Artwork by Mike Magnan

GENDER GAP’S DUE TO MORE GUYS THAN GALS
By ANDY SOLTIS

February 11, 2007 — Chess AN article in the current issue of Psychological Science tackles the mystery of the vast disproportion between male and female masters – and finds the reason is simply that there’s many more boys who get into chess in the first place.

The authors, Christopher Chabris and Mark Glickman, studied thousands of U.S. Chess Federation players over a 12-year period and found, for example, that women played only 9.7 percent of all rated games in 2004.

Why? Well, one conventional argument holds that young girls drop out of chess more quickly or more often than boys.

But when ability is factored out, the dropout rates are comparable, the article found. Girls and boys who are equally good at chess are just as likely to leave the game.

Click here to read the full story.

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