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Countries where chess are most popular?

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Avatar of whr42
whr42
Dec 2, 2013
0
#61

There are more chess.com members from india and the USA

Avatar of watcha
watcha
Dec 3, 2013
0
#62

This is the improved toplist of countries having more than 1000 registered players. The country names were resolved with the help of chess.com member Scottrf.

Rank Country Code Country Name Registered Players
1 IND India 35396
2 FRA France 35364
3 ESP Spain 31947
4 RUS Russia 28599
5 GER Germany 27287
6 TUR Turkey 13217
7 POL Poland 12187
8 GRE Greece 11958
9 ITA Italy 11919
10 IRI Iran 10459
11 USA United States 10074
12 CZE Czech Republic 8390
13 HUN Hungary 8115
14 BRA Brazil 7533
15 SRB Serbia 6217
16 UKR Ukraine 5725
17 SVK Slovakia 5026
18 SRI Sri Lanka 4940
19 COL Colombia 4926
20 NED Kingdom of the Netherlands 4886
21 BEL Belgium 4619
22 ARG Argentina 4603
23 DEN Denmark 4565
24 CRO Croatia 4547
25 AUT Austria 4541
26 ROU Romania 4506
27 ENG United Kingdom 3950
28 POR Portugal 3922
29 SUI Switzerland 3177
30 SLO Slovenia 3133
31 PER Peru 2988
32 ECU Ecuador 2742
33 VEN Venezuela 2725
34 SWE Sweden 2711
35 MEX Mexico 2571
36 EGY Egypt 2551
37 BUL Bulgaria 2401
38 AUS Australia 2380
39 CHI Chile 2343
40 NOR Norway 2207
41 CAN Canada 2091
42 CUB Cuba 2062
43 PHI Philippines 1834
44 LTU Lithuania 1804
45 MAS Malaysia 1773
46 RSA South Africa 1746
47 SIN Singapore 1722
48 ISR Israel 1627
49 GEO Georgia 1470
50 AZE Azerbaijan 1457
51 BAN Bangladesh 1437
52 CHN China 1414
53 DOM Dominican Republic 1367
54 KAZ Kazakhstan 1361
55 UAE United Arab Emirates 1344
56 VIE Vietnam 1257
57 FIN Finland 1223
58 ISL Iceland 1212
59 NEP Nepal 1130
60 BLR Belarus 1042
61 BIH Bosnia and Herzegovina 1041
Avatar of Irontiger
Irontiger
Dec 3, 2013
0
#63
watcha wrote:

This is the improved toplist of countries having more than 1000 registered players. The country names were resolved with the help of chess.com member Scottrf.

Rank Country Code Country Name Registered Players 1 IND India 35396 2 FRA France 35364 (...snip...)

I wish to warn that the list might have some glitches depending on the practices of the federations. For instance, in France, there is no distinction between your national rating and your FIDE rating, which makes that all players with a national ratings have a FIDE rating. I'm not sure this is the case in the US, GB, etc. and might affect the interpretation.

EDIT : What ringed a bell is that France appears second while Great Britain isn't even mentioned, when the population is similar and the cultural proximity should make for similar numbers.

Avatar of watcha
watcha
Dec 3, 2013
0
#64
Irontiger wrote:
watcha wrote:

This is the improved toplist of countries having more than 1000 registered players. The country names were resolved with the help of chess.com member Scottrf.

Rank Country Code Country Name Registered Players 1 IND India 35396 2 FRA France 35364 (...snip...)

I wish to warn that the list might have some glitches depending on the practices of the federations. For instance, in France, there is no distinction between your national rating and your FIDE rating, which makes that all players with a national ratings have a FIDE rating. I'm not sure this is the case in the US, GB, etc. and might affect the interpretation.

Thanks for your remark. I don't know what methodology Fide uses to compile the players list. For example it seems that the list contains more players with ratings than the official rating distribution chart would suggest ( this may be due to distinction between active / non active players, or to the factors you mentioned, I have no clue ).

Nevertheless this is the best publicly available data I'm aware of for estimating the level of chess activity in worldwide comparison on a popular level rather than an elite level.

If anyone has sources which provide objectively measurable data related to chess activity ( rather than anecdotal evidence ) please come forward.

