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Your questions answered by Natalia Pogonina-35

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Written by Administrator   
Saturday, 23 April 2011
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The rules are simple - send us your questions and see them featured in Natalia's Q&As column!

Q1: Are women underrated or overrated as compared to men?

A1: There is no universal answer to this question. Earlier, when women used to play mainly among themselves, they were definitely underrated. After a careful study, in 1987 all women (except for Susan Polgar) were awarded 100 rating points as an attempt to compensate for the gap. Nowadays many women compete on par with men in open tournaments, so their ratings are more or less balanced. Of course, this revives the good old discussion about the difference between playing in elite closed events as opposed to open tournaments, the underratedness or overratedness of certain countries/cities, etc.

Q2: I enjoy your articles on Top 10's (recent ones included Men and Women Grandmasters, Chess Websites, etc.), my question is, what are the top 10 selling chess books of all time? Continued success to you with your OTB games and with your website.

A2:Thanks. Regarding chess books: most publishers don't share this information with the community. Besides, if we take all-times best list, most of the titles would probably be Soviet since at that period the state used to release an enormous amount of copies (like over 100,000). Nowadays few titles can match it. Overall, I doubt that anyone will be able to answer your question adequately.

Q3: How would you rank the world champions? Who is the best player of all times?

A3: This classical debate hardly makes any sense, in my opinion. If we take raw playing strength, then we have to admit that chess players are generally getting better and better each year. However, when discussing "greatness", we have to take into account the personal contribution of a champion into the development of chess, and his relative strength (i.e. how much better he was than his contemporaries). In this respect, I believe that rants along the lines of "Kasparov was the only one to give simuls to national teams and win" - "No, only Fischer could crush top GMs 6-0" - "At Morphy's time no one could even come close to his level", etc. are simply a waste of time (or entertainment - depending on your taste). Let everyone have their own views on this.

Q4: Have you ever played Judit Polgar?

A4: Unfortunately, I haven't. Will have to work a lot on my chess to play in the same league as her and get a chance to meet Judit over the board.

Q5: I know you are on ChessCube/Chess Maniac/Chess Planet...

A5: Watch out for impersonators. If someone claims being Natalia Pogonina and starts saying or doing something weird, it is probably a fake account. A short list of frequently visited chess websites where I have profiles: Chess.com, PlayChess, ChessGames.com, ChessPro.ru, CrestBook.com, RedHotPawn.com, ChessWorld.net, ICC, ChessPlanet.ru, ChessGlum.com. I used to comment or have my articles published at other chess websites (e.g. ChessDom.com, ChessNews.ru, etc.) too.

The rule of thumb in suspicious situations is to contact me via Pogonina.com and find out the truth.
 
Q6: What is it like playing chess for years as a woman in a male-dominated
activity?  Do you think that it is much different from what a man might
experience in a female-dominated activity (if you need an example: knitting)?

A6: Most of the time I am enjoying the process. Of course, there are some obstacles, but some benefits too. As to comparing with female-dominated activities - that is an interesting topic, worth writing a scientific publication on.

Q7: How do the Russian feel about the fact that the Women's Chess Champion is a Chinese girl?

A7:  As a leader in international chess, Russia is aimed at regaining both the men's and the women's titles. However, the fact that nowadays there are many competitive professional players all over the world, not only in post-Soviet countries, is beneficial in terms of general development of chess and boosting its popularity.

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Comments (1)
1. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 09:59 27 2011 .
 
 
Is Chess Athletism?
Dear Natalia 
Often we see chess categorized under sports, and chess players considered athletes (e.g. Natalia Pogonina / Facebook). 
In one of your articles, you explained the influence of physical fitness on mental performance, and I totally agree. However, here we seem to have a misuse of terms. By definition, an athlete is "a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill." (dictionary.com) 
Although both kinds of activities are required for a healthy life, we know that chess is a mental and not a physical activity. 
My question: If you were to categorize chess and chess players, under which category would you put them? Do you think athletism is an appropriate categorization? 
Thank you in advance for your response.
 

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Last Updated ( Sunday, 24 April 2011 )
 
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