Chess and homosexuality

Chess has almost no known homosexual men among grandmasters, a remarkable absence which was the subject of a report:

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There are an estimated 1,328 grandmasters--men and women--at the latest count. If we follow the general percentage, there should be at least 250 homosexuals. Right? Wrong. ... There are no known gays among male grandmasters today.

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Other activities, such as baseball, also have nearly a complete absence of homosexuality.

Both chess and baseball are skills typically developed before puberty, so their correlation with non-homosexuality in adulthood is striking. Do these activities intrinsically promote heterosexuality rather than homosexuality in males?

Chess, Russians and homosexuality

Chess is very popular in Russia and the Russians have had an strong presence in the chess world that began in the early portion of the 20th century. For example, in 2009 Russia had over twice as many grandmasters as its closest rivals. Historically and at the present time, homosexuality is frowned upon in Russia.

The Soviet Union subsidized chess and chess became a national pastime. Many of the Soviet Union's leaders were avid chess players as they saw it being compatible with their revolutionary ideals as it is an inexpensive game that anyone can play. Although many Western World atheists in favor of the homosexual agenda, the Soviet Union imprisoned homosexuals (see: Soviet Union and homosexuality).

The Soviet Union engaged in cheating and collective efforts in order to win at chess, but ultimately they were defeated by the American chess player Bobby Fischer who many regard as the best chess player of all time.

According to the Saturday Evening Post:

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Two years earlier, Fischer had described his experience in the Curaçao Candidates’ tournament in a Sports Illustrated manifesto (“The Russians Have Fixed World Chess”), claiming a rudimentary grasp of Russian allowed him to sniff out their cheating: “They would openly analyze my game while I was still playing it. It is strictly against the rules for a player to discuss a game in progress, or even to speak with another player during a game — or, for that matter, with anyone.” Fischer also posed that the format of the tournament was problematic as it allowed the numerous Soviet players to collude in a series of draws and fixes, saving their energy for the finals. His suspicions were validated by several witnesses, including a Soviet grand master. One statement of Fischer’s from the article was proven false: his proclamation to never play in a World Chess Championship again. In the World Chess Championship of 1972 — the final game of which was played 45 years ago to the day — Fischer defeated Boris Spassky and ended the 24-year-long Soviet holding of the title. The event was hugely publicized as a pitting of the West and the Communists during the Cold War, and the game of chess as a metaphor of strategy and domination didn’t hurt. The Reykavik faceoff was PBS’s highest-rated show at the time, and the whole experience even spawned a Broadway musical.

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