Concentration.......

[IM Jack Rudd]

Pretty well, probably. My record against women is neither noticeably good or noticeably bad.

[Paul Cooksey]

At the risk of jinxing myself, my record against women is very good.

My two theories are that, either, I am so pretty I am distracting them, or Natasha Regan being better than me when we were juniors taught me respect.

Probably the former.

[Michael Jones]

Badly, I suspect, given that 2212 is considerably higher than my own rating. Due to the almost complete absence of them from my local league (there are two, but neither in the same division as me), my 'record' against women is almost non-existent. I've only played two games (one win, one draw) against them in the eight years or so I've been playing at senior level.

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

I think one or two male chess players would put me off my game more than even any female one could.

Warning: Do not under any circumstances click on the link to Dave Wolz's website (hosted by Piczo).

[Peter Sharpe]

I think you well may be right Jon, but for completely different reasons, one would assume.

a friend recalled that at a chess congress, in the early 1980s I think, so many men were circling around a game Sheila Caldwell was playing in . Sheila was wearing a low cut dress that day and my friend reckons the men werent really watching the game properly! Does Sheila still play chess?

[Matt Mackenzie]

I do not know of any female chessplayer of that name. If you mean *Susan* Caldwell, however.........

(or, alternatively, Sheila Jackson?? Who does still play, a bit )

[David Grobler]

I think you well may be right Jon, but for completely different reasons, one would assume.

a friend recalled that at a chess congress, in the early 1980s I think, so many men were circling around a game Sheila Caldwell was playing in . Sheila was wearing a low cut dress that day and my friend reckons the men werent really watching the game properly! Does Sheila still play chess?

Ah , yes...happy memories ....mid to late 70s though I believe . I was a spotty youth whose voice had barely broken . Wasn't Sue Caldwell more often than not wearing leather attire ? Anyway...watching the players was a lot of fun in those days
btw if you google Marina Lupik , you will find
Miss ChessOK Play Zone-2008 - ChessOK.com
well worth some serious study.....

[Peter Sharpe]

I do not know of any female chessplayer of that name. If you mean *Susan* Caldwell, however.........

(or, alternatively, Sheila Jackson?? Who does still play, a bit )

Sorry, I meant Susan Caldwell

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I looked at this thread a few days ago. Isn't this type of discussion a bit off-putting to some? A more serious thread would start from a proposal for a dress code for players and organisers, and discuss why in the 19th century they all played in dinner jackets and top hats (and no women at all). OK, I made up some of that last bit.

Or maybe this bit from the Wikipedia article 'List of female chess players' will help raise the tone of the thread?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fe ... ss_players

"From the Middle Ages through the 18th century, chess was a popular social pastime for both men and women of the upper classes. Mary, Queen of Scots, and Queen Elizabeth I played, and Thomas Jefferson wrote several times about Benjamin Franklin's playing chess in Paris with socially important women, including the Duchess of Bourbon, who was "a chess player of about his force". Chess games between men and women were a common theme of European art and literature in the 14th through 18th centuries.

By the 19th century, however, the chess world had become dominated by male chess players, perhaps as a result of card playing becoming socially acceptable for mixed groups. Then during the 20th century, female players again made significant progress in breaking the male stranglehold on the game, although remaining fewer than 5% of registered tournament players."

That card playing bit sounds very dodgy. Though to be fair, these two pictures are worth a look:

http://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/ht ... glass.html

Cambridge 2000 Gallery: stained glass

Link 97 is this one:

http://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/ht ... 14493.html

Paris, France
Musee national du Moyen Age (Cluny)
stained glass ('Chess players', around 1430-1440)

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/m/man/index.html

The first painting there is this one:

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/m ... ss_pl.html

The Chess Players (c. 1670)
by Cornelis de Man (Dutch, 1621-1706)
Oil on canvas, 97,5 x 85 cm
Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest

I wonder when chess turned from a social pastime into a competitive endeavour and why?