Why an American will NEVER be a World Champion

What will be will be.  The ability to visualize spacial relationships (the chess board and the chess pieces) is at best difficult to learn.  If you are born with this ability then you have the advantage over those who are not born with this ability. 

Also, some of us have both excellent short term and long term memories (I am not including myself among such a group).  I am talking about both remembering patterns (strategies and tactics) and moves (openings, endgames).

Individuals who with these abilities have a good chance of becoming excellent at whatever they decide to study.  It does not matter whether you are born in the USA.

by american do you mean REAL americans (like native americans) or people born in the us?

cheater_1...............I'm wondering if you write these to make a point you think interesting or to try and stir up an argument?

but other than that..............I agree with most you say about how lazy we are and how easy school is.........I"m currently a senior in high school who in the first 2 months of school has done less than an hour of homework at home and has a 4.0 right now............however I do think that we will have another champion someday because all it takes is one person to go against the odds and overcome all that to succeed..........1 out of 300 million! it will happen one day......

also I must say you are a great writer I couldn't help but laugh about your description of the american dream

Hmm, as I read through this forum I find myself asking one question. 

What am I going to do about it?

It is clear that there are problems rampant in my town, my state, my country, and frankly nowhere in the world is everything fine and dandy.  I am spending a bunch of time reading through several people's points-of-view and many times we want to point our fingers at something.  Like "This is the source of my grief, this is the catalyst that causes much of our problems, or that is why people don't do something with their lives." Well, frankly I want to stop looking "out" for a problem and start looking "in" for a solution.  "What am I going to do about it?" I think that is the best place to start.

 You are right about this, that why we shouldn't be blaming on our parent or others.

The world will change, one good deed at a time. Just the next right thing.....

For the first time, I completely agree with everything Cheater_1 has said.

hmmm.don't know.

From my pedagogic point of view I did enjoy to read this post that much.

The actual social problem in the USA is a very complex one but I do still believe in miracles. Next 4th of november you'll be able to make the difference.

Great post and thanks for share.

This is blasphemy.  Don't listen to this troll.

For those that say they agree with cheater1...are you saying you agree with a randomized statement that is supported by generalized assumptions that had no relevance to the original assertion? To agree with opinions expressed in the post in one thing, but to feel they in anyway supported his argument is simply puzzling.

Yep, I agree with the opinions, as usual though his arguments are a tad obtuse.

This topic has generated some GREAT comments. THIS IS WHY I POST. Many agree with what I've said (I'll bet it was hard to force themselves to do so), and some disagreed just to disagree. Like I said before, if you want the "what is your favorite opening move?" read someone else's post.

For once, there has been some real-life experiences from people (like how easy it is to BREEZE through the US school system). When I was in school in the 80's, I had to struggle just to make a 2.5 GPA. Now they're dishing out A's like there's no tomorrow.

Here's a problem I encounter EVERYDAY (as long as we're listing personal experiences). Graphic designer is one of the many hats I wear. Of course, I excel at what I do and am a mentor for others who are struggling. One of the programs I use is ILLUSTRATOR (a program to create art/technical drawings). I am one of the oldest people in my department (mid 40's) and the people who always come to me are in their early 20's. I would say that a full 75% of the people DONT KNOW how many degrees are in a circle. They have been out of school for only a couple of years and dont know how to divide a circle up into 6 equal parts. 360 divided by 6 is 60. Each pie shaped section has a 60 degree angle at the center point. And from personal experience, ALL OF THEM would have needed a calculator to divide 360 by 6. Also, you wouldnt believe how many have trouble reading a ruler. I get stuff like "its 4 and....and.....4 little lines......what's that....4 and 4 eighths?" Believe it or not, I dont rip them to shreds like I would here. It's much harder to berate someone when then can claw out your eyes. But I try not to roll my eyes and try to supress my smirk and say its 4 and a half inches. When I try to teach them the proper way to read the ruler I get the occassional "Thanks DAD". OUCH!!!!! that one hurts.

Either this is how it is with the majority of High school graduates, or I just work with a half dozen MORONS. I am from the midwest remember, maybe we're just dumber and fatter here, I dont know.

He's not necessarily saying that the U.S. absolutely cannot (even though he says NEVER) produce a chess champion.  It's a matter of a vast probability that everything he says is true, and without a change for the better, it WILL NEVER HAPPEN.  I totally agree with his post.  Regarding the education system:  I'm a lazy slob (but not fat.)  There, I said it.  I'm intelligent enough to have gone through all of HS RARELY doing my homework or studying at all, and I managed to carry a 3.42 GPA.  I found out the hard way that my lack of a study ethic was a major problem once college rolled around.  Even I couldn't get by without studying or doing the "assigned" homework.  I love to attain knowledge, I just truly hate the generic ways of attaining it.  If it was possible to download it all, I'd be in great shape. :)

Edit:  I didn't mean it that way, but maybe I hit the nail on the head there.  The internet (that wonderful thing we are using to read this post) has made us lazy.  I don't know why it doesn't seem to be affecting the rest of the world.  Maybe Bill Gates is such a genius that he strategically planned the internet to checkmate our laziness with his sinister ideals.....

