[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Nona Gaprindashvili on men and women in chess

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Nona Gaprindashvili on men and women in chess
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1210310649.shtml


   If a man wrote this, he'd be tarred and feathered (or worse), but here
   are the words of [1]Nona Gaprindashvili, former women's world champion
   and the first woman to earn the "men's" (full) grandmaster title:

     - Yes, men and women should play separately, since male players
     have a number of advantages before the start of the game. On the
     one hand, ever since their birth boys are genetically predisposed
     to compete and fight. On the other hand, the physiological
     processes that take place within the male and female bodies are not
     in favour of the latter chesswise. Third - the nervous system, the
     psychological stability is better in men. Fourth - the active chess
     life of a woman comes to an end when she creates a family, or at
     best it can last until she bears a child. From this moment on she
     can never abandon herself to chess completely, while a man, if he
     has earned enough to take good care of his family, can be
     'exempted' from his parental obligations. If you take into account
     all these points you will understand why women should not compete
     in male tournaments.

   Maybe some of these points could be used to explain why men have been
   more successful in chess (though the argument would be controversial,
   of course), but it doesn't seem even remotely plausible as an argument
   that women shouldn't compete in (primarily) male tournaments. Indeed,
   Gaprindashvili herself hasn't followed this advice, neither when she
   was young (she played in Hastings in the early 1960s, when she was in
   her early 20s), middle-aged (most notably Lone Pine 1977, which she
   won ahead of dozens of grandmasters) nor in her relatively old age
   (three years ago, in her mid-60s, she nearly won the "men's" senior
   championship). In short, it's a strange comment.

   (Source [2]here.)

   HT: [3]Chess Today

References

   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nona_Gaprindashvili
   2. http://www.eicc2008.com/uploads/File/Bulletin/EN/Bulletin_No_9.pdf
   3. http://www.chesstoday.net/