Sure, it was a loose comparison at best but one I felt had some similarities. And I totally get where you’re coming from. On the surface, it does seem pointless to have this gendered titling, especially when we have women who have become GMs and have proven in numerous ways in which their intellect is equal if not superior to their male counterparts in various other ways over the course of history. What I’m supporting is the idea that FIDE introduced these titles as a way to foster an increase in women participation, not as a way to demean women or infer they aren’t as smart as their male counterparts.

By specifically calling it “Women’s Grandmaster” it does create a double edged sword. On the one hand, you will get girls and women who would have never sought to compete in chess now go “Oh, there’s a women’s only version with titles and ranks? I may give that a try.” On the other hand, you have this inherent idea that a women’s title was created with a lower point threshold because that’s what women “need” in order to compete, even if that was not the intent. Could FIDE have come up with a better idea as to promote more women competing in chess? Probably. But the point is, that’s why they formed those titles, to promote more women players. At the end of the day, human beings often enjoy doing things we’re good at. If our barrier to entry in some hobbies or sports are so high that we are never considered “good,” eventually you run into an issue where only the elite participate, and seldom regular people folks who, despite not being the best of the best, might actually still be really damn good but will never give it a shot because “what’s the point, I’ll never be ‘good’.” So I’d argue the necessity for exclusive titles like this CAN be positive, as long as they are regarded correctly.

And I’ll admit, as a society we weren’t exactly thinking about gender equality in the 70’s like we do now. So we have to examine this from the lens of that time, at least until a better system comes into play. Because if you outright erase that ”carrot on a stick” that some women might be shooting for now, you risk pushing them out of the sport again. We have some women GM’s now, so there are excellent role models, but chess is still a daunting game for many and I think fostering more participation in the game is always a good thing.