Well you're definitely right about students nowadays using calculators as a crutch. Personally I excel at math and am thinking of either being a math or econ major. Mental math is not something that troubles me (within reason, I'm no Gauss or Euler though). I've tutored some of my friends in high school, and they'll be almost finished with the problem, and get 5x = 65...and they reach for the calculator and its all I can do to not scream. 

Jesus, how many times must I post on this stupid thread? How well someone plays chess has NOTHING to do with how intelligent someone is. Nothing to do with how well they did in school. There is NO correllation. Nada, Neechivo, Zero.

And Paul211, chess simply does not pay the bills. Being a world champion chess player means nothing if you come home to nothing. In the U.S. you can't afford the study time neccessary to develop to a world class player. It is not something Americans strive for. It's like me saying China should have tons in baseball players in MLB even though China does not care about baseball, simply because they have a large population. Chess is not that popular here...as a whole.

paul121 is just a silly person :(  we would need another person with similar circumstances like bobby fischer, as well as being a genius, to get another world champion probably.

The successful first heart transplanted was in American by an American.  I can keep going ....

Ok am totally disagree with your statement. "what follows is entirely true", usually such statements are considered false or opinioned such as yours. So as far as I'm concerned your claims are not true but extremely biased. Also you should change your title because there has been an American world champion, not never. Claim number 1: You say that America contains mostly obese people. I would have to agree with that, but you also said that these people lack discipline, control, and focus. Wow another biased statement. Can you believe it? I my self know obese people that are have all three of those characteristics as well as some of them or none at all. Now you say people without these characteristics never become world champion. Now have you heard of Ceasar Millan from the National Geographic channel. Well he was very connected to dogs in his home town in Mexico and he developed a bit of antisocial ness, but then he moved to the city and anger emerged. Now if you know who he is, you can tell that his life has turned completely around.

a list of accomplishments.

Awards and nominations

In 2005, the Humane Society of the United States Genesis Award Committee presented Millan with a Special Commendation for his work in rehabilitating animals.

In 2006 and 2007, Millan's TV Show

Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan on the National Geographic Channel was nominated for an Emmy

for Outstanding Reality Program.

In 2006, Millan and his wife Ilusion were awarded honorary membership in the

International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP).[6]

In 2007, Millan was awarded the Michael Landon Award for Inspiration to Youth Through Television.

[7]

In 2008, Millan was recognized as a "Treasure of Los Angeles."

[8]

In 2008, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan won the award for TV Best Variety or Reality Show at the 23rd Annual Imagen Awards.

You can also find some philanthropy here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceasar_Milan

continue to next post

This is just a list of his accomplishments. Now he may not be American, but this show just how someone without control can turn his life around. Second Claim: We( meaning you and other American buts not me and also some other Americans.) have a sense of entitlement. How many claims are you going to make that are negative and only apply to a group of people? All that does is ruin your argument. You know my dad was umm, dont really want to say it but, well he had some bad complications with the hospital while he was being treated for his pancreatitis ( where enzymes created by your pancreas are blocked and they start to digest the pancreas), but we decided not to sue. So yet again this does not apply to all Americans. Also some us American have learned to be patient. My family has been waiting for my dad to get on permanent disability for years and it still has not been put through.

Third claim: American as a whole are not smart. OK wow you just admitted to that being a generality. WOW. So in other word, some of the American are smart. Now children being neglected is another story. Some parents don't have time to do so first of all, and some parent even give up their children. Now if you know anything. Getting an education in America is not the only way to become famous, well liked or even become a good person overall. This also links into your fourth claim, that American care more about sports than education. Since education is only one option to obtain a goal, people will look others to get what they want. I personally don't care much for sports, but I still play them for fun. Does that make me bad? No, actually it also prevents me from becoming obese. So your claim that's sports are bad in a sense is bad, since your first claim is that obese people make America bad. Sports help prevent this.

You seem to have a high value for education. Did you know that even Bill Gates didn't even finish college? You know from society to society values change, as do the ways that people achieve fame. In China scholars were highly presented, yet merchants were regarded lowly. Then came along Zheng He, an admiral who brought great wealth to china. Then the scholars got jealous and destroyed all sea vessels and even destroyed the trading records. Because of this Europe ended up dominating the world. AS you can see there are other ways than just education to make a living and show power than through education.

I'm sorry but pessimistic people such as you diminish America's chances at such rewards because they do not belive in themselves. Unlike you I have self confidence and don't pity myself because I live in America. I will not say that because I am an American I can do nothing. You know what I may not become a chess champion because that is not the field I wish to pursue but I will make darn sure I will try my hardest. Of course a lot of America is as you described but not all, so NEVER is one heck of a term to be using. Your argument has way to many flaws to be correct. Besides your argument is one sided. I admitted that America contains many people, looking to earn and easy buck ,make an easy living, whether lazy or obese. But you cannot dismiss the people out there who actually try, and believe in themselves.

Guess what the education system has done good for me, a fifteen year old boy, who destroyed your claims. You may think I am young and stupid but I think you will find many people will agree with me.