I realize it is a somewhat provocative question and might attract quite a few bad answers but it has been on my mind for some time.
The answer I hear the most is that Women's tournaments get less exposure and have smaller prizes but this is completely backwards. We only have women's tournaments because there are too few women who could possibly qualify for regular tournaments to begin with. I understand the gender divide in other sports where physical strength plays a factor but in chess there seems to be no such obvious divide.
Is it because men and women have biologically different ways of thinking that benefits men in chess? Do we have different competitive drives that allow men to outcompete women? Is it simply a cultural phenomena that chess is a boy's game and fewer girls seriously pick it up?
I think cultural phenomena is exactly right. It's just like how more males play call of duty than females (chess is ultimately a very old war game).
Beyond that, the skill differential at the very highest tiers is likely just down to a larger pool of male players than females. If there are 10 male chess players for every female (I've got no clue of actual figures), it stands to reason there would be 10 male masters to every one female.
Regarding less prizes/exposure for womens tournaments, I don't think most people learn to play chess with the idea of getting rich and becoming a grand master.
To reach that kind of level will have already required years of practice with no guarantee of success for all but the most exceptional individuals.
if you go by physical difference then actually women having a smaller brain which is "surprise" better connected. If it comes to multitasking then ..well... they could play Simuli day in, day out. :D
If you paint the pieces pink and red with some fancy strass attached, hum...
IMO its because of their orientation in general .. no kidding.. whilst men can memorize ways way better then women (thanks to our ancestors) they may losing the interest in playing due to its requirement of "high-end" memorizing needs?
Just an idea.. or ask cuppy.
A lot due to women being less interested in chess than men are, d'oh. =P
If Lichess wants to be a game changer then add more female quotes in it. Here in this article
http://en.chessbase.com/post/vive-la-diffrence-the-full-story you can find female chess player en mass so just go for the right quotes.
One of the reasons they give, Susan Polgar when she lost her championship and Forbes' book "The Polgar Sister," is because they have a greater responsibility--raising children.
As an extension from this, women generally are not as crazy as men. Fischer was a paranoid freak; Kasparov is not far behind; Carlsen with his memory is considered a freak.
Fischer and Korchnoi both admitted to having to hate their opponent to play well against them.
Women generally will not devote the amount of time required to obtain the highest levels of any field. Women generally will not try to even appear smarter than men due to social constraints. (Not sure worldwide, but scientific theory in western countries.)
If you want an answer from a female, here's why:
Barely any women play chess. In fact, all of the good chess players in my school are male (Except for me, I'm at the top... Wahaha...) Naturally, when you have such a small amount of female players, the chance one of them will become a chess master is significantly smaller compared to the massive male chess pool.
@ c_O I hate pink. Interesting articles, though. Especially the first one, but from my experience, I think that it really only comes into effect for a women who doesn't have much experience playing against males. If she's smart, she'll realize she's feeling intimidated, and she'll adjust her play. If she's really smart, she'll turn it around. It works both ways, because it's not uncommon that males will underestimate / play needlessly aggressive against women, and it's easy to get an advantage from this.
#9 is spot on.
Funny how most men adjust their play when they compete with women too. I noticed this when I used to play prize money league 8-ball pool. Personally, I didn't care WHO I beat :D
