Davy, you just ain't been around!
Judit only likes whooping the men.
"Magnum" played truant at the last Candidates qualifiers too!
Women's Chess
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#3
Why is there a ladies championship, isn't chess one sport that women and men can/should compete together?
Maybe there should be only one toilet as well!
the ratio of men to women players is 100:1 so there's no point.
There's no point because men cannot sit in front of a woman for 3 hours without getting distracted. 
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#6
Lol retifan...good point. Seriously though, what's the thinking behind different tournies?
My theory is that separate championships were created to encourage more women to play. We could argue all day about whether or not that strategy is actually effective, compared to some other strategy, but I think that is the reasoning behind it.
We could also debate why males spend more time playing games in general - poker, video games, pool, etc. In this day and age, there's certaintly nothing preventing women from pursuing these hobbies.
RetiFan wrote:
There's no point because men cannot sit in front of a woman for 3 hours without getting distracted.
oh i thought you meant distracted from her!! i see what you're saying now.
A lot of times, playing OTB isn't worth the hassle. A male friend goes to play and, unless he meets up with someone he knows, people pretty much leave him to his own devices. I go and..."Hey! HIIIII!!! Do you play/Wanna learn how? Been playing long? What's your rating? Wanna grab a Coke? Been to see (insert latest movie here)? Wanna go sometime?" etc., etc. And heaven forefend if all you want to do is to get your head into the game or think about maybe using that last opening you learned and (politely) try to get people to leave you alone--you're stuck-up or a lesbian or a stuck-up lesbian or...or...or... (No offense intended to any lesbians, stuck-up or otherwise.) I run into the same problems walking into a Maker Space, so it's not just chess, she sighed sadly. So, yes, I can see why a Women's Tournament would seem desirable to at least some of us. (I blame any typos in the above to typing on an iPad.)
paulgottlieb wrote:
Chess, like many other activities, has traditionally been a "Boys Club" where women were often made to feel unwelcome, and often subjected to actual abuse. Girls events and championships were set up to encourage women to play in a less threatening environment. And to some extent, this idea has been a success. But success has created its own set of problems: Over the last few years, many young women have demonstrated real chess talent, and their ratings have shot up and then stagnated. There comes a time when improvement stops if you don't start playing tougher competition, and by continuing to play in women's events, I think these women sell their talent short.
I think it would be intimidating for anyone, male or female, to walk into an environment dominated by the opposite gender. I am not aware of any open hostility towards women in any of the clubs I have played, in 35 years of playing. But then, I'm not female. When a new female does appear in a club, usually there are more spectators around her games, and the friendlier club members will often chat her up. Maybe the extra attention makes her uncomfortable, but it's certainly not intentional.
The majority of women I have known - friends, family, girlfriends - just haven't been interested in the game. They might think I am interesting for playing chess as a hobby, but that's about it.
wbilfc wrote:
Why is there a ladies championship, isn't chess one sport that women and men can/should compete together?
Oh, someone had to go there...
I posted before I read CanonicalKnight's post. Thanks for your perspective. I suppose, as a female, you have to deal with unwanted attention in all walks of life. Sometimes, as a guy, I wish I had that problem with the opposite sex. OTOH, us guys have problems of our own. 
. But we can save that discussion for another thread.
CanonicalKnight wrote:
A lot of times, playing OTB isn't worth the hassle. A male friend goes to play and, unless he meets up with someone he knows, people pretty much leave him to his own devices. I go and..."Hey! HIIIII!!! Do you play/Wanna learn how? Been playing long? What's your rating? Wanna grab a Coke? Been to see (insert latest movie here)? Wanna go sometime?" etc., etc. And heaven forefend if all you want to do is to get your head into the game or think about maybe using that last opening you learned and (politely) try to get people to leave you alone--you're stuck-up or a lesbian or a stuck-up lesbian or...or...or... (No offense intended to any lesbians, stuck-up or otherwise.) I run into the same problems walking into a Maker Space, so it's not just chess, she sighed sadly. So, yes, I can see why a Women's Tournament would seem desirable to at least some of us. (I blame any typos in the above to typing on an iPad.)
have you tried seeking professional help ?
Don Octavio said that! didn't he ? i'll get him for that.
And a girl may even use an avatar of her favourite actor, eh honey ?
Right Don Juan, I am pretty new to chess- 5.5 months - 5 months ago I never heard of Capablanca, Tal, Houdini, Lasker, etc., I'd only heard of Fischer and Spassky. I just did learn about the top female players. Then did some more reading and found that Judit won't play in female only tournaments. I can respect her attitude there. But looks like she'd win the ladies championship of the world and THEN play with the men - have her cake and eat it too. Wonder if Hou and Judit ever played each other? Anyway, it's all interesting.
Quiz for Don Juan: What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for?
DavyWilliams wrote:
Wonder if Hou and Judit ever played each other? Anyway, it's all interesting.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1655416
Thanks theroetical, was that a 10 min. blitz game? Judit brought her king out so early.
No, it was a long game (I don't know the exact format, though)
Ah! chess.com itself supplies the answer:
"The format is a 10-round Swiss with a time control of 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves, and finally 15 minutes to finish with a 30 second second increment from the start of the game."
http://www.chess.com/news/2012-tradewise-gibraltar-chess-festival-3698
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I just checked women ratings. Hou is world champ but Judit Polgar has a rating 100 pts higher. Will Judit be the next champion? When IS the ladies championship? (same situation as mens, Anand's the champ but Magnum is rated higher, go figure)