The world's best female chess player has claimed women are far from competing on the same level as their male counterparts.
Peking University student Hou Yifan, dubbed the reigning 'Queen of Chess', has generated controversy in the typically complaisant world of chess with comments regarding women's inability to play the sport as well as men.
In an interview with Chess.com, Yifan, 25, acknowledged the theoretical "possibility that a woman can compete for the title in the future", but said she saw the likelihood as "very small".
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"I do think the average rating of female players could improve, but the gap between the top women right now and the players competing for the world title is really quite large," she told the website.
"But if you look at any sport, it's hard to imagine girls competing at the same level as men."
Yifan expressed her belief that women are physically "disadvantaged" in terms of energy expenditure, "especially when games last six to seven hours".
"In general, I think women train less hard at chess compared to men while they're growing up," she said.
She used China as an example, saying boys are typically "more focused and persistent" with their hobby or passion while girls pursue other prospects, including university and motherhood.
The four-time Women's World Championship winner has chosen not to compete in women-only tournaments in recent years in order to verse higher-ranked players, the Telegraph reports.
Although Yifan became a Grandmaster aged 14 and is the top female player worldwide, she is ranked 87 among men and women. Only three women, including Yifan, have been placed in the top 100 chess players.
Yifan explained that childhood "gender distinction" is responsible for women's weaker performance in the sport, claiming girls are socialised from a young age to just "try their best in the girls' section".
"Without the motivation to chase higher goals, it's harder for girls to improve as fast as boys."
Her comments followed English Grandmaster Nigel Short's controversial claim that men and women should accept they are "hard-wired very differently".
Short has since said he "would have been ripped to shreds as a misogynist dinosaur" if he'd made the same observations at Yifan.
Newshub.
