Polgar on women’s chess

I’ve only been beating this tune on the drum for 30+ years now. It should come as no surprise, ladies and gentlemen, that playing in segregated weaker events than otherwise available is bad for you. Nice to have Polgar and Hou both stating the obvious recently.

Polgar on the subject here.

Hou here.

“Girls are told at an early age that there’s a kind of gender distinction, and they should just try their best in the girls’ section and be happy with that. So without the motivation to chase higher goals, it’s harder for girls to improve as fast as boys as they grow up.”

Interestingly, Hou pretty much sides with Nigel that women are intrinsically weaker, though she acknowledges social factors as well. Maybe that’s a case of do as I do, not as I say, since Hou was phenomenally strong for a person who seems to have fitted in chess around her life, the reverse of fitting life in around chess, which is more likely to be what males do.

Needless to say, the same applies in bridge. Female players, please take your model from Pauline Gumby who realised early in her bridge career that playing the women’s was a bad plan. She has played for the Australian Open team various times since. Playing stronger competition makes you stronger.