Avatar of watcha
watcha
Dec 5, 2013
0
#65

This is the per capita top list of registered players of countries with more than 50 players. It is interesting that Iceland is first on this list too and Monaco has a high rank meaning that there is something going on in this country about chess apart from that single grandmaster they have.

 

Per capita registered players of countries with more than 50 players
Rank Country Population Registered Players Registered players per capita ppm
1 Iceland 321.9 k 1212 3765.6
2 Palau 21.0 k 74 3531.2
3 Monaco 36.4 k 62 1704.7
4 Slovenia 2.1 M 3133 1524.2
5 Greece 10.8 M 11958 1105.7
6 Barbados 274.2 k 302 1101.4
7 Andorra 85.1 k 92 1081.3
8 Croatia 4.3 M 4547 1061.2
9 Montenegro 625.3 k 592 946.8
10 Slovakia 5.4 M 5026 928.9
11 Brunei 415.7 k 368 885.2
12 Serbia 7.2 M 6217 865.1
13 Hungary 9.9 M 8115 816.2
14 Denmark 5.6 M 4565 814.8
15 Czech Republic 10.5 M 8390 798.0
16 Luxembourg 537.9 k 420 780.9
17 Spain 46.7 M 31947 684.0
18 Lithuania 3.0 M 1804 610.3
19 Austria 8.4 M 4541 539.7
20 France 66.0 M 35364 536.2
21 Botswana 2.0 M 980 482.9
22 Estonia 1.3 M 612 475.7
23 Sao Tome and Principe 183.2 k 84 458.6
24 Norway 5.1 M 2207 433.1
25 Belgium 11.0 M 4619 418.5
26 Latvia 2.0 M 836 415.3
27 Switzerland 8.0 M 3177 396.4
28 Malta 452.5 k 172 380.1
29 Portugal 10.5 M 3922 374.0
30 Germany 80.5 M 27287 338.9
31 Bulgaria 7.4 M 2401 326.0
32 Georgia 4.6 M 1470 322.7
33 Poland 38.2 M 12187 319.1
34 Singapore 5.4 M 1722 318.9
35 Kingdom of the Netherlands 17.0 M 4886 286.8
36 Armenia 3.3 M 929 284.8
37 Sweden 9.6 M 2711 283.7
38 Cyprus 1.1 M 312 279.3
39 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3.8 M 1041 274.6
40 Trinidad and Tobago 1.3 M 366 271.8
41 Suriname 566.8 k 143 252.3
42 Sri Lanka 20.3 M 4940 243.6
43 Finland 5.4 M 1223 225.6
44 Romania 20.1 M 4506 223.9
45 Macedonia 2.1 M 432 209.9
46 Uruguay 3.3 M 677 204.0
47 Israel 8.1 M 1627 202.1
48 Italy 59.7 M 11919 199.7
49 Russia 143.6 M 28599 199.2
50 Cuba 11.2 M 2062 184.6
51 Ireland 4.6 M 845 184.0
52 Ecuador 15.2 M 2742 180.1
53 Moldova 3.6 M 625 175.6
54 Costa Rica 4.6 M 805 175.5
55 Turkey 75.6 M 13217 174.8
56 Maldives 328.5 k 56 170.5
57 United Arab Emirates 8.3 M 1344 162.6
58 Azerbaijan 9.4 M 1457 155.7
59 Dominican Republic 9.4 M 1367 144.7
60 Iran 77.2 M 10459 135.5
61 Chile 17.4 M 2343 134.6
62 Ukraine 44.9 M 5725 127.6
63 Colombia 42.1 M 4926 117.1
64 Jordan 6.5 M 728 111.8
65 Argentina 41.7 M 4603 110.5
66 Belarus 9.5 M 1042 110.2
67 Australia 23.3 M 2380 102.3
68 New Zealand 4.5 M 449 100.5
69 Peru 30.5 M 2988 98.0
70 Mongolia 2.9 M 276 94.5
71 Venezuela 28.9 M 2725 94.1
72 Lybia 5.7 M 520 91.7
73 Bolivia 10.5 M 938 89.7
74 Kazakhstan 17.0 M 1361 80.2
75 Liberia 4.1 M 329 79.7
76 Turkmenistan 5.1 M 370 72.2
77 Nicaragua 6.1 M 425 70.0
78 Jamaica 2.9 M 199 68.9
79 Albania 2.8 M 191 67.7
80 Fiji 858.0 k 55 64.1
81 Paraguay 6.8 M 432 63.5
82 Panama 3.7 M 232 63.4
83 Malaysia 28.3 M 1773 62.6
84 United Kingdom 63.2 M 3950 62.5
85 Canada 35.2 M 2091 59.5
86 Quatar 2.0 M 107 52.6
87 Tunisia 10.8 M 527 48.9
88 State of Palestine 4.3 M 204 47.9
89 Kyrgyzstan 5.6 M 264 47.6
90 Zambia 14.3 M 631 44.1
91 Bahrain 1.2 M 54 43.7
92 Nepal 26.5 M 1130 42.7
93 Brazil 201.0 M 7533 37.5
94 Mauritania 3.4 M 124 36.9
95 South Africa 53.0 M 1746 33.0
96 United States 317.2 M 10074 31.8
97 Kuwait 2.7 M 84 31.2
98 Iraq 31.1 M 958 30.8
99 Egypt 84.5 M 2551 30.2
100 India 1210.2 M 35396 29.2
101 Namibia 2.1 M 59 28.1
102 Algeria 37.9 M 866 22.8
103 Syria 22.5 M 503 22.3
104 Honduras 8.2 M 184 22.3
105 Mexico 118.4 M 2571 21.7
106 Uzbekistan 30.2 M 647 21.4
107 Philippines 98.7 M 1834 18.6
108 Angola 18.5 M 344 18.6
109 Vietnam 90.4 M 1257 13.9
110 Zimbabwe 13.0 M 154 11.9
111 Tajikistan 8.0 M 95 11.9
112 Yemen 23.8 M 240 10.1
113 Bangladesh 150.0 M 1437 9.6
114 Guatemala 15.4 M 136 8.8
115 Morocco 32.9 M 265 8.1
116 South Korea 50.2 M 391 7.8
117 Thailand 66.7 M 386 5.8
118 Uganda 35.9 M 195 5.4
119 Sudan 30.9 M 129 4.2
120 Madagascar 22.0 M 83 3.8
121 Kenya 44.0 M 143 3.2
122 Afghanistan 31.1 M 91 2.9
123 Nigeria 174.5 M 414 2.4
124 Indonesia 237.4 M 533 2.2
125 Japan 126.7 M 198 1.6
126 China 1350.7 M 1414 1.0
127 Pakistan 182.5 M 102 0.6
128 Ethiopia 91.2 M 55 0.6
Avatar of watcha
watcha
Dec 5, 2013
0
#66

