cheating!

My experience over the years as an observer of chess players is that I know of no other group that as a whole has a higher concentration of egotistical assholes.   That is not to say the condemnation applies to a majority but for whatever reason, the ego factor comes to bear in such a way that quite often ugliness in behavior surfaces more often than in other disciplines.

A nerdy little punkass is never going to find themselves in the position to gloat over a victory in some physical endeavor where the natural order of things dictates they will not supercede their logical place in the pecking order but chess leverages those undeserving in other ways into positions of supremacy over persons who otherwise outshine them in other important areas that contribute to normal self esteem.    

What I'm trying to say here contributes in a way to the disadvantage of us females playing in the male's world of chess.   At least it has in the past.    When we lose chess games our egos are not crushed.