Girls only events in 2013-14

[robin moore]

Some good points and ideas raised here.

I would like to pay tribute to Ali Roy who has been a magnificent ambassador for Scottish junior girls chess at home and abroad for many years. She has set the standard and her family must be so proud of her, as we all are. A really lovely young lady, best wishes on your studies at Aberdeen University and your future career.

This was Ali's last year to be available for selection for the Glorney event but we have a really good group of younger girls that will be able to play Glorney for years to come, many of whom are not even teenagers as yet.

If we can help and encourage these girls to represent their country, there is plenty to look forward to in the future.

A great effort by all the girls at the Glorney this year and I hope you really enjoyed it, because at the end of the day that's what it's all about.

Robin

[Alan Jelfs]

Phil makes an interesting point about the girls scoring more than 50% in some CFK events.
If you look at the latest gradings for adult females in Scotland you will find a big empty gap between the grades of 1336 and 1571. There are literally hundreds of adult males in Scotland with grades between these figures.
My theory is that women will tend to persevere with a hobby or sport if they are "good" at it, while men are quite content to play sports they are "OK" at.

As to girls-only events, can we have one clashing with next year's Scottish blitz, please, to protect my blitz rating?

[Linda McCusker]

I believe that the reason girls stop playing chess is complex. There is not one answer. I started a chess club in my school and while it is well attended and has some very enthusiastic members - they are all boys.

I don’t agree with Alan who suggests that

My theory is that women will tend to persevere with a hobby or sport if they are "good" at it, while men are quite content to play sports they are "OK" at.

Girls will continue with activities even if they are not the best. There is evidence to support this. Also girls can be very competitive so it’s not that girls do not like competing. The girls in my classes in school will happily play chess when I hand out chess sets at the end of term but they will not come along to the school chess club. When I ask them why they won’t come along to the club the main reason seems to be that they have other activities/clubs on and do not have the time. Why do they not choose chess? Unfortunately amongst the majority of young people chess still has a bad press as it is still perceived as being ‘uncool’ to play chess at a serious level. Plus for girls chess is still perceived as a male activity (look at the photographs from any chess event and you can see why girls would think this). I am doing my best to change that perception but it is proving to be a huge challenge.

Girls only events are an interesting idea idea but where are we going to get the girls from? I would suggest perhaps targeting younger girls in an attempt to engage them fully with chess before other activities at secondary school, for example, attract their attention.