Told you that Carlsen would do absolutely nothing to popularize chess.

Amirite brah?

Now Carlsen. A lot is said that Carlsen is the new face of chess, and you see his pictures on the buses in New York City, like with some kind of modeling for some clothing company and all that, but okay. This is all good to have some recognition there, and it's important, but also Carlsen i think could do much more popularizing chess. He did some good things, you know, with Bill Gates. and now he's gonna to play against Chess.com people. But this thing has to be 'round the clock, too. That's why. Otherwise I agree with you. Why are these people getting the big bucks?

I dont think it's his job to popularize chess for anyone.  Thats a job for FIDE and the USFC and all those other organizations and I dont think they have approched him to do that.  You are right, he is the new face of chess till the next one comes along and they become the new face of chess.  

They are getting the Big Bucks beause people are paying them to do those things and like everyone else in the world he's got bills to pay I'm sure.  When they start looking for ways for him to popularize this game, that's when it will be popularized again. Besides, he's busy at he moment.   Magnus Carlsen, and challenger Viswanathan Anand, to determine the 2014 World Chess Champion. It is being held from 7 November to 28 November 2014, under the auspices of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in Sochi, Russia.

Thats taking up all his time now.  If this doesn't popluarize the game, then I dont know what will.  If he loses then Viswanathan Anand  will be the new Face of chess.  

Chess will never be popularized...regardless what Magnus does.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  

Exactly but where were the sane and reasonable voices such as yours last year when all the fanboys were beating the drum of "Carlsen is so Dreamy, He's gonna make chess cool, OMG, I cant like wait, it'll be like 1972 all over again OMG . . . we are on the cusp of a chess renaissance!"

No theres nothing wrong with that at all......

Exactly but where were the sane and reasonable voices such as yours last year when all the fanboys were beating the drum of "Carlsen is so Dreamy, He's gonna make chess cool, OMG, I cant like wait, it'll be like 1972 all over again OMG . . . we are on the cusp of a chess renaissance!"

Letting them have their say cause no one can stop all the hipe.  It will go on like the newest rock group on the block.  I remember Beatle Mania way back when, then it was bruce lee, then, chuck norris.  Gonna happen and no one can stop it.  You just keep quiet and watch and wait.  I remember when Bobby Fischer was the big thing.  It will go on for each generation till the end of time.   

Just sit back and enjoy watching it all.  It only lasts for a brief time.

I too think that FIDE, USCF, etc. ought to do a better job of promoting chess. All Magnus really has to do is play.

Popularizing chess is a work for the imbeciles at FIDE.  Right now they are way too busy with filthy lucres, but it may happen in the future- who knows?

Carlsen's name keeps appearing in the news. He seems to be the only active chess player anyone who doesn't play chess knows. Most people I know have no clue who Anand is. 

So, Carlsen has indeed managed to make chess more popular than his immediate predecessor. Not much more popular, but at least people know his name.

That's no comment at all about Anand's accomplishments over the board. Anand fully deserves his place in the pantheon of World Champions.

Also, chess popularity should begin in schools. Everyone grows up playing football, basketball, soccer, etc so they like those sports and continue watching them throughout their lives. If kids grew up playing chess (which would really have to be initiated in schools to have any kind of mass effect), and learned to love the game from there, we would create a generation of chess enthusiasts. Plus, learning chess in school has a positive influence on students.

And don't say that won't work because chess is just too boring for the general public--if people only watched sports that were interesting to watch, why wouldn't martial arts or fencing (or even boxing--it doesn't seem that popular anymore) be watched more? It's just because people don't relate to those sports the same way they relate to football and other popular sports.

The thing is that chess is the sole business of FIDE, USCF, etc. What are they doing to promote chess?

To blame the schools, you might as well also blame the parents and even the grandparents.

I been trying to get schools to get chess going for years.  Unlike the other sports like football, basketball, baseball which are considered to be part of the schools ativities, and they bring in money for the schools, chess isnt considered a sport nor does it bring in money for the schools.  You dont see people cheering and buying tickets to a chess tournament.  Nor fans sitting around buying hotdogs and all the other things done at other sporting events.

They have no budget for chess, nor good coaches that can teach it as well as it should be.  It's been a uphill battle all the way.....

As Charles Barkley said: Its not my job to be a role model. 

I also believe it isnt Carlsens job to promote chess.  It would be nice if he would, but its not his job.  Just like all the posts about how "boring" the draw was in game 8...people posting BS like they should be fighting to the death...they should be entertaing the crowd...Thats all ignorance.  Youre playing for the world title, not entertaining people, or showing how tough you are. 

Carlsen is popularizing chess by playing chess.

Nothing now beats the cold war drama of Fischer vs the Russians, be glad.  Chess itself is still viewed with respect and is part of the English language  with end game, stalemate etc commonly used as metaphors.  Computers have the double whammy of replacing chess with other games and outplaying even the best, so it'll never be quite the same again.  Chess will still be around when GTA means nothing though.  Chess isn't for everyone and intrinsically doesn't work as a spectator sport; very few can really understand what's going on at the top level, certainly not me.

It's that simple, when he plays, he's popularizing it.  Other than that, it's not a mainstream sport. 

Ofcourse chess is too boring. In football the general public can easily see the initiatif going from 1 party to another. They can feel the tension and they can see a missed shot at the goal. They can see 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2,3-2. And it was an exciting game. In chess things are hard to see even if you are a 1500 player(like most people). When in chess things are going 1-0, 1-1,2-1,2-2, 3-2? It goes more like 2 hours nothing, then a slight but ever building advantage leading 1-0, 3 hours later. Wich is boring ofcourse.

Somebody once said that football (soccer) is hard to play but easy to understand while chess is easy to play and hard to understand.

IMO chess needs to be made more complicated for this computer age it needs at least one more piece and a bigger board.

Also my idea is to make whites and blacks position different to make the game more asymetrical and create more imbalances on the board.

Lets say a 10x10 board

For example new piece magician whites bishops and knights start at a different square than blacks.

Countless chess variants have been suggested - Capablanca chess, Fischer chess etc, but half the point of chess is it's universality - it's obscure enough already without everyone going off on tangents   Plus how many masters want to lose all the years they've spent memorising variations when the rules get changed! ( that's why the en passant rule was introduced apparently)