Hello,
I think that more people are begining to forget about chess and that's it's starting to be replaced by video game and tv, and things liek that. Most people don't play the game anymore and forget the joy u can get from it. Instead they choose websites (excluding this one) and ignore it all together. Now i'm not saying that people can't have these things and still indulge in chess. I'm one of them but it my community and many others i notice that chess has become a rare thing to come by. Wat are all ur opinions?
You may be right. However there are
many chess sites to play on.
I like to play computer chess to improve
openings , etc.
Very best to you and happy playing.
Truman.
That chess is basically ignored is not a new phenomenon. Contrary to how it must seem, more people play chess today than anytime in history.
i believe more people would rather be"cool" than intellectual. a sad commentary on the american way of life and a continuation of the dumbing down of america. i personally play pc games,poker,and chess. no one aspect dominates my life-everything in moderation. on the other side of the coin,i wonder if intellectuals say they play chess but are really bored with it and in order to"fit in" they say they play?
I really don't know by the numbers, but it seems to me that chess is growing, and that this is thanks in part to video games, but especially thanks to sites like this.
I know ten years ago I knew very few people who even knew how the pieces moved. Today, so many of the people I know are "dabbling" with chess thanks to internet chess sites.
Somehow I think people have this romantic idea that chess used to be a great past time before tv and video games... i don't think this is the case. Chess players have always been rather few in numbers.
That is true, I would never have started playing chess had I not found this site, as with many others I am sure. I believe it is growing in popularity.
This is pure speculation. Without numbers this assumption has no backing. There are many estimates, of which the following is interesting.
Today more than 285 million people play chess with other chess players from all over the world, via the internet. It is estimated 605 million people worldwide know how to play chess. Of these 7.5 million are registered players, covering 160 countries worldwide. Making chess one of the most popular sports around the world.
The above comes from: http://www.turowski.com/chess/world2005.html# They do not indicate where they get the numbers, but there are many other estimates that play on this theme that many more people play they game than we may realize.
Susan Polgar estimates 45 million alone play within America. Keep in mind that the vast majority of people who play are not registered tournament players, which is why it may seem that many people don't play, when in fact they do.
That chess is basically ingnored is not a new phenomenon. Contrary to how it must seem, more people play chess today than anytime in history.
Do you mean to say a bigger percentage of the population plays chess now then ever? If so how would we know this? Has there ever been an estimate on what percentage of people in the world play chess? Is there one now?
We can discuss the darkness, people don't play chess, or light candles and invite people to play. Know a friend, cousin, uncle who used to play: invite them. If everyone who reads this post invites 10 people over the next 6 months it will make a difference. But chess is not for everyone and neither is kickboxing. I invited every relative on my reunion list to log on Chess.com and play me.
Invite people to play. The chess darkness will recede.
PS. I did not tell my relatives they had to give up video games or kickboxing to play chess.
Anytime, go to ICC and count the active players, then go to FICS, then to Yahoo, then to every other live chess site, then to every turn-based site (like this one) and total up the number of players actively playing at that particular time. At almost any given point, day or night, you'll find thousands, sometimes tens of thousands people playing chess. But that's just those playing a game of chess at that particular point in time. Count the registered members at all these sites - nevermind, you would never have time for that....
Chess, for most people, on the internet is barely 10 years old. Before then, does anyone think that 1000's of chess games were being played during every minute of the day and night??? Even less than a century ago, the average person couldn't even afford a chess set, let alone play chess... and if he happened to, finding a partner was an other matter. We've had boons and droughts in chess throughout the years, but absolutely nothing like what we have currently. If, at this very moment, I desire to play a game of chess, I'll be playing a game within 15 secs. Try that back in 1972.
I'm talking about in America, but even in places where chess has been highly regarded, the amount of chess that was played, and the ease of finding a partner, was nothing compared to today.
From my perspective, that chess is more popular today isn't even debatable, number-wise, percentage-wise or any-other-wise.
Neither one could win a game of chess. I'd say the game would end in a draw.
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