mpaetz wrote:
The former Soviet Republics do still have the greatest number of GMs.
China and India are closing in.
Is chess a sport? Ending the debate
Sort:
Ziryab wrote:
mpaetz wrote:
The former Soviet Republics do still have the greatest number of GMs.
China and India are closing in.
Probably because they have the most population. Quantity or quality?
Mar 11, 2024
0
#1844
Just noting that the USSR treated chess like other sports, with school programs, hundreds of local clubs, and (most importantly) paid positions for those earning master status.
Russia population 144 million, 364 GMs
USA population 332 million, 89 GMs
India population 1.4 billion, 82 GMs
So? How about Russian war dead in Ukraine 1236354485953? It's an authoritarian regime and producing chess GMs is how they attempt to assert themselves.
When you have so many GMs in an authoritarian regime, it's exceptionally easy to produce more GMs by fixing results. Russia was known to do that. As for being sporting, hands up who thinks that Russia is essentially a sporting sort of country?
You can't produce an argument by statistics, when the statistics can be explained in a different way so that's a bad argument.
I can have a proxy play chess for me. I could be on the phone, and you could be sitting at the table, making the moves I tell you to make.
Therefore not a sport.
If it was a sport, I could coach you over the phone. 'throw a fast-ball' for example. But the effectiveness of the throw is up to the skill of the thrower.
'play Pdf8' requires no skill from the person moving the piece, anyone can do it.
Game, not sport.
not that there's anything wrong with that...
Mar 12, 2024
0
#1848
Optimissed wrote:
When you have so many GMs in an authoritarian regime, it's exceptionally easy to produce more GMs by fixing results. Russia was known to do that. As for being sporting, hands up who thinks that Russia is essentially a sporting sort of country?
When so many people in a nation play chess it's only natural that the great talents will be discovered. When a society rewards success at chess players are more likely to pursue a career in chess.
The idea that the USSR had so many GMs because they rigged results is ridiculous. Will you tell me that was the reason Soviet GMs were so weak they always bombed out of world championship competition so early? Or that the USSR never did well at chess Olympiads?
I have said nothing concerning superiority/inferiority of any political, social or economic system. I only noted that the Soviet program of chess in schools, widely available competitive chess clubs, and remunerative careers fot masters resulted in a great chess boom, and the benefits spread worldwide through raising the level of play.
Yes, that's also partly true.
is the idea that the Soviets design and build entire buildings tailor made for their athletes to cheat on drug tests ridiculous?
why can't Russia participate in the Olympics?
continuedkrombopulos22 wrote:
Skipped ahead too far... Why Is this thread so long? Kraken, already said everything that needed to be said. Everything else is just repeating the same thing..
No he didn't. That would depend if you agree with his bias towards it being a sport. The idea that chess is a sport is promoted by self-interested parties. Sporting bodies certainly don't have "expertise" to define chess as a sport. The only thing he was right about was perhaps that we won't agree.
ex-drinker wrote:
is the idea that the Soviets design and build entire buildings tailor made for their athletes to cheat on drug tests ridiculous?
why can't Russia participate in the Olympics?
They are a bad country.
It is a ... board game
Optimissed wrote:
ex-drinker wrote:
is the idea that the Soviets design and build entire buildings tailor made for their athletes to cheat on drug tests ridiculous?
why can't Russia participate in the Olympics?
They are a bad country.
Also their Athletes used performance enhancing drugs
Mar 13, 2024
0
#1856
Johnnytheglizzygobler wrote:
Optimissed wrote: ex-drinker wrote:
is the idea that the Soviets design and build entire buildings tailor made for their athletes to cheat on drug tests ridiculous?
why can't Russia participate in the Olympics?
They are a bad country.
Also their Athletes used performance enhancing drugs
See Ivanov. The performance enhancing drugs some Russians used was vodka.
Johnnytheglizzygobler wrote:
It is a ... board game
saying chess is just a board game
is like saying money is just paper
or uranium is just rocks
mpaetz wrote:
Optimissed wrote:
When you have so many GMs in an authoritarian regime, it's exceptionally easy to produce more GMs by fixing results. Russia was known to do that. As for being sporting, hands up who thinks that Russia is essentially a sporting sort of country?
When so many people in a nation play chess it's only natural that the great talents will be discovered. When a society rewards success at chess players are more likely to pursue a career in chess.
The idea that the USSR had so many GMs because they rigged results is ridiculous. Will you tell me that was the reason Soviet GMs were so weak they always bombed out of world championship competition so early? Or that the USSR never did well at chess Olympiads?
I used to think that you sort of semi-inhabited the real world. Why's it ridiculous? I thought that not only is it non-ridiculous but also, it's a known fact.
I have said nothing concerning superiority/inferiority of any political, social or economic system. I only noted that the Soviet program of chess in schools, widely available competitive chess clubs, and remunerative careers fot masters resulted in a great chess boom, and the benefits spread worldwide through raising the level of play.
Johnnytheglizzygobler wrote:
It is a ... board game
Hurray.
Can we have you as our spiritual leader pretty please?
Skipped ahead too far... Why Is this thread so long? Kraken, already said everything that needed to be said. Everything else is just repeating the same thing..