why are women worse at chess than men?

Savage, I'd be interested to hear what facts you're referring to and to see the studies backing them. Until then, I'll also reserve judgement on whether it's "PC knots", or prudent skepticism.

men in chess

I'm one of those people :)

I mean, after all, it is the more accurate wording, and sounds less absolute at the same time. To simply say "women are worse at chess than men" makes it seem like it's some kind of characteristic that is pre-packaged in your gender like your sexual organs, which it isn't. Though it's essential for a man to have different sex organs from any woman, it's not essential for him to be better at chess than any woman.

ofc woman are more talented in looking hot, washing the toilets, cleaning the carpets, bringing the kids to school and all that.so in the quantity women are probably more talented

But there are a few areas were man are better like chess, logical thinking, reasoning and intuition.

Maybe because fewer women play than men?

but maybe the dont play because they know they suck??

Chess is an individual game.  You do not need your entire gender involved for the best to show what they can do.  You can claim numbers and effort all you want.  But the proof is out there.  The very fact that women accept women's only titles and participate in segregated events lets you know they know what's up.  They can't hang.  There will never, ever, ever be a female world champion...unless of course you count the world champion title that excludes half the world.

You guys should see the Mythbusters' Battle of the Sexes episode. To summarize their findings:

1. Women are better multi-taskers than men.
2. Women throw baseballs more accurately than men, while men can throw faster.
3. Women can do parallel parking more accurately than men, while men do it in less time (albeit in a more reckless way).
4. Women are more observant than men.

The funny thing is that when it comes to chess, my personal observation is that women tend to play a highly aggressive chess. This seems to be in opposite to their nature, where women are thought to be gentle, more cautious, more throrough, and more patient. However, I am a man, so my observation maybe flawed.

It is a myth.

Women can play chess as good as men do. But they rarely do. The pool of competitive female chess players is much smaller.

Reasons:

1) Chess is a fight, it is a battle between two minds. This doesn't suit female psychology. Some women lack "killer instincts".

2) Chess isn't seen as hobby suitable for girls (by parents, teachers etc).

3) A lot of girls at certain age tend to abandon chess and try something more "serious" (e.g. dating boys and founding family) while men usually remain or return.

its not a myth just because you say so. Its a fact...

i mean i also can´t say i could be as rich as bill gates, i just had different hobbies. I also cant say i can be as smart as Warren Buffet i just took women more serious

ofc its important to having studied the same stuff as warren buffet in school and have a little cash to go with it. But does it mean i can argue if i had the same education i could just do what he does????

Its just not fair unless women prove they are capable, we must just assume their are worse in chess for the sake of truth,reason and fairness. If a woman becomes world champion, we can still change our mind

According to the brilant chess writer and GM Donner women can't play chess because they have no intuition ;)

Ofcourse he is joking but he dit get all kinds of feminist groups angry at him :)

"However painful it may be, we must not shrink from the truth: women cannot play chess. And, if you ask me, they will never learn to play chess. ... And why can"t they play chess? After more than twenty-two years of pure scientific research, I think I have found an explanation. It is a well-known fact that a woman is superior to a man. Physically she is stronger. With her endless patience she will win, in the end, the everlasting battle of the sexes. She can think more logically... She has a far better memory... In everything a woman is superior to a man, but she misses one thing: intuition."

Playing chess too much obviously affects the brain in a negative way. Hehe, looking at some of the posts here get me thinking that women simply cant bee any dummer than some of you guys. So the only fair evaluation on why men are better at chess than women comes down to numbers I think, the ladies are living theire lives when we`re playing chess. Who are the smartest? The one that figures we only live ones and like to enjoy life or the nerd playing chess with potatoship stains all over his tshirt?

@tetsuo and its not a fact coz you say so....

And just when did those nations -bastions of freedom and equality and pursuits of happiness- most represented in this discussion (USA and Japan for starters) grant universal suffrage to adult women ?
And when will they -sorry: WE- get around to equal pay for equal work ?

(Or- why are men so bad at netball?!)

These questions are rhetorical

ofc not, but because its a fact

This ridiculous post prompts me to publicly congratulate Alexandra Kosteniuk GM for her win in both men's and women's divisions of the Swiss National titles.

By exploting dual citizenship.