There should not be separate titles for sports where the physical differences don’t play a role. Of those you list obviously chess and billiards, possibly bowling, which is more a game of finesse and precision and strength.
For golf and most other sports, the very best women compete on roughly the top high school athlete level for men.
On looking at it again, the dominance of men in chess may very well illustrate actual mental differences between the sexes. I suspect it’s an example of the way men are much more diverse in mental characteristics than women.
While men and women are equal in average IQ, far more men are found on each end of the bell curve. Many more geniuses, and many more morons. The female IQ bell curve is taller and thinner.
Possibly something similar applies with the weird mental characteristics needed to play chess at the championship level.
Or quite possibly fewer women are weird enough to do what it takes to become that proficient at chess.
It is interesting,...on the sections of IQ tests requiring spacial relationships, ( those questions with the blocks stacked in odd way,) i scored in the highest ninety percentiles. I believe I did so well because of massive amount of practice I had reading sewing patterns and constructing clothing.
I think among other things there is an aggression of purpose that guys bring to endeavor great or small. They create the leading bleeding edge be it in skateboarding or or the deepest darkest science. That alone seems to be hard for women to initiate. Take out that factor and raw intelligence is perhaps orphaned.
>>>”On looking at it again, the dominance of men in chess may very well illustrate actual mental differences between the sexes. I suspect it’s an example of the way men are much more diverse in mental characteristics than women.
While men and women are equal in average IQ, far more men are found on each end of the bell curve. Many more geniuses, and many more morons. The female IQ bell curve is taller and thinner.>
“<<<
Obviously, there are pure biological, physiological, and, as a rule, physical strength differences between men and women.
That said, women, traditionally, have been known to be able to endure physical pain more than men. For example, childbirth; being in labor for at time hours, without medication that we nowadays use.
However, in the so-called ‘mental capability’. It is not necessarily gender specific. It’s also related to the dominance and use of “left-brain, right-brain”, both in men and women. That’s one theory, which is viewed as quite valid by many psychologists.
In terms of “autism spectrum”, which you cited elsewhere in this thread, it is neither purely genetic nor gender-specific. Clinical psychologists are still unsure of what causes it, and why exactly there have been more men *reported & diagnosed* as autistic than females. It’s work in progress still, and, in recent yrs, there have been more cases of females reported and diagnosed as autistic.
The other factors affecting differences between men & women are: interest, and socialization (starting with one’s parents at home), then schooling, social environment (including the influence of one’s friends & even associates later in life).
Additionally, IQ tests, typically, assess (provide *an indication of*) a person’s ability (capability & skills) in limited ways, heavily dependent on *external factors* (socialization/environment/schooling). Usually, IQ tests assess spatial ability, verbal reasoning, numerical ability, and *some* variants of *cognitive ability* such as critical & lateral thinking.
That’s a main reason (organisational, industrial & even clinical psychologists on occasions) in the recent decade tend to increasingly administer “competency-based assessments” rather than rely on traditional IQ tests. The former actually evaluates *skill* and *capability*, identifying what can be developed, in terms of *skills* (provided there is interest).
In career choices, capability (defined as something you’re predisposed towards at birth) and skill (defined as something you have had the opportunity & interest to develop over time) are not only two separate things, but often complementary, even in being able to win in a chess championship against an opposite gender.
In conclusion, apart from obvious & clear biological, physiological and physical strength differences between men and women, gender-specific capability and skills, and contributing factors involve too many variables and still, clinically, work in progress.