I just looked at some of the highest ratings and Robert Fischer was the only American I saw on the list for quite a lot of numbers. How come there isn't very many high rated players from the U.S.A?

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verusamo wrote:

I just looked at some of the highest ratings and Robert Fischer was the only American I saw on the list for quite a lot of numbers. How come there isn't very many high rated players from the U.S.A?

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 Unfortunately chess is simply looked down upon here. Many young talents of the game are forced to make a decision by their late teens and early 20's. Continue studying the game, or get through college and begin a career. There is little incentive to continue training at that stage. I used to run a chess club and the vast majority of my older members were returning to the game after putting it away for years. Their responses were all the same..."I had to start a life." 

The effort put into mastering chess will give a much smaller return than the many other opportunities that are available in most modern economies. Thus chess is not more than a side interest or hobby to people who otherwise might be able to play at a very high level.

 

Some people will use their talents to follow a professional career path, say finance, accountancy, engineering or law. Others who are not driven by a steady job and income or career will take an entrenpreneurial business path. I think there is an article on this site about how many successful technology entrepreneurs are strong chess players too.

 

In the old Soviet Union such opportunities were not afforded and so chess was a good way to use your talent and the state provided training. One of the reasons you see so many great middle and long distance runners coming out of East Africa is because teens have a choice - work hard at their running and enter the professional circuit or have a life of subsistence farming. That kind of choice focuses your attention.

 

Unless you are (perhaps) a top ten player in the world, you will make more money in just about any professional job you choose. 

 

Lack of status is also a factor. The facilities where over the board tournaments are played are usually something to be endured, rather than enjoyed. England developed many great players in the 70s and 80s because a major bank funded tournaments and development programs which attracted young players to the game. Many of those players are now academics and accountants because even as a strong GM, they didn't derive the steady income they desired.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the responses!!! Very helpful!

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