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+--- Thread: Female players in SNCL (/thread-440.html)
Re: Female players in SNCL - Patrick McGovern - 26-11-2012
Quote:I know that Ali is flying down from Aberdeen to play 4NCL games in England.
I saw that and was disappointed she was not continuing to play for the mighty Greenwood in the SNCL =|
:\ ;P
Re: Female players in SNCL - Mike Scott - 27-11-2012
The idea to encourage female players - I assume that is the idea rather than have them available to make the cups of tea and to clear up after you?
- is fine but is there really a load of female players out there giving up the game because of lack of opportunity? My problem here - other than the practical issues - is that if it means that 1 place is reserved for a female then that is 1 place fewer for the males. There are more competition/prize opportunities for females than males as it is in chess without producing an increasing number of players.
Re: Female players in SNCL - Andy Howie - 27-11-2012
Quote:There are more competition/prize opportunities for females than males as it is in chess without producing an increasing number of players.
Really??
Re: Female players in SNCL - Alex McFarlane - 27-11-2012
In FIDE events there are certainly more opportunities to play. Keti could have chosen to play in the Open Olympiad or the female Olympiad. John Shaw did not have those options!!!
Some tournaments have female prizes. I can't recall a tournament advertising a male prize.
In the 4NCL the rule on women has been slackened. Teams in Div 3 are free to choose who they want. There is also the possibility of playing juniors.
In the 4NCL the penalties for not fielding the required player distribution is a fine and points deduction. This has meant that some female players were seeking to receive conditions in excess of male IMs.
(For clarification, I'm not opposed to people maximising their value but people should be aware of possible results of pro-active legislation.)
I would obviously like to see more female players and we should be doing everything possible to encourage this. Female players integrated into a team is to be encouraged, females tagged on as a bottom board through necessity is a less acceptable approach.
Re: Female players in SNCL - Mike Scott - 27-11-2012
Quote:Really??Which bit are you questioning? The fact that number of events available to females is greater than those for males? As this is self-evidently true I can only assume you mean that there is an increasing number of female players. Really??
Re: Female players in SNCL - Andy Howie - 27-11-2012
I'm struggling to think of a tournament in Scotland there being female gives you an advantage
Re: Female players in SNCL - Hugh Brechin - 27-11-2012
I don't think anyone said it gives an advantage. I think the point being made is that female players have opportunities which male players lack - whether that's entering the Scottish Girls' Championship (there is no Scottish Boys' Championship), being given the 'best female' prize at the Stewarton Allegro or facing less competition for an international spot than their male counterparts. (As has been said, Keti can choose which Olympiad team to play in, while John Shaw can't. Similarly, an 1800-rated female player can expect to get international games, whereas an 1800-rated man's chance of playing in the Open Olympiad can best be described as slim.)
I don't actually think there's really anything wrong with that, but I don't think you can deny it's the case.
Re: Female players in SNCL - KMcGeoch - 28-11-2012
I've always assumed main advantage to being female in chess is WFM title that you can get at around 1600ish strength and gives free entry to some events and is apparently even useful for gaining norms for unisex titles.
I don't really see how making a female player mandatory would really help the game since I think main problem in chess is that there is a strong gender bias so that for example in my club we have around 20 members or which around 20 are male. We also have a venue that could perhaps be described as a slightly macho football pub where I'm sure there must have been a woman in it once not that I can recall such an event. It's a similar problem to what traditionally happened to golf clubs.
To look at problem from reverse perspective it might be akin to asking chess players to partake in ballet so rather than dubious rule refinements chess probably needs to reinvent it's image.
When you look at likes of Judit Polgar you can see women can compete at very top level on an equal footing with men and in SNCL I had the privilege of playing a female player who is much better than me who earnt her place on squad on her own merit and it would be fantastic to get more in future but I think it really needs to start at grass roots.
Re: Female players in SNCL - robin moore - 29-11-2012
I am not all that keen on statistics for trying to explain things, at least not chess wise, but some raw figures...
Females/ total players...
Euroyouth Prague 2012 3/13 23%
World Youth Maribor 2012 2/11 18%
Liverpool Quadrangular 2012 (starts Saturday) 4/28 14%
SNCL 5/207 2.4 %
Please don't pick at the ball park rounded figures. I am not sure what this really tells us long term and am very open to suggestions but I want to highlight something that I feel is a factor in maintaining junior female players interest and that is a very supportive chess playing family where a sibling and/or parent(s) also play. For example...
Ali Roy
Alice Lampard
Monica Espinosa
Cristina Espinosa
Anna Milton
Maryann McDonald
Kirsty McCusker
Lauren Bond
Stuthi Hegde
Leora Wadler
Megan Copeland
Caitlin Reid
Another thing we don't lack is incredibly enthusiastic international adult lady players who have been truly wonderful in supporting our juniors at all levels, from local primary school to Glorney/Faber level.
Older juniors like Ali and Alice have told me they have continued playing because they really enjoyed representing Scotland at home and international events and felt very comfortable because they knew most of the squad from a relatively young age and have taken part in multiple events with them. We need to keep this spirit going.
Re: Female players in SNCL - Andy Howie - 29-11-2012
So going by those stats we would have a five team sncl instead of a 34. Nice way to kill an event...