Chess News

[LDAHL]

I just read that the International Chess Federation has banned transgender females from competing in the Women’s Division. I was surprised to learn that competitive chess was divided into men’s and women’s divisions. It doesn’t require the size or muscle mass that football or Scrabble does.

[iris lilies]

I just read that the International Chess Federation has banned transgender females from competing in the Women’s Division. I was surprised to learn that competitive chess was divided into men’s and women’s divisions. It doesn’t require the size or muscle mass that football or Scrabble does.

I knew there is women’s chess and men’s chess, because I live in the chess capital of the United States. There is a multi millionaire who set up his chess center in St. Louis. But I THINK sex division may depend on exactly which competition is taking place.

Trans women will not be allowed to compete in Olympic swim events, that is a very recent ruling by the body that determines these things

I think it’s fine if individual sports make their individual decisions, and really that’s the only way to do it anyway. It puts the governing board in the hot seat and I don’t envy them. Some of the sex based dvisions are really hard to entirely justify in some sports. Others are pretty obvious.

Canadian trans woman Anne Andres shattered the woman’s division record when she participated as a woman. To add insult to injury, she gave an interview dissing the quality of women contenders in that division. The behavior of this trans person is insulting and is a mockery.

[iris lilies]

I would also guess, without knowing much about it, that the Chess Federation is a conservative organization, meaning they are slow to change. They are slow to embrace societal trends. While the Russians may not dominate any longer, Russians are still very important in chess, and that is not exactly a progressive society even though pure Marxism would not have you believe that.

[bae]

I was a serious chess player through college. I had never lost a game until competition at the local/state level until I ran into my college roommate, who was a legitimate grandmaster who was winning in international competitions.

I never understood why there was a male/female division in the "sport". It's not as if men's superior brain muscles make them able to crush feeble women.

Chess-boxing is my sport now. There, weight divisions at least are appropriate.

[iris lilies]

chess-boxing.That’s a new one.

speaking of new sports, do ya’ll know about the sport of Hobby Horse?
https://en.as.com/videos/video-of-hobby-horse-championship-in-finland-goes-viral-v/

[iris lilies]

…I never understood why there was a male/female division in the "sport". It's not as if men's superior brain muscles make them able to crush feeble women…
.

I don’t know about that, I would like to hear the perspective of women high up in the chess world. Perhaps they prefer a division for women. The two divisions may be an outcome of patriarchal thinking either way.

[LDAHL]

I was a serious chess player through college. I had never lost a game until competition at the local/state level until I ran into my college roommate, who was a legitimate grandmaster who was winning in international competitions.

I never understood why there was a male/female division in the "sport". It's not as if men's superior brain muscles make them able to crush feeble women.

Chess-boxing is my sport now. There, weight divisions at least are appropriate.

Your post sent me down the rabbit hole of hybrid sports. I couldn’t believe how many outlandish ones there are. My favorite was shinty-hurling