The same list for countries with more than 1000 players:

Per capita registered players of countries with more than 1000 players
Rank Country Population Registered Players Registered players per capita ppm
1 Iceland 321.9 k 1212 3765.6
2 Slovenia 2.1 M 3133 1524.2
3 Greece 10.8 M 11958 1105.7
4 Croatia 4.3 M 4547 1061.2
5 Slovakia 5.4 M 5026 928.9
6 Serbia 7.2 M 6217 865.1
7 Hungary 9.9 M 8115 816.2
8 Denmark 5.6 M 4565 814.8
9 Czech Republic 10.5 M 8390 798.0
10 Spain 46.7 M 31947 684.0
11 Lithuania 3.0 M 1804 610.3
12 Austria 8.4 M 4541 539.7
13 France 66.0 M 35364 536.2
14 Norway 5.1 M 2207 433.1
15 Belgium 11.0 M 4619 418.5
16 Switzerland 8.0 M 3177 396.4
17 Portugal 10.5 M 3922 374.0
18 Germany 80.5 M 27287 338.9
19 Bulgaria 7.4 M 2401 326.0
20 Georgia 4.6 M 1470 322.7
21 Poland 38.2 M 12187 319.1
22 Singapore 5.4 M 1722 318.9
23 Kingdom of the Netherlands 17.0 M 4886 286.8
24 Sweden 9.6 M 2711 283.7
25 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3.8 M 1041 274.6
26 Sri Lanka 20.3 M 4940 243.6
27 Finland 5.4 M 1223 225.6
28 Romania 20.1 M 4506 223.9
29 Israel 8.1 M 1627 202.1
30 Italy 59.7 M 11919 199.7
31 Russia 143.6 M 28599 199.2
32 Cuba 11.2 M 2062 184.6
33 Ecuador 15.2 M 2742 180.1
34 Turkey 75.6 M 13217 174.8
35 United Arab Emirates 8.3 M 1344 162.6
36 Azerbaijan 9.4 M 1457 155.7
37 Dominican Republic 9.4 M 1367 144.7
38 Iran 77.2 M 10459 135.5
39 Chile 17.4 M 2343 134.6
40 Ukraine 44.9 M 5725 127.6
41 Colombia 42.1 M 4926 117.1
42 Argentina 41.7 M 4603 110.5
43 Belarus 9.5 M 1042 110.2
44 Australia 23.3 M 2380 102.3
45 Peru 30.5 M 2988 98.0
46 Venezuela 28.9 M 2725 94.1
47 Kazakhstan 17.0 M 1361 80.2
48 Malaysia 28.3 M 1773 62.6
49 United Kingdom 63.2 M 3950 62.5
50 Canada 35.2 M 2091 59.5
51 Nepal 26.5 M 1130 42.7
52 Brazil 201.0 M 7533 37.5
53 South Africa 53.0 M 1746 33.0
54 United States 317.2 M 10074 31.8
55 Egypt 84.5 M 2551 30.2
56 India 1210.2 M 35396 29.2
57 Mexico 118.4 M 2571 21.7
58 Philippines 98.7 M 1834 18.6
59 Vietnam 90.4 M 1257 13.9
60 Bangladesh 150.0 M 1437 9.6
61 China 1350.7 M 1414 1.0
Avatar of ChuckECheese
ChuckECheese
Dec 6, 2013
0
#67

