Why Do Men Dominate Chess? Here's The Truth

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Do men play chess better than women? Why is it that the top male players are consistently ranked higher than the top female players? For example, Magnus Carlsen, the No.1 ranked player in the Open section, holds an impressive rating of 2831, while Hou Yifan, the No.1 female chess player, has a rating of 2633 — a difference of approximately 200 ELO points.

Does this mean that female chess players are inherently less talented than their male counterparts? Not at all. The truth lies in external factors and statistical realities rather than any difference in innate ability.

In this video lesson, GM Igor Smirnov delves into the subject and uncovers the 3 key psychological differences between men and women that extend beyond chess itself. Watch to learn more about the fascinating dynamics at play.

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► Chapters

00:00 Kenyan male chess player disguised as woman
00:24 Men vs Women in Chess: Who is better?
00:39 1st factor
01:12 Magnus Carlsen and Hou Yifan, funny moment
02:07 Judit Polgar vs Magnus Carlsen
02:28 2nd factor
03:18 3rd factor (it's SHOCKING!)
04:19 Interesting fact (how to dominate in chess)

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#IgorNation #Chess #WomenChessPlayers #JuditPolgar #MagnusCarlsen #ChessGrandmasters

[SciMajor]

long maneuvering battle to an end game and Carlsen slowly but surely outplays them...."
That accurately describes 90% of games that Magnus plays against any very strong player including super GM's like Nepo.

[alexanderlyon]

I also wonder about the obsession factor as an extension of your 3rd point. It seems that guys can 100% focus and play only chess (or other activities) all day. That's often to the detriment of their relationships. It seems that women are more well-rounded and are likely choosing wisely to invest and balance their time by doing other things like developing relationships with people. All that to say, I'd be curious about the number of hours each sex plays, practices, and trains and see if there's a difference.

[GMIgorSmirnov]

► Chapters

00:00 Kenyan male chess player disguised as woman
00:24 Men vs Women in Chess: Who is better?
00:39 1st factor
01:12 Magnus Carlsen and Hou Yifan, funny moment
02:07 Judit Polgar vs Magnus Carlsen
02:28 2nd factor
03:18 3rd factor (it's SHOCKING!)
04:19 Interesting fact (how to dominate in chess)

[annacalgarian]

I am a woman who loves playing chess and loves this channel. Thank you Igor for all your videos. I hope women will have a higher participation in the future, and hope that one day there will be this amazing girl who will beat male chess champion lol

[robmo]

I find men to be more obsessive compulsive and singular minded than women. You need to dedicate most of your life to just one thing to become the GOAT, something men tend to do whilst women seem have more sense than putting all their eggs in one basket.

[orzel]

now do ''why do men dominate esports?''

[dificulttocure]

Not just chess, it's any sport, including non physical ones like e-sports (videogames)

[ZDTF]

"Is that a question?"
-Bobby Fischer

[danailminchev]

Happy New year, dear Igor. What I like most about Igor's videos is that they are so straight to the point. No fancy introduction, no extensive explanations, just the essence of what you need. Absolutely lovely!

[dr.floridamanphd]

For those that don’t know, spatial intelligence (which is also measured on the Stanford Binet IQ Test) is your ability to recognize patterns and predict the next move or sequence of a pattern and to visualize 3D objects with your mind and see them from different angles. While there are correlations to high spatial intelligence and general/overall intelligence the two are not exclusively linked together.

[chris_pea_chess]

It takes a brave person to even approach this subject today, so respect Igor.
Regardless of what the science may or may not say, girls and women just don't want to play chess. And there may be some science why.
It is a shame as it's such a beautiful game.

[eljja]

when i was eleven, my father taught me how to play and for a year i never get to win, maybe sometimes draw and always played black. second night in a row i won and that second i knew he was never gonna play with me again and he said you've learned enough and i've never played chess for years again. in highschool i was playing with my boyfriend and i knew i was gonna win and just tried to make it a draw, started playing goofy all of a sudden and it wasn't even a conscious
decision. and 3d stuff all the guys in my class memorizing formulas about cubes and sht and i would just show up for the test and imagine it in my mind and solve the problems. maybe it's about the first thing, i never felt any different from a man or actually felt pretty different from a lot of men and women but never about the sex i was born, only handicaps were cultural and
psychological.

[EG-nons]

My chess club doesn’t have a single woman…. It’s largely a participation issue

[alflat]

Thank you for stating the obvious that's been forgotten and visited by some over the last 50 years or so:
Men and women ARE VERY DIFFERENT = NOT EQUAL OR THE SAME!!! We complete each other as BOTH are strong in different areas including mental abilities....

[MariaBelenSeyssInquart]

hello from Argentina.
1) Men have better understanding of abstraction than women (the pieces represent warfare units in a board that represents a battlefield, all games are about abstraction). This theory about abstraction comes from our mathematician Ernesto Sabato
2) and they are much more in quantity (as players), so there is more chance to have many strong men players, and one Judit Polgar.
3) Men can focus better in critical short-term activities. I see it all the time. They can concentrate more and gain depth in a specific knowledge.

[arelendil]

Besides of the competitive/collaborative characteristics : Chess is also a war game and women are less attracted by this type of games, and even less if it requires hours to master a game you are not very interested to.

[phoneaccount]

I'm a child psychiatrist and conduct neuropsychological assessments, which include IQ testing. The field of IQ has not been studied enough to definitively back up these claims. A lot of these conclusions were drawn from studies that were too small to be statistically significant. My personal observations have seen more males than females at the below 70 end of the spectrum, and that high IQ female children tend to experience more social rejection than male high IQ children. My statistical sample size is also too small to draw observations from!

[DAVIDMILLER-ncvo]

The discussion did not discuss the overwhelming percentage of men vs women in regards to interest. Many more males, than females, are interested in Chess.

[RubixNinja]

There is not a single competative environment that I know of women dominate. It is not just chess... it is every single strategic competative game.

I am sure there are some random exceptions, but I bet those exceptions have obvious reasons.

[Chunes]

My elo is not high enough to care about this lol. At 1000 elo there is an endless supply of women who can destroy me at chess