Which gender plays more beautiful chess?

Abstract

Chess is typically a male-dominated sport. However, women play the game as well but usually against each other. The reasons for this are debatable. Aesthetics is also an important part of the game and the reason why many people play. It is an essential component of the (even more so) maledominated world of chess composition. In this research, our goal was to determine if games between men and games between women showed any statistically significant difference in terms of aesthetics. We analyzed using a computational aesthetics model two sets of games (one small, one large) between males and between females irrespective of playing strength and age. We found in the smaller set that there was no difference but in the larger set that the games between men were, on average, more beautiful than those between women. This suggests that men are more likely to have a better artistic sense in the game and therefore appreciate it more. It might also help to explain the relative non-existence of master female chess problem composers. It follows that, similarly, women may have better artistic senses in other games or domains as compared to men. © 2016 Taylor and Francis Group, London.