Invisible Pieces: Women in Chess

Whatever differences in cognitive capacities there may be between females and men, the most important reason females aren't as good as men in chess is because they are not as competitive as men generally. And this does come down to "biological essentialism". It comes down to testosterone, which the author conspicuously ignores despite the fact that the fundamental difference between men and women, their hormone profiles, should be first on the list of candidates to explain differences in behavior between females and men.

Chess is not simply a cognitive exercise. Chess is primarily an intense, direct competition between two people, especially at the very highest levels where much is at stake. Men have been naturally selected for such contests going back to our most distant primate ancestors. Testosterone is the chief product of this selection, and it is in fact scientifically linked to all sorts of characteristics, aside from just greater mass and sheer aggressiveness, that give men advantages in any intense, direct competitive environment. For example, there's ALL SORTS of scientific evidence linking testosterone to concentration and focus.

And by the way, the lack of testosterone in women is a far better explanation of why not as many women play chess, a very direct and intense competitive sport, than does the currently fashionable but entirely fatuous critical theory that is taken as a Gospel today by so many.

@AlAlekhine Then please don't state them.

@StateYourPoint
"The exclusive concentration of the artistic talent in individuals and its related suppression in the great mass [follows] the division of labor."
from "The German Idealogy"

I always thought this odd; you can't make a Mozart (and yes, I do remember that the whole passage was bashing a guy for saying something along the lines of "you can't make a Mozart").

@clousems I am quite sure he said the following: "The exclusive concentration of artistic talent in PARTICULAR individuals, and its SUPPRESSION IN THE BROAD MASS which is bound up with this, is a consequence of division of labour. "

P.S Note how just a few words can change the whole meaning of a phrase, lol

EDIT: In other words, he is saying that people(higher-classes) often have a lot of free time which they have time to develop, but the talented people from the broader masses(lower-classes) have no time to develop their talent, which leads to it dying-off.

EDIT: Yes, I just noticed that I misread your quote, sorry :)

I must have a bad translation. That'll teach me not to bargain hunt for historically significant texts. (BTW, are you using a book or online version?)
Tbh, though, I don't see how that significantly alters the meaning of the passage.
@StateYourPoint

@clousems I am using a photo copied version of the book(a re-publication, as the original would probably be unreadable, I'd imagine).

the talent dies in communism because people starve to death. or because, instead of practicising their art, they are waiting in line for 3 days for a tube of toothpaste.

@DanielMorgan
Testosterone is a myth.
Women are just Oppressed and prevented from playing chess, because men are cowards and refuse to live with 21st century standards.
Women are so freaking Oppressed, more than you can ever imagine, you wouldn't believe how much Oppression they go through everyday trying to play a game of chess.
As a nice beta male guy who only believes in facts, I can't stop blaming myself for how badly Women are represented in chess.
Omg, I feel so bad, I wish Women were not Oppressed, etc.

@crow000 My sarcasm-o-meter can't quite determine if that is sarcasm or not. If it is, then I shall join your Sarcasm.

@thomassowell123
Are you saying that non-Oppression of Women can be achieved without Communism?? Are you insane??!