Great stuff, watcha!

Avatar of Cosmicaly_Religious
Cosmicaly_Religious
Jan 28, 2014
0
#68

Eastern Europe, India, and perhaps some Slavic nations consider chess as their favored sport.

Avatar of ChuckECheese
ChuckECheese
Mar 13, 2014
0
#69
Dead_Assassin wrote:

Eastern Europe, India, and perhaps some Slavic nations consider chess as their favored sport.

I guess Norway is on that short list now too after Carlsen became world champ.

Avatar of Jion_Wansu
Jion_Wansu
Mar 13, 2014
0
#70

You forgot Germany on the short list

Avatar of netzach
netzach
Mar 14, 2014
0
#71

And Scotland. Western Europe is a desert. Surprising since England are historically quite good at the game :)

Avatar of ChuckECheese
ChuckECheese
Mar 14, 2014
0
#72
netzach wrote:

And Scotland. Western Europe is a desert. Surprising since England are historically quite good at the game :)

chess is big in scotland? didnt know that; thought it was same as england and everywhere else in UK

Avatar of netzach
netzach
Mar 14, 2014
0
#73

We prefer football but it gets quite rainy. Then chess, scrabble, monopoly become important.

Avatar of nerdsworth
nerdsworth
Mar 28, 2014
0
#74

Chess is not that popular in Philippines IMO. Not many enthusiasts here, contrary to what some of you say, although many Filipinos do play the game, because as a 3rd world country, a big fraction of pinoys don't have cable tv, internet, etc., so chess is one of their cheap alternatives.

Avatar of deeptak
deeptak
Dec 18, 2014
0
#75

whoever says chess is popular in India is kidding themselves. I cant find people to play OTB unless I join a chess club. Its supposed to be more popular in Tamil Nadu but I havent been there, so cant be sure. Most poeple I know think of chess as any oter board game, like checkers or something. A few seem to know that the game has amazing depth, but dont play it.

Avatar of bluejonz
bluejonz
Jan 14, 2018
0
#76

Women find strong chess men to be sexy

Avatar of chachamf
chachamf
Jan 14, 2018
0
#77

yaaas woman, you are excellent 😍

Avatar of bluejonz
bluejonz
May 1, 2018
0
#78

madagascar

Avatar of tipish
tipish
May 1, 2018
0
#79

deeptak wrote:

whoever says chess is popular in India is kidding themselves. I cant find people to play OTB unless I join a chess club. Its supposed to be more popular in Tamil Nadu but I havent been there, so cant be sure. Most poeple I know think of chess as any oter board game, like checkers or something. A few seem to know that the game has amazing depth, but dont play it.

there is one town in India that everybody is playing chess. I read it somewhere. maybe will give a google

Avatar of the3answerr
the3answerr
May 1, 2018
0
#80

In Turkey too. There is 20k licanced chess player. And people can play chess everywhere in Turkey. I think Iceland learn chess seriously with Bobby Fischer.