British chess grandmaster Nigel Short has form when it comes to provocative statements. When competing in a tournament in France as a junior player, some years ago, he was asked the question by an interviewer: ‘What do you hate most in life?’ His answer — ‘The French’ — failed to endear him to the organisers. At a later appearance in a French tournament, an entente cordiale was struck, and Nigel is once again a welcome guest across the Channel.
Nigel’s latest foray into contentious self-expression came with his widely reported intervention into the age-old debate about the differences between the male and female brain. As was widely reported, Nigel said that the female brain fails in the logic department; hence girls will never be able to match boys at the chessboard.
A few years ago, the Ukip backer Stuart Wheeler denigrated women’s ability to play chess, only to be challenged to a game by former British girls chess champion, Rachel Reeves MP.
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