Are sporting events for women a good idea?

I was talking to my husband the other day. He loves chess and keeps up with competitions. While we were talking, he mentioned that there’s a women’s league, though women can also play against men in the “regular” games. Men cannot compete in the women’s league.

This information made me uncomfortable. It seems condescending on a structural level, like society has determined that women need their own league so they’ll have a shot at winning.

Most sports do this, as far as I know. That it’s done in chess, where there is no physical advantage, was still shocking to me. Imagine if we had a Black chess league to give Black people a shot at winning…is this really so different?