As a follow up to my previous blog entry a long time ago, check out this interesting article in the Wall Street Journal.  I get asked all the time by members whether or not chess is popular in certain places around the world.  Here is an example of an answer to that question:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324020804578147393825457694.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle