Why do women get different medals? WGM or simply GM?

Something that has bothered me about chess is the distinction between WGM and GM.  To have two different titles implies difference, and in a game of the mind this implies a difference of the mind, hence skill.

Interestingly enough, men and women have different leagues in billiards, bowling, and golf.  I'm sure there are plenty of women as strong, physically, as Tiger Woods.  Bowling and especially billiards seem within women's grasp as well.

Any ideas on why there is this distinction, even in chess?  Shouldn't women simply be called Grandmasters?

I probably going off the mark here, but you do know that there are women who are simply called grandmasters, right? WGM and Women Gms are two different things.

I didn't know that, so do you know the difference between WGM and female GM's?

Copied this from wikipedia:

"GM, IM, and FM are open to both men and women. Beginning with Nona Gaprindashvili in 1978, a number of women have earned the GM title. Since about 2000, most of the top 10 women have held the GM title. A separate gender-segregated title, WGM for Woman Grandmaster, is also available, but is something of a misnomer. It is awarded for a level of skill between that of a FIDE Master and an International Master."

I'm not sure, but I guess the WGM title is acquired in women-only tournaments.  It may be a way of making the game more attractive to the fairer sex.

There are far fewer women playing chess and the (W)GM or (W)IM are a way to balance this out and encourage more women to play.

I know if I were a woman and had a WGM title, although honored I personally would rather have the GM title to prove that I not only possesed that high ranking, but that it didn't matter what gender the opponent was...

___Marc___ wrote:

I know if I were a woman and had a WGM title, although honored I personally would rather have the GM title to prove that I not only possesed that high ranking, but that it didn't matter what gender the opponent was...

flamencowizard wrote:

I didn't know that, so do you know the difference between WGM and female GM's?

i think what most of you are missing is the fact that WGM do not qualify for the GM title. WGM is equivalent to IM i bielive.

there are women like the one lady who only wants to play the top men in chess. so fuze, is wgm an im are the same, cobblepot and zug and the others must be wgm's

Women as strong as Tiger?!

Ask Annika about that

The qualifications for titles are available at fide.com. Separate events and titles for women are intended to promote chess. There are also separate junior and senior championships.

Speaking of titles, we have WGM,GM,IM,NM,FM. Here are a few more titles to join the alphabet soup of titles...

In the USA

SM = State Master

CM = County Master

PM = Parish Master (for those Cajuns)

TM = Township Master

In Canada,

PM = Provincial Master

MM = Municipality Master

CM = County Master (in Ontario)

In Brazil,

RM = Region Master

SM = State Master

MM = Muncipio Master

fM = Flavela Master

etc etc etc, you see where I am going with this. Each country would have their own internal ladder system. As you get better or your opponents getting worse, your rating would progress to the next level. Once they reach NM which is national master, all would funnel in to the worldwide FIDE rating system.

oh, why there are seperate categories for women? The answer is obvious. To make it easier for them to be called a grandmaster. Otherwise there would not be very many, if any at all.

flamencowizard, the GM title is available to both men and women. If you meet the requirements, you get the title, regardless of your gender. There's no bias here.

However, for women who don't meet the requirements, they may be eligible for the weaker WGM title, as an encouragement.

In fact, women are eligible for every single title that men are eligible for (GM, IM, FM, CM) but they just have the extra option of obtaining the WGM, WIM, WFM, WCM titles (all of which are weaker than their corresponding non-W versions).

So what's the difference between a female GM and a WGM? A female GM (like any GM) is simply much stronger than a WGM. That's all.

Having a WGM title is like saying she's pretty good for a girl.

 Unless there is also a title for MGM, is this not the very definition of a bias?

But bias towards which side? Women have the option of GM and WGM. Men can only earn the GM title. I think it's an advantage to have more titles available to earn.

Think of it like this: what if we make it so that only men can earn the GM title? Let's say women are eligible for the lesser FM and IM titles, but not the GM title (no matter how good they are), while men can earn all 3 titles. Now THAT would be biased against women and very unfair. But right now it's not like that: women are eligible for every title available to men (FM/IM/GM) plus some that aren't available to men (WFM/WIM/WGM). How could that be bad?

I personally think it's an insult to all girls, but it's also "supposed" to encourage more girls to play chess since being a WGM is easier than attaining the GM title.

something between FIDE Master and International Master? hmm that means WGM is somewhat 1 and 1/2 lvls below GM.. but then again, from following chess all the while, it seems like many women are good chess players, and WGM eventually become GM.. but i don't think i've yet seen a woman become Super GM or become the World Champion as yet.. will there be one someday?? who knows..

Women only titles should simply not exist.