They may keep an interest and later encourage their children to play, but they themselves shy away from chess activity and competition. My guess is that the phenomenon has something to do with a special characteristic of the game. But it is not a test that many males past childhood relish or care to lose. Women today are not as likely to downplay their intelligence, but there are still forces that discourage them from direct, aggressive competition with men. Nevertheless, they manage to compete with increasing success in many spheres.
Chess remains a notable exception.
Although as a teen-ager I regretted the paucity of women on the chess scene, I was not unaware of the advantage it gave me. Half of my most talented and toughest potential adversaries had been effectively vanquished without my having to lift a finger at the chessboard. In the game below from the 1985 Hungarian Team Tournament, the current women's world champion Zsuzsa Polgar defeats Peter Hardicsay with a brilliant flourish. Z. Polgar Hardicsay 1. With the unstoppable threat of 23.