this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2023
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I find it bizarre that it's 2023 and not only is chess still gender-segregated but they're doubling down on it. It makes sense for physical sports, but chess? Really?
Y'all just scared the girls are gonna wipe the board with you.
Why was it separated in the first place? Was there any reason besides woman bad?
That's basically it afaik. Chess has been around long enough that it was originally man's game, then they started letting women compete but only against other women. The reason why I don't think there's been a significant challenge to it is that with physical competitions often being segregated, I don't think anyone really stopped and thought about the fact that the segregation is pointless. I think they were just like, "competitions are usually segregated by gender, makes sense for chess to be segregated" without stopping to think about why competitions are usually segregated.
However, I'm not a huge chess person. I liked it as a kid but it doesn't even remotely appeal to me anymore. So my info might be wrong, and if there are any chess historians who want to correct me, go for it!
I'm not 100% sure but I don't think chess is segregated - women are allowed to play in the top tournaments. There are additional women-only tournaments which are an attempt to make chess more attractive to them.