What if a girl became World Chess Champion?

"Are you saying they aren't smart enough?"

lol, where on Earth did that come from?

Unless you're willing to sleep your way to the 2700s, there is no room for social manipulation in the game of chess. It is entirely skill and hard work. This is why women are underrepresented at the top.

"Gender" is an innate, biological attribute; hence, inapplicable to machine hardware or software.  Programming can, of course, mimic gender expectations.

Pabulum

You are right on. I'm hoping maybe with the million dollar tornement in Vegas this year, some more interest will arise. I think chess should be in the Olympics for men and women.

Yeh that would be awesome 

Yeah, and they should put Poker in the Olympics too. How about 8 ball?

Actually, the female equivalent to guy is gal. I agree that girl implies a child or at least someone young and inexperienced -- without gravitas or wisdom. Often people (usually males) address someone as "girl" when they want to demean or put down the person they are addressing.

mosai wrote:

LongIslandMark wrote:

Elubas wrote:

LongIslandMark wrote:

InDetention wrote:

wut?

"girl" implies a minor, not an adult - and some folks wonder why there are not more women on this site.

People refer to adult females as "girls" all the time. Sometimes the term is used to imply a minor, other times not. Ever hear of "Girl's night out?"

Sure I've heard the expression "girl's night out". I've also heard "boy's night out". Both make sense in context since they harken back to the time of our youth when we mostly socialized with folks of the same gender.

Let me put it this way. If the thread title was "what if a boy became world chess champion". Would you assume they meant an adult male?

what if a guy became world champion

females don't have the equivalent of "guy", so "girl" can mean both "boy" or "guy". 

Eventually, we will have a female world champion. But first, society has to overcome stereotypes that discourage young girls from competing in serious chess. This has started to change, but we are still very far from a world free of prejudice (as evidenced by some of the comments on chess.com).

"Gal" may work, but I think "girl" in some usages can mean the same thing. (Although, it's hard for me to imagine women calling each other gals, but who knows.)

lol, I see examples of both males and females calling adult females girls -- it's hardly demeaning -- if it is, it's because they said it after a word like "fat" or "stupid," in which case that word is the real culprit. I would imagine "girl" is most likely to be used in casual, lighthearted, flirty situations.

I don't know, I witness all the time adult females (see, it's so much more natural for me to say "girl" here) saying things to each other like "You go girl" or "Girl, I think you should do x y z." Or even, "You're asking the wrong girl." It tends to be younger women that do this, but nonetheless, adult females. I guess some people have not had the same experience?

Imo a world free of prejudice is impossible - and that's ok. Prejudice is essentially a form of opinion, and people have the right to their own opinions. And, unlike most other rights, the right to freedom of thought is physically impossible to take away.

To me, "girl" is more casual.  A female friend or girlfriend would be "girl" but someone older or in any case more venerable I wouldn't call "girl."  I woudln't call a female world champion "girl."

To the OP's question, theoretically no, but practically, most likely yes.

"To the OP's question, theoretically no, but practically, most likely yes."

What do you mean by this?

Most likely (practically speaking) a female WCC would bring more attention to chess than Carlsen will.

The OP used "could ever bring in chess" so it's asked more theoretically.  I agree my answer was confusing because the "theoretically no" doesn't make sense.

People express puzzlement often why chess can't be more popular, but I think the answer is very obvious.  Many people don't want it more popular, they want it to be seen as elitist.  That could well be why some are drawn to chess in the first place, particularly many of the teens you see on internet forums. 

To popularise chess you need coverage that actually bothers to explain moves more.  I remember seeing Irina Krush on the Gibraltra stream saying 'yeh I know we haven't bothered to explain these moves but that's how it is'.  Or just rapidly going through moves without letting it being followable, or even not showing moves on the board while they are being talked about sometimes.

So I don't think chess will ever be more popular as most people involved don't want it to be.  So players had better get their demands for huge prize money reduced.

Yes X Dave12 .....but only if we did not segregate the sexes in championship play . I guess males may be intimidated by that.

I think that's silly.  Strong players don't want it to be elitist.  And the more popular chess is, the more money for pros.  Also I think anyone getting interested in chess for its "elitism" wont last the first year.  Strong players are the first to tell you chess is a specialized skill that doesn't represent their intelligence or ability to do anything else.  They're good at chess because they practiced chess.

Although I think it is a common occurrence for very strong players to show off by saying certain moves are "obvious" or "the only move that makes sense."  But at the same time it's very difficult to explain, for example, why 5 (bad) alternative moves are bad.  In fact without a certain level of understanding it would be impossible to explain certain moves to the point that the listener could agree with the correct evaluations.

And this is why I think chess will never be as popular as a different form of competition or art, because it's esoteric by its nature.  In contrast I can enjoy basketball without understanding anything about basketball.  When ball goes in net, I cheer for my team.  Similarly I can enjoy music without understand music theory.

There will be a girl champ one day

Chess is not just a game it a mystery that has NOT been solved in a thousand years ! The complexity of the game will never make it popular to the masses, but for the few grandmasters men and women of today who sit on top of the chess world the next generation as they always have will refine chess stategy and wipe them from the board !

Pretty sure that it's impossible... Sorry!

Not if, WHEN.