10-09-2013, 10:36 PM
Andrew I haven't played a lot of events for a while but I'm not aware of a significant number offering girls prizes. therefore I don't think the argument that girls are more likely to win prizes is correct.
I agree that the main reason to play should be love of chess, not gender based prizes, most girls would agree, however the point Morven made is valid, over the number of years I have played, I have experienced a number of negative comments if I have beaten stronger players, and not because I was a lower grade, every comment has been about my being female, while this seems to happen less now there are still a number of players who think it ok to disparage, and discourage female participation. I have heard recently a young boy being praised for beating an adult significantly higher graded, but when same player was beaten by a girl, she was greeted with the comment - you were lucky, until this stops completely there will still be a need for 'girl only' events where girls can relax and focus on the love of the game and not feel they are constantly being judged on their gender
I agree that the main reason to play should be love of chess, not gender based prizes, most girls would agree, however the point Morven made is valid, over the number of years I have played, I have experienced a number of negative comments if I have beaten stronger players, and not because I was a lower grade, every comment has been about my being female, while this seems to happen less now there are still a number of players who think it ok to disparage, and discourage female participation. I have heard recently a young boy being praised for beating an adult significantly higher graded, but when same player was beaten by a girl, she was greeted with the comment - you were lucky, until this stops completely there will still be a need for 'girl only' events where girls can relax and focus on the love of the game and not feel they are constantly being judged on their gender