Chess is a Hobby
To be played for personal enjoyment.
A friendly wager between the two participants? - Good stuff !
Promotors/Organizations (FIDE in particular) looking to profit from players/observers are all Crooks. Very few have displayed a true interest in promoting chess, only their own gain. (Of course, a few exceptions are out there.)
There should be no place for profiteering from chess.
I agree with you. So why are you on this site? With its tournament imagery of chess pieces with money floating in the air around them and pay subscriptions it's all about Ty he money here.
I think CC invests in promoting the spirit of chess. A few individuals are making a profit, but I don't view this or other online chess sites as the root of the issue. (Paying for online services is not the issue.)
Rather it is greedy promoters, who offer Big money for hobby players, organizations as FIDE who sole existence is based on membership dues, offering nothing in return for the common player.
With proper chess education, our great pastime would be embraced worldwide. Instead we find those seeking to make monetary profit at our expense.
A post reiterated "money makes the world go round." I am not naïve. It's just unfortunate that too often it makes chess go round. (It would not be possible without the cooperation of the masses, who play this game often for all the wrong reasons.)
I am aware of efforts in Europe at promoting chess. As well as the Saint Louis CC in the U.S. Perhaps a few progressive people can change the atmosphere. However, I do not agree with offering huge prize monies to draw attention. Rather the merits of the game should stand alone.
A tough sell.
I think CC invests in promoting the spirit of chess. A few individuals are making a profit, but I don't view this or other online chess sites as the root of the issue.
Rather it is greedy promoters, who offer Big money for hobby players, organizations as FIDE who sole existence is based on membership dues, offering nothing in return for the common player.
With proper chess education, our great pastime would be embraced worldwide. Instead we find those seeking to make monetary profit at our expense.
A post reiterated "money makes the world go round." I am not naïve. It's just unfortunate that too often it makes chess go round. (It would not be possible without the cooperation of the masses, who play this game often for all the wrong reasons.)
[Please don't advertise competitor sites in our forums - thanks!
David, moderator]
CC offers many more services than elsewhere. If anyone is interested and can afford the expense, they have that option. At one time I was a paying member here, when it was not as commercialized. Perhaps CC will attract my few dollars in the future if they provide features I'm willing to pay for. But that is not the point of the thread, which is taking entries, fees to support a few and returning little to most.
Maybe members can relate good things happening in their chess community. Help to spread the good will.
So you're saying all the global chess tournaments and everything that entails, including a governing body to run and regulate it, doesn't cost money to sustain and should be run solely on a volunteer basis?
I did not say any such thing. Point to where I advocate maintaining the status quo?
Be careful about putting words into peoples mouths, especially when you completely misinterpret my comments.
Advocating for "volunteers" to maintain a failed system/policies is ludicrous. The culture of offering huge prize money, especially for amateur, hobby players and organizations as FIDE, whose sole interest is to pay their own salaries through corruption, is what needs to be eliminated. (Not supplemented with volunteers.)
This can only be achieved by education and the general chess public not believing "money makes chess go around."
One mans crook is another mans capitalist.
You appear to "accept" this culture as inevitable. So it is as long as it is tolerated. My opinion is that this attitude is detrimental to the spirit of chess. It is the primary reason chess is not perceived as favorably as it could be by most people who do not play our great game.
Indeed, there are capitalists in chess. Some are "crooks" because they pocket monies above expenses. This in of itself is not objectionable, except when they are advertising just the opposite.
Take the time to read my solutions. Clearly presented. Change the culture. Take away the big bucks being offered to amateurs by promoters is a start. The only way this will happen is by education.
The scourge of chess is cheating. How did it start? The lure of winning big $ for hobbyists. Besides the obvious, we have players entering tournaments under false pretenses, sandbagging ratings. All to win money. Promoters can only survive by support of entries. After 3 tries, Millionaire Chess threw in the towel, damaging the spirit and image of chess.
Can the culture be completely changed? Unlikely. Certainly, the more people who understand why they play, will help change the publics perceptions (from experience is generally a negative one.)
When it comes to elections, throw all the bums out. Voting for the lesser of two evils is a dead end.
Why so hard on money? Money is just a thing. A person’s attitude toward money and/or their desire to exploit chess (or anything) to make money is which spoils the game, if the game is considered spoiled.
Imagine a person spends two hundred hours crafting a board and 32 intricate pieces. Now this person charges 1,000 for this board and 125 for each piece. Is this person also ruining the game?
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the ruy lopez, haven't seen that since today and yesterday and every game everybody ever plays; the pic is about right tho since they're already 40 moves into a theoretical endgame
So the guy's name is RA'S?
Ra's al Ghul is his full name.
@batgirl would surely be interested...
the ruy lopez, haven't seen that since today and yesterday and every game everybody ever plays
lol
(It would not be possible without the cooperation of the masses, who play this game often for all the wrong reasons.)
oh brother...
OK brother … I can tell of how $ has disrupted, changed the pure intent of the game. After all, it is but a board game. A game of passing. To be played socially as means of entertainment. It is not indictive of intelligence or being "smart" as too many claim.
$ has changed the stakes. Instead of entertainment, it has become bragging rights.
Answer -
Money
bane noun (1)
\ ˈbān \
Definition of Bane
1a. obsolete : KILLER, SLAYER
b : POISON
c : DEATH, DESTRUCTION
d : WOE
2 : a source of harm or ruin : CURSE