Posted by Stanton Nesbit on February 28, 1998 at 18:16:29:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Women in chess, Women in Chess posted by Steven Bloodsworth on February 25, 1998 at 17:08:15:
In my years as a high school chess advisor and teacher, I have pondered these questions many long hours.
While I would like to see more girls in our chess club, the fact remains that almost all the girls I see are simply not interested in the competitive aspects of chess. It has nothing to do with ability, since many of the more creative players, and fast learners in our club have been girls. And certainly there are girls who value competition in our school, but you find them on the basketball court and softball field, not in the chess room. Even there, the teams seem more social than cut-throat competitive, even though the local "society" tries to portay them (mold them?) as competitive as the boys.
It just seems that the girls have other ways of gaining presige and developing themselves socially and intellectually (primary motives for adolescents) than beating someone else in a game of skill. Anthropologists tell us that competitions like chess are traditionally male methods of sorting and exhibiting. Still, that doesn't mean girls can't, won't, or shouldn't excel at chess. As has been mentioned, maybe we should focus on the artistic, aesthetic, fun aspects of chess rather than winning and losing.
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