Have you ever played chess with a woman?

DrStraw · **#21**

shapenaji wrote:

topazg wrote:

I always wonder though, does it matter? Unless there are women really wanting to play but not playing because they were treated so poorly for example, I don't get the issue...

I like to think of a game of go as a conversation. Some of my greatest experiences of the game were playing with people who did not speak English (You know, Brits and the like).

How interesting is a conversation when we limit our partners to those who share our experience?

I always claim to be bilingual: English and American.

lemmata · **#22**

The macho/peacocking bs in go/chess is a turnoff for all new players, not just women. That sort of behavior is directed at all weaker players, not just women. I have certainly seen some new male players become discouraged because of excessive chest-thumping and snideness on the part of their peer teachers.

That said, I would guess that the lack of female players has more to do with the tastes of the female population and competing alternatives than it does with the behavior of male players.

Inkwolf · **#23**

EdLee wrote:

Inkwolf wrote:

I my opinion, women (in general) are raised with a guilt ethic about 'wasting' time on things that have no practical purpose. That's why women tend to go more for craft-type hobbies, where you have something physical to show for your time.

Women are also very socially motivated,

Hi Inkwolf, combining these two aspects reminds me of a knitting club at a coffee shop.
About 6 or 7 ladies were having a good time happily knitting and chatting.

Another factor: co-operation (sharing/gathering) v. competition (beating your opponent).

In your experience, Inkwolf, have you found that women in general are turned off by the competitive, anti-social nature of chess and Go,
where two people (guys, usually) stare at the board
for 1, 2, or even 3 or more hours in complete silence ?

Which reminds me of book clubs: lots of sharing, quite social.

Yeah, more social would definitely be more attractive. Thinking games like Go and chess aren't the sort of thing you can casually chat while doing well!

I don't think I've been around any serious matches, and do not have enough experience to say whether that is a turnoff for women (more than for anybody, anyhow!) but, yeah, I don't think that would be appealing to the average female. Guys can sit and drink beer and watch TV together without talking for hours. Most women aren't like that. Social interaction is a major factor.

And while there are lots of very competitive women, I think there is really more of an instinct there to find a way to compromise and get along than to demolish your opponent. Or maybe that's just me.

Another problem is modesty.

There are several women who I showed how to play, and many of them more or less said, "Well, I'm not smart enough for this" after a short time and quit. It seems like guys do not like to ever admit they aren't smart enough for something, so they will stick it out longer just out of pride and stubbornness. And some of them stick long enough to start figuring things out.

Solomon · **#24**

No. In Go, I played around 200 tourney games, of which I can only recollect 3 games against women.

Javaness2 · **#25**

Where on earth do you live to have never played chess with a woman?
Come on... is this 1800

Dusk Eagle · **#26**

Araban never even mentioned if he's played chess at all. If I hadn't played chess competitively as a child I would also have never played a female in it, since I only play chess nowadays on the rare occasion that one of my chess playing friends wants to play me at it.

CnP · **#27**

Not many women on this thread making generalities about why more women don't play Go.. come on ladies - admit it - it's because Go boards aren't pink and fluffy, right?

p.s. my sister learnt Go, got to sdk and quit because she moved somewhere where there wasn't an active Go club. In her case clearly the social side of it was important.

oren · **#28**

CnP wrote:

Not many women on this thread making generalities about why more women don't play Go.. come on ladies - admit it - it's because Go boards aren't pink and fluffy, right?

I know it was a joke, but this guy did design a go board to appeal to more women as well by being colorful.

https://readyfor.jp/projects/goark

teancoffee · **#29**

Does anyone know how many professional shogi players there are and how many are female?

EdLee · **#30**

teancoffee wrote:

Does anyone know how many professional shogi players there are and how many are female?

Hi teancoffee, some info here: Shogi.

Inkwolf · **#31**

CnP wrote:

Not many women on this thread making generalities about why more women don't play Go.. come on ladies - admit it - it's because Go boards aren't pink and fluffy, right?

And now we must gnaw your leg off...

Abyssinica · **#32**

Inkwolf wrote:

CnP wrote:

Not many women on this thread making generalities about why more women don't play Go.. come on ladies - admit it - it's because Go boards aren't pink and fluffy, right?

And now we must gnaw your leg off...

I'd buy a hot pink go board that's fluffy.

CnP · **#33**

http://www.nexusgadgets.com/scotia-go-game-set-with-wood-board-in-pink-c-308-p-1-pr-16624.html

If you can imagine it, it exists somewhere on the internet - well almost, just need a bit of pink fluffy material, some gemstones and a hot glue gun and it'd be perfect.

Abyssinica · **#34**

I can't imagine pink stones on a pink board to be a good colour combination though. Might work well on a dark rosewood board like mine though.

xed_over · **#35**

CnP wrote:

http://www.nexusgadgets.com/scotia-go-game-set-with-wood-board-in-pink-c-308-p-1-pr-16624.html

If you can imagine it, it exists somewhere on the internet - well almost, just need a bit of pink fluffy material, some gemstones and a hot glue gun and it'd be perfect.

we had one at the Seattle Go Center for a while... ended up giving it away as a prize at one of our recent youth tournaments -- to a girl

Mustard · **#36**

By guessing names I would say that around 20% of all active EGF-ranked ddk players seem to be female. Less than 5% in the dan ranks.

Aidoneus · **#37**

My wife was the chess sponsor at my university. She was running a campus tournament open to faculty, so I decided to participate. I won the tournament and her heart. We just celebrated our 21st anniversary last week.

goTony · **#38**

Waddya mean women do not play GO?! I started playing to meet them.... I knew I should have taken up bowling instead.

Charlie · **#39**

My wife told me she would never play Go.

She followed me to the club, one evening, and one of the dan-players intimidated her quite completely. Again, she swore she wasn't interested.

She would, of course, pause and stare at my screen when I was playing online. Occasionally, she would comment about how one side looked open or interesting or as if the game would lead, there. (She didn't know the rules so she couldn't be specific.)

I can't remember when she started playing but the game, it seems, is contagious. She even learned to handle scary dan players!

I started solving tsumego during our commute, now that we're living around London. Soon, she also adopted the practice.

She is now angry with me because KGS has promoted her to the ominous rank of 8 kyu.

Us men will never win.

goTony · **#40**

Have you seen the GO upgraded board and stone set for women?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZtAqDt ... OBZR0q6kIb

It may be the key to getting women to play....

Have you ever played chess with a woman?

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