Women in Chess?

Ok so jus wondering why it is necessary for Woman and men to compete separately in Chess (i think women are allowed to compete in any tournament but also have their own separate tournaments n titles right?) I dont get it (go easy here i am new to chess n jus curious) its not like its boxing or football or something where men have a very clear physical advantage, in fact i cant see any advantage for a man over a woman in Chess, is a WGM not basically just an IM? How come there are so few Women at the top level, like the highest ranked Woman in the world is ranked what? 60? 80? 100 maybe? It seems a little odd to me, like your either a GM or your not, wth is a WGM? it jus seems so pointless, n i`m not tryin to be disrespectful to the ladies here i jus genuinely dont see any advantage for a male in a game/sport like chess.

Ask the 1950s

Just finished listening to Chess Dojo Episode 25 Woman in Chess. The assertion seems to be that woman have not been given the same opportunities as men and that it will take some time for young women to “catch up.” That until then segregation makes sense to them. Also, there seems to be a sense that there is crude behavior by men toward women during tournaments. As to the second assertion no offensive behavior is acceptable and must not be allowed. As to the first assertion it would seem to be illogical to continue to separate by sex since this denies women the opportunity to show their abilities on a level playing field and to benefit from learning at the highest level. Everyone should be treated with respect and given equal opportunities, just my opinion.

The is the most annoying topic that ever comes up in the forums. It comes up at least once a month, and every time my tushy starts to clench.

Agreed, the amount of misogynic rage in these monthly threads makes me feel like there should be more done to protect women chess players. 

I think he is only asking questions isn't he ?

Poor us if we can't do that anymore

Sure he can ask the question, but then the thread always devolves into the same tired arguments with lots of stereotyping, and eventually someone WILL say something super sexist and I start breaking things around my apartment.

I will watch and see then

To answer the question..it may be a relic of prior eras in which such a distinction was seen as "natural"

Things take time to catch up to current realities ..always

Damn, no misogyny or sexism here, its a legit question...i am new to Chess so scuze me if i am not entirely up to date on all the ins n outs of why men seem to dominate the game...i was jus sayin that i think Women n men shud realistically be on a level playing field in Chess whereas in sumthin like boxing there is a clear genetic advantage to most men. I dont think it matters wot access Women previously had to chess as wot female players were doing 50, 30 or even 10 years ago make no difference to the female players that are around and coming up today, we all have access to the same learning materials and are able to play as many games as we want so a man born 10 years ago will have NO future advantage over a woman of the same age so it seems a very outdated concept to have GM and WGM, ur either a GM or u not, jus like ur either say a Judge or ur not...u dont have like a Judge then a "Womans Judge" that is sumwot less competent than her male counterpart, surely it is possible for a woman to become world champion if she studies enuf, practices a lot and has a lil sumthin special like say Magnus or whoever ur favourite players are..

If there were no tournaments or titles just for women, even fewer women would play. Prizes, though much smaller, allow women to continue to play and provide role models for other women.

Who knows if it actually helps, but it doesn't hurt men in ANY way and women can still play in the Open section of tournaments if they wish (as Goryachkina is doing now at the FIDE Grand Swiss).

Why take it away from them?

There are fewer women in chess, some will feel more safe and secure in "women groups" and it is a great way to get more women into chess. 

I get that self-defence classes for women where they train with and against other women is kinda stupid but what is wrong with a "women only" event?

Also, I think there are far more lonely and socially inept men who are willing to put their whole life into chess.

Yeh i am not saying take Womens events away, have them too, i jus think the ratings for titles shud be the same...u get kids who are GMs at wot 15? maybe 16 or 18? i dunno, like i say i am new to chess so i am no expert here n am not tryin to start a battle of the sexes or anything like that but if a teenager can be a GM then surely a woman of say 21, 25, 30 (or any age for that matter) who has studied the game her whole life can earn the title under the same rules a man does ...keep the Womens tournaments too if it is still wanted in this day n age but i think the titles shud be awarded to players of a particular level of skill regardless of age or sex, maybe if Women had to reach the same level of skill to become a "GM" as a man does we might see more Women playing at the very top level, u not think that makes sense? Also not sure why Women wud not feel safe in Tournaments, from the few i have watched they are well organised and have security, refs (or Aribitors is it?) n so on...maybe not the case at club level tho, again i really dont know hence my question..

Yeh that i do agree with lol

Women can and do reach the same level of skill required to get the title GM, which is why there are Women GM's, not to be confused with WGMs.

The problem is most of topics on chess.com are pointless and repeated million times. Chess is not interesting matter.

I think you are  right in that if tournaments are organised well it is usually very safe, but there is another dimension....lets call it "romantic interest".

If you are there to play chess it can be an extra thing to have to deal with you don't really want.

It's usual for tournaments and team matches to be "man heavy".....if you want one that's great...but if you don't, it can get a bit tiresome.

My experience at mixed-gender tournaments is that the men are either too nice, or too dismissive. Very few men treat you just like another competitor unless you're really good (which I wasn't).

Ok cool i didnt know that, i thought a WGM n Women GM are the same thing...