I don't get the whine about chess not making enough money

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dk-Ltd

I constantly see ppl whining about how hard it is to make a living playing chess and then if you look for a teacher you will some crazy rates, which you never see in other professions, like mathematics.

 

Players who are just around 2000, ask more money that an English or Mathematics teacher. GM rates are astronomical and on top of that they can sell books, tutorials and general chess aiding material over the internet. I honestly don't want to offend anyone, but it just puzzles me, the whine and also, how much money can someone make by seriously playing a game. Just saw a GM from a country with an average monthly salary of 200$ for 2016, ask around 60$ per hour. With only 10 hours of work per month he could make 600$, triple the average and if he worked almost full time, lets say 35 hours per week, then he could make 35*4*60=8400, 42 times his national average and be extremely rich and live a life that most of his fellow citizens could only dream of.

 

It seems to me like chess is a very lucrative option for a living, especially if you don't live in US or other very wealthy countries.

 

Which I applaud, since I really like chess, but I don't get the whine and why I see in threads posts suggesting that you will live in poverty, if you choose the chess path.

andrewnox

You're assuming the GM gets ten students a month...

The fact of the matter is that in tournaments, the prize money usually isn't that great unless you win, and only 1 person gets to win (or more in joint-first, but then the prize money is split). So, unless you're winning all the tournaments, your income from playing chess isn't that great (okay, unless you're in the top 10 players in the world).

 

That's why so many chess players have to supplement their income by teaching, or creating YouTube videos and training DVDs. Even then, you're living off sales in a niche market with a lot of competition. 

dk-Ltd

That is my point, that if they work they are paid really really well.

 

But maybe they just want to earn money by only playing in tourneys? That could explain the whine. But there much money to be made, like in no other game that I can think of. Even players as low as 2000 can make money. We are talking for many thousands of players.

andrewnox

Like I said, you're assuming the GMs all have loads of students each, and that their DVDs/Books sell loads of copies. They probably don't. 

kindaspongey

Possibly of interest:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/can-anyone-be-an-im-or-gm
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kids-fight-stereotypes-using-chess-in-rural-mississippi/
http://brooklyncastle.com/
https://www.chess.com/blog/smurfo/book-review-insanity-passion-and-addiction
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/26/books/books-of-the-times-when-the-child-chess-genius-becomes-the-pawn.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2017/05/05/making-a-living-in-chess-is-tough-but-the-internet-is-making-it-easier/#4284e4814850

https://www.chess.com/news/view/is-there-good-money-in-chess-1838
"... Many aspiring young chess players dream of one day becoming a grandmaster and a professional. ... But ... a profession must bring in at least a certain regular income even if one is not too demanding. ... The usual prize money in Open tournaments is meagre. ... The higher the prizes, the greater the competition. ... With a possibly not very high and irregular income for several decades the amount of money one can save for old age remains really modest. ... Anyone who wants to reach his maximum must concentrate totally on chess. That involves important compromises with or giving up on his education. ... it is a question of personal life planning and when deciding it is necessary to be fully conscious of the various possibilities, limitations and risks. ... a future professional must really love chess and ... be prepared to work very hard for it. ... It is all too frequent that a wrong evaluation is made of what a talented player can achieve. ... Most players have the potential for a certain level; once they have reached it they can only make further progress with a great effort. ... anyone who is unlikely to attain a high playing strength should on no account turn professional. ... Anyone who does not meet these top criteria can only try to earn his living with public appearances, chess publishing or activity as a trainer. But there is a lack of offers and these are not particularly well paid. For jobs which involve appearing in public, moreover, certain non-chess qualities are required. ... a relevant 'stage presence' and required sociability. ... All these jobs and existences, moreover, have hanging above them the sword of Damocles of general economic conditions. ... around [age] 40 chess players ... find that their performances are noticeably tailing off. ..." - from a 12 page chapter on becoming a chess professional in the book, Luther's Chess Reformation by GM Thomas Luther (2016)
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/LuthersChessReformation-excerpt.pdf