Chess's decrease of popularity

to many times? :-)

It should be "Second," and also,

"According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy in the USA, the percent of illiterate persons over 14 in 1920 was 6%; in 1950, 3.2%; in 1979, 0.6%.  "

if it matters. I can't find any other errors, can you?

The sentence, "According to the Huffinton Post, in the past 10 years, there has been no significant change in the literacy rate in the US. " is awkward, I suggest "According to the Huffinton Post, there has been no significant change in the literacy rate in the US in the past 10 years. "

hmmm....I sort of like awkward sentences. It's like having equal but unbalanced positions in chess.

I was just talking to a friend about the "good ol' days" (pre-Fischer-Spassky) and how, in this little area in upstate New York, there were chess clubs in every town.  One even had two clubs going, one for 1st shifters and another for 2nd and 3rd.  You can't find a club now in these same towns, and even the local colleges don't have chess clubs.  There are more people who play chess now, but we also have the internet, and I think the net killed the clubs.  It's too easy to log on and play, rather than to travel and socially interact.  Even the tournaments I play in show a decline in attendance.  I think the popularity of chess is doing fine, it's the participation of players that is declining. 

Awkwardness is underrated.

Im 14 and most kids my age play video games and such all day. I occasionally use my xbox but i would much rather play a game of chess than Call of Duty or something. I play at a chess club every friday night and i love it.I just wish people in my family played so i don't have to deal with dissconections and rude players on this site.

[Troll mode on] Theirye're ........ Problem solved....

Maybe OP's question should have been ... is there a decrease of popularity in face-to-face chess now there is on line chess available?

Crap thread.

I teach chess after school 3 days a week in 2 different schools. I sponser the kids to a tournament at the end of every semester.

And I secretly envy those kids like you would not believe, because when i was a kid, back in the 60's....I looked up and down and far and wide to find someone else who even knew how to play. Unsuccesfully. Despite learning how to play at about 7, and almost immediately reading chess books...my first tournament was not until I was 16, due entirely to a lack of oppurtunity.

And now? OMG. The kids I teach go to tournaments with hundreds of other kids! Not 50, not 10, not 5, or even 1 (I would have loved to find one opponent in my elementary school years)

Hundreds? I would have shot kittens in cold blood to be at a tournament at my school with hundreds of players. Or any number at all besides zero.

Why is chess so popular nowadays, anyway? Why wasnt it as popular when I was a youngster, and could still imrpove at a rate faster than a glacier moving uphill?

I may relent just a bit on my initial reaction and response to this post, especially as it concerns the US. Short article entry on fide.com stating this year's Candidates Tournament popularity up over last year's.

http://goo.gl/EeTqdW

He proposed Chess 960 because of "Draw Death" which essentially means that chess would be solved and we'd have to move on to varients in order to break the cycle.

30 years later and the best of the best Chess Computers still have 50% or less draws against each other, and aren't even close to breaking 80% win/draw record. Meaning that even the top computers aren't even close to playing "perfect" chess yet and there is still a ways to go.

If "God" was to play a best of 12 against Houdini he'd still win 12 out of 12 games. As for Human chess? Magnus Carlson would be lucky to win a match against top computers with draw odds while always playing White. 

I think people watch too much TV.  Perhaps we should teach our children that great Americans play chess.  Actors such as John Wayne, Wil Smith, Humphrey Bogart, and so many other actors.  It is a game that require 50 percent logic and 50 intution.  It is a game that will be play in a thousand years.  DonJur35

You still have not addressed the comments of many members here who criticised the reasoning of your post.

johnmusacha, I normally do not post to blogs/discussion board mainly due to the tendency of some people to resort to third grade playground bullying, name calling, etc. This thread is no exception (although to a relatively lesser degree than others).

Nonetheless, my response to the original topic was only a result of my personal experience and opinion, not driven by hard data. Therefore, I was expecting to be criticized to the extent that open discussion boards do. I will, however, take exception to the post that took issue to my possible hypocrisy on status symbols due to the Florida State logo on my avatar. I take pride in my alma mater; I wear FSU gear because I attended, you wear your school colors because you went to Wal-Mart J

I am pleasantly not-too-surprised to hear posts to the contrary of my opinion (i.e. vast youth tournament entries). I think the benefits of scholastic chess not only extend to the classroom but to life in general. You don’t have to be smart to start playing chess, the characteristics and manner of the game MAKE you smarter!

I live in a somewhat “mixed depressed” area where the divide between the rich and poor is very clearly defined. I live in southern Michigan near a lake that has multi-million dollar homes (the Notre Dame head football coach has a summer home four doors down from me; VERY big money) and then walk a half mile in any direction from the lake and you will see decent lower class homes next to some fairly dilapidated ones.

Point is: my initial post originated in the bubble I live in. I belong to a chess club that meets in a Meijer store twenty miles south in Mishawaka, Indiana within the employees/open public break area! The influence of chess in my area is nil. I would love to start some sort of chess club/meeting place here but (as you can see from my online rating!) I don’t think I have enough knowledge about the game to do it the justice it deserves to introduce to young people that have no experience with it. If someone knowledgeable in the game and with organizing a club could assume a leading role, I would love to help facilitate (physically and financially) an endeavor into this beautiful game.

Yes, thank you.  Quite clever on the Wal Mart crack. (cue eye roll).

It's a bit gauche to brag about how your college makes you superior, but then again you probably didn't know that, since you went to State college rather than where I went, which, trust me, holds a lot more weight than FSU.  But on a serious note, why did you go to FSU from out of state?  You must have been on an athletic scholarship, no?  That's pretty cool if you were.

But back to your original comment, you still never explained why you felt like encouraging kids to play sports and care about their appearance rather than play chess is a bad thing.  As a parent, wouldn't you want you children to stay physically fit, learn teamwork and sportsmanship, and date the pretty girls in school, or would you rather they be out of shape greasy nerds pushing wood in the back of your local Revco or wherever you were describing.

It hasn't featured in the last few James Bond films.

That'll give the perception in spite of unrivaled online chess participation.

Chess is exploding in popularity here.  Elementary school chess clubs have been overwhelmed.  Local stores have to keep chess boards locked behind plexiglass like meth precursors and cough medication to thwart would be thieves.  The streets are littered with discarded score sheets and dead batteries from chess clocks.  The city counsel passed a resolution requiring permits for simultaneous exhibitions due to all night chess parties getting out of control.  Kasparov refuses all invitations saying, "I'd rather rot in Putin's jail then face those chess fanatics in Boone, Iowa!"  The other day someone was knifed over a score sheet discrepancy!  I for one hope chess popularity decreases, won't someone please think of the children.

I recently watched a chess movie called Life of a King about motivating youth to participate in something useful.  There's also a movie in the works about the Fischer/Spassky Match(1972).  Maybe chess isn't as popular as I would wish but it is still popular to a degree.  Or else they wouldn't be making films about it.