Jovanka H. in the Daily Mail

[Alex Holowczak]

If we are interested in encouraging young women to play chess, I guess we have to lament that Magnus "isn't really hot is he?" (according to overheard girls in one of the the general interest pieces on the LCC )

Would it though? When women see a photograph of David Beckham, a resolution to take up football at the next opportunity isn't usually the comment they make.

[Paul Cooksey]

Would it though? When women see a photograph of David Beckham, a resolution to take up football at the next opportunity isn't usually the comment they make.

Was Bend it like Beckham not a documentary?

Beckham had a role in keeping football in the mainstream media. How much him being pretty has contributed to the growth of women's football impossible to say. But I'm fairly confident he hasn't done it any harm.

[Alan Burke]

Paul .. it may well be a nice frock, but comments in the article state that the player has helped make the game sexier and has an enviable figure. All I ask is what has that got to do with chess itself and are female players in particular happy that those attributes should be used to promote the game ? If so, there seems something of a contradiction in promoting the game in such a manner yet then introducing rules that limit players to a more conservative dress code.

[Carl Hibbard]

I don't think that was the original point, but ok...

Yes I am concerned as to where this discussion is heading

[Geoff Chandler]

Jovanka Houska 'has an enviable figure.'

I agree. I'm jealous of her 2395 FIDE Grade.

[Carl Hibbard]

It all seems a little sexist with the Daily Mail article looked very much like some of the ChessBase articles on female chess that sometimes appear

[Kevin Thurlow]

"It all seems a little sexist with the Daily Mail article looked very much like some of the ChessBase articles on female chess that sometimes appear"

Indeed, I'm sure Chessbase only published the item by John Saunders on "Basque chess", as they thought it included young women wearing basques...

[John Foley]

The New York Daily News also carries the dress code story with the observation that the change in dress code was

due to female players’ appearance causing a ruckus in the peanut gallery.

I am completely baffled.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/f ... z1ozEkQ3rC

[Alan Burke]

The female player featured in the Daily Mail was obviously quite content to pose in such a fashion, so will anyone who wishes to condemn it as a sexist article be prepared to criticise her for doing so ?

[Colin McGourty]

I guess this had all the elements of a perfect "ChessBase story" on women's chess, though if they hadn't helpfully translated "décolletés" as the tabloid-friendly "cleavage" I doubt the Daily Mail would have picked up on it. CB also failed, as usual, to point out that they'd simply taken the interview (including photos) from the official tournament website: http://eiwcc2012.tsf.org.tr/component/c ... h-sava-sta The Daily Mail attributed the interview to CB and now you've got e.g. Time among the dozens of sites that have reproduced the same mistake: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/11/che ... vage-rule/

Still, if the internet-wide ridicule helps the ECU realise a detailed dress code is a foolish idea something good might come out of it!

[Ian Kingston]

ChessBase has returned to the original story. They provide links to coverage in various newspapers and include comments from players and coaches about the dress code.

I note that the New York Times managed not only to report the story (with some additional material not sourced from ChessBase or the reporter's imagination), but also to refrain from printing any pictures of female chess players. It even (and many will find this quite shocking) included a game from the event, with brief notes.

[Colin McGourty]

Dylan Loeb McClain's been writing a chess blog or column for the New York Times for years, so his piece doesn't really fit into the "ChessBase story picked up by the general media" rubric at all.

[Ian Kingston]

Dylan Loeb McClain's been writing a chess blog or column for the New York Times for years, so his piece doesn't really fit into the "ChessBase story picked up by the general media" rubric at all.

And it shows. If only the others would take note.