Prophylaxis in women's chess

Of Course it's total BS to say a woman can't see danger ahead as well as a man can ...

Women play to win mens Gm's play to draw.
Who is the chicken.

@ThunderClap said in #21:

Of Course it's total BS to say a woman can't see danger ahead as well as a man can ...

Yes if that were true, there were less men seducing women for monetary gain..

But maybe its an observational flaw and it just looks like it to me

I agree with what Rachel said earlier... It would make sense for men to be more reckless.
When I play my games, I often worry about my move's long-term risk as a woman. Just my personal input. And when I play women, they seem more cautious than men, so honestly, the observation itself doesn't seem to speak of anything but a weaker vs a stronger player.

Since men as a whole tend to take more risks than women in many types of activities, one would think that men would be the ones who would use prophylactic moves less frequently. In other words, given a choice between an offensive move and a more defensive move, men would, in general, be more likely to choose an offensive move than women, with women going for security over gain. (Please don’t be offended, anyone – I’m speaking in broad generalities.) I wonder if anyone has ever analyzed large numbers of games objectively to see if Professor’s observation is true.

Personally speaking, I am sometimes guilty of playing more aggressively than is wise, perhaps being up material instead at the expense of finishing development or ensuring king safety.

Sometimes it is hard to wait to play a move you want to play and you worry that they will get there first if you don't do it now. However, I think I would put this down to inexperience as a beginner rather than being female per se. I think it is dubious at best to try to rush to assign general characteristics to either men or women as a whole, without evidence in the form of large, peer-reviewed and solidly designed studies.

Just putting vague, general, slightly sexist-sounding hypotheses out there with no actual evidence causes controvery for sure, but I'm not convinced about how constructive it is. Not all men/women are the same, they don't all play the same style of chess, they have different, individual personalities that I believe comes out in their playing style and how risk-averse or otherwise they might be. Experience and skill level would have to be a big factor as well.

Why not use the word "defensive' instead of 'prophylaxis' ??

@Professor74 said in #1:

The next question is not meant to be offensive, I just want to create a constructive debate and maybe some controversy. Do you consider that prophylactic maneuvers are present with the same frequency in women's chess and in chess practiced by men? I have spent several years analyzing many games played by women, titled players, games that I frequently expose in my face-to-face and online lessons, and I have not seen many medium to long-term prophylactic maneuvers. Women seem to always look for the most active plan, without fearing the dangers that may arise in the medium to long-term future.

I am going to put games of the three Polgar sister in the forums off topic. So every one can see.

@justme23 said in #27:

I am going to put games of the three Polgar sister in the forums off topic. So every one can see.

Great! I particularly like Judit's games. All out attack!

@Joe-Hawks said in #26:

Why not use the word "defensive' instead of 'prophylaxis' ??

Thanks for asking. Both words do not express the same idea.

@ThunderClap said in #21:

Of Course it's total BS to say a woman can't see danger ahead as well as a man can ...

Happily, no such claim has been made here. This can be checked:

https://lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/prophylaxis-in-womens-chess#1

In fact, I think women can see danger just as well as men. The original question is, posed in other words, if women, still seeing the danger, prefer a game based on prophylaxis, or if they decide not to.