Record Set For World's Youngest Chess Champion

Pickens writes "Hou Yifan, a 16-year-old chess player from China, became the youngest world chess champion on Friday, in the final of the Women's World Chess Championship held in Antakya, Turkey, toppling a record held since 1978. Currently, the top-ranked woman is Judit Polgar of Hungary, who is thought to be the best female player in history but Polgar, once ranked No. 8 in the world among all players, men and women combined, does not compete in women's tournaments and did not play. No one really knows why the best female players are typically not as good at chess as the best men. One theory, common among some top male players, is that men are usually more aggressive by nature than women, and are therefore better suited to a game that simulates warfare. Another, cited in at least one university study, is that the talent pool among women has not been big enough to produce many great players."

Good thing she's not an olympic gymnist....

[Bob_Who]

...In which case she'd actually be 12.

Re:Merry Christmas

[PatPending]

Rant over, I really need to lighten up. Merry Christmas all!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good knight.

Re:Merry Christmas

[hackingbear]

No one really knows why Slashdot posts summaries that are at best disingenuous and at worst deliberately inflammatory. One theory, common among top Slashdotters is that inflammatory stories get more comments than report-the-facts posts.

Because the summary is written by a male who is "usually more aggressive by nature".

Re:Homosexual chess players

[Ethanol-fueled]

Chess is also racist because white always goes first.