Why are there so few women GMs?

Are there so few women GM's because they are somehow biologically less able to play chess well (Judit Polgar seems to disprove that idea), or are there cultural factors at play?  Are women less likely to become obsessed by chess in the way necessary to become a champion?  Have they got more sense then men than to become obsessed by a mere game?

You might want to see my article on women (and girls) in chess and why women may not be as good as men in chess.  Theoretically, there should be no difference.

The 11 women with the men’s Grandmaster (GM or IGM) title include Nona Gaprindashvili, Maia Chiburdanidze, Judit Polgar, Xie Jun, Zsuzsa Polgar, Pia Cramling, Zhy Chen, Antoaneta Stefanova, Humpy Koneru, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Zhaoqin Peng.  There are about 200 Woman Grandmasters (WGM).

on average a women is naturally just as good as a man, but standard deviations will be higher for man leading to statistically a higher likelihood that in a population of men and women who begin playing chess as kids there will be more men who become GMs (as well as more men who really suck)

"Have they got more sense then men than to become obsessed by a mere game?"

I think it was Max Euwe who observed that women can play as well as men but they just have more important things to do.

I can't believe the sexist comments I've read on here.  If there are fewer female GMs, it's probably because there are fewer women playing chess altogether.  I don't know the statistics.  In most societies, girls and boys are brought up differently.  I read about a study showing that male GMs have a better performance rates than female GMs, but it doesn't explain why.  The scientist who conducted the study admitted: 

"I suspect it might be in many cases that women just don't get obsessed with things like men do. They don't want to spend all their waking hours studying chess and competing harder."

I think a lot of it is just society. Chess is seen as more of the "nerdy boy's" game than anything else, and like so many professions, is considered more of a male game.

 That's not to say women are not as capable; most women are simply raised to feel that chess is not appropriate for them. It's like engineering, or any math or science field. Things involving logic have always been portrayed as a more male area, simply because males generally see things more logically, while women view things emotionally. That's not sexist, it's fact. It's how we work biologically. And neither one is superior. 

 So, perhaps males have more of an edge, simply because society encourages them more and they tend to think more logically. Still, I see no reason why women should not be able to compete just as well.

I will agree that ches is simply more culturally attractive to men than women. I think it is the same answer for any non-physical activity where men have generally better results than women, but we see every day the margins getting smaller and smaller, there is easy examples like buisnes or politics, for example.

The point about standard deviations being higher for men is a valid one. Also there is enough research, unless I'm much mistaken, to suggest men have on average slightly better analytical and spatial skills, which would be obviously useful for chess.

Both these factors are completely and thoroughly dwarfed by cultural aspects, however (though admittedly these cultural patterns likely have some, if minimal, biological origins themselves).

You are right about the spatial skill, I remember seeing on TV a rather serious program that showed a study about spatial skills, men and women were put in mazes and show the right way and had to remember it, when the maze was all blank, men had better results in general, however when they added decorations and stuff which one could remember to find it's way back, women had results just as good or better, I don't remember too well. But that is to say that it came to the conclusion that women however had better visual memory, while lower spatial skill.

"Why are there so few Women GMs"

It seems to me that there's something wrong with the question itself.

It's been stated here, there and everywhere that theoretically, there is no difference bewteen men and women when it comes to chess ability.  Theoretically, there is no different between Japanese and a Russians when it comes to chess ability. Why are there fewer Japanese GMs?  Answering the second question will provide insight into the first question... and possibly indicate that it's entirely the wrong question.

"Does anyone know how to get the marital details of chess players?"

Yes. Research it. Get a list of professional players, go to wiki, chessgames.com, Bill Wall, wherever, whatever, and research it postgraduately. If you want a list of non-professional players, go to sites such as this one, i.e. any chess site with messageboards, go to chess clubs or anyplace where chess players congregate and advertise for people willing to take your poll, assuming you have a poll ready.

The picture is of my daughter when she was 8. She played consistently from 6 until 8 and she was consistently beating adults. She is almost 11 now and just recently after a 2 year hiatus began to play again. She stopped playing so that she could hang out with other girls and do gymnastics, dance etc. Chess doesn't necessarily fit into a girls lifestyle on a daily basis. Boys associate more with football, hockey and war games.

Men and Women are different, that's for sure.  Anyone with children of different genders can attest to the fact that "they are just different", no matter how much society would like to equal the playing field and say it's all based on culture.

They are biologically different and numerous studies confirm their brains are different as well.  For example, I know women who can listen to two conversations at the same time.  I don't know many men who can do that. 

Men are typically better than women on average at abstract and spacial thinking.  This advantage is particularly suited for playing chess.

There will always be outlyers and the Polgar sisters are good examples.  However, recall that their father decided to teach them chess to prove that a grand master can be grown.  When you are young and your father is pushing you to play chess and it becomes your life, well; you will probably be a good chess player regardless of your gender. 

Is becoming a troll a new career choice for you?

"Is becoming a troll a new career choice for you?"

 Isn't that a bit of an over reaction? Wasn't he just being ironic?