Sponsorship question

Who the hell would find it worthwhile to sponsor a chess tournament?

I noticed Bentley was one of the sponsors at Qatar.  They probably sell as many motorcars there as they do at home in jolly old England. 

It is just like any other advertisement. If there are people watching then there are people that will see the advertisements/sponsorship and potentially result in additional revenue. Sometimes it might just be done for goodwill or to be seen as supporting intellectual endeavors.

Before the End of a Tax Year, the Tax Planners are in the hurry to get reductable donations into their Account Books, perhaps ?     

Good suggestion Lauri! It's probably also a good time to speak to potential sponsors about future funding because they will be considering their budgets for the next financial year. Maybe one can combine the two approaches by doing something fairly modest but safely effective towards the end of a tax year and the sponsor, if favourably impressed, may be more amenable to a more substantial deal in the following tax year. It's also crucial they feel they're dealing with fellow professionals, or at least organisations working to professional standards, which can sometimes be difficult for chess organisations asthey are generally run by volunteers.

Intel has sponsored tourneys before. Companies in other countries do it (Tata Steel is an example). Local events sometimes have local sponsors. It happens, though I won't say how hard it is to get it to happen.

Very true Martin.