Why are Chess Clubs Dieing?

I recently was answering the surveys and ran up on the question "How do you most enjoy playing chess? ". 60% answered that they prefered "OTB - In person so I can meet a real human on the other end!"

If this is true why are so many chess clubs dieing? Is it that while we prefer to play OTB we are to lazy to go to a chess club, or is it that chess clubs are not giving us what we want, and what is it that the chess clubs can give us to get us there?

The answers to this would be of interest to directors of chess clubs everywhere.

Chris

here on L.I have to travel

Idk, i personally dont go to a chess club because i cannot drive yet.. when i ddo i will go every week,

but some people dont go because they dont have time, or just not interested in chess clubs, only tournaments.

Idk why more people dont go, but it would be cool if there were lots of poeple, but then sometimes i would like a nice private chess club with 4-6 people, well all can become good friends and we all jsut talk the whole time, have fun, play soime games, learn some stuff :)

Btw its dying*

 I agree..

 everything in the world now is for money.., they dont care if they ruin everything, they just want money.. Greedy Bastards.

 If i owned that organization i would make everything decent (especially in this economy) and i would advertise chess etc.., these guys havent got a clue how to help promote chess.

All i have to say is, gold diggers.

I agree that the USCF has become more and more ineffectual, but the local chess clubs need not be affiliated with the USCF -- only supported by the local players. The local chess cllubs in the Tampa/St.Petersburg area have followed the USCF in fawning over scholastic chess, and while I agree that this is imortant I don't like being ignored while chess clubs (and the USCF) grab mommy and daddys money because they charge entry fees and only have to give out trophies. Why teach the next generation the joys of chess only to drop them when they grow up.

I am 12 years old and our school has a chess club but almost nobody goes to it, including me. the reason for this is, if any kid is caught by his peers in chess club he is considered uncool and unpopular. that is the reason kids chess clubs are dieing.

Looks like you're hanging around the wrong peers.  If they can't accept you for who you are, they don't deserve to be your friends anyways.  Why not do something you enjoy if the only bad consequence is rejection by people that aren't true friends?

In response to the OP, Americans, in general, have gotten lazier.  Unless they are playing in a tournament, they don't have much incentive to just drive to a bookstore and play chess when they could sit in their lounge chair and play online.

 The seniors are ignored everywhere in chess is my experience. The kids get all the attention ( yes, without bringing in new players chess would eventually die off, what wouldnt ? ) and guys who have been playing for decades get ignored. A huge majority of the kids that take up chess quit within a few years for various reasons. Where adults that play into their senior years tend to play and support chess until they die. Is it fair ? I think not but I am a senior now and biased ofcourse. I am certainly not in favor of ignoring the kids, they are the future, but I am in favor of having a little more balance and not ignoring the adults/seniors. Afterall, its not the kids coughing up the dough..... lets not forget.

My chess club experiences have had two problems which are tied together and feed into each other:  very few people there in the first place, so interest in continuing to go died off.  Playing the same 3-4 people can sometimes get old, especially if you have the second problem I had.  The second problem was no even competition.  The people at the club either beat me mercilessly or were total novices trying to get started, so I could whip them.  There was some cooperation and attempts to teach weaker players, but some people just wanted to play.

I remember in the US having to pay USCF for membership, and the state org as well, and entry fees ofcourse. If I joined a local club there were also "dues" to be paid. After moving to Europe I only pay entry fees which are a LOT less than in the US with much bigger cash prizes and for more than just the top 2 or 3. I have been a member of several clubs in Lisbon, never had to pay any dues at all and the clubs pay my fees to be affiliated nationally and with FIDE so I can play FIDE rated games/events. Another thing I like here is that a tourney with say 100 players isnt split up into 3 or 4 sections by rating. They may have a prize or 2 for under 2200, under 2000 etc but they all play in the same group. This means that an 1800 player will not win as much money as a top pro just because he finishes first under 2000 or something like that. If he wants to win the big prize (first overall) he has to beat those top players ! I like this system better as the system in the US discriminates against the stronger players imo.

Chess is not a  popular game.  In the US, a country with a population of 300 million: (1) the USCF has about 80,000 members, and (2) Chess.com has about 400,000 US members. That's a very small fraction of the population.

I live in an area of 30,000 people, and the local chess club, which is free, has 20 members (that number includes people who only attended once).  On a good night, three or four people attend the once-a-week meeting.

I think that response #8 says it all.  If you cannot interest younger people, chess club membership will decline.

Chess clubs in Bristol have been dieing out as some teams use to have 6 teams and only have about 2 or 3 now. Now that there is online chess ... more people are perhaps becoming addicted to that and preferring it to OTB chess?  It just needs a boost and some extra publicity and finding people at a young age. I work at a school and I run a chess club and i work hard to get people to come along and publicise it and include prizes as encouragement. I am confident thought that it will pick up again but perhaps the economical situation (particularly in Britain) is taking its toll ... as travelling to away games etc .....

Maybe OTB chess will eventually die out completely? Morphy must be turning in his grave...what are we doing to the beautiful game?

There is an informal chess meeting at a restaurant that I used to go to, but don't anymore. Apparently there were some people there most evenings, but I only went weekly.

I stopped going because:

- I had a 40 minute drive to get there

- Most players wanted to play Blitz, whereas I prefer longer time controls

- Many players there were rated many hundreds of points above me and I got beaten mercilessly. There were very few regulars at my level.

- Online chess is cheaper and I can sit on my butt at home :-) Plus get a much wider variety of opponents.

It's true though, nothing beats the experience of playing "physical" chess, as opposed to "metaphysical" chess.

I think they're dying for the same reasons newspapers are dying. There are more alternatives than ever before, and adult chess clubs aren't maintaining critical mass. There are more ways to play chess than ever before, the biggest probably being online sites and better and cheaper computer chess games. Several people I know play computer chess regularly, but would never consider going to a tournament or club.

The USCF has certain unique problems these days, particularly the back and forth lawsuits among the directors. That forced a rise in tournament and membership fees at the same time people had more and cheaper alternatives.

My kids, 4 and 6, are playing in tournaments now. They'd have been happy just playing against the computer, but I insisted, as I'm sure many other parents have, that if they want to play, they can interact with real people instead of staring at a screen. So scholastic OTB chess is much easier to sustain than adult OTB chess -- there are more benefits to it at the younger age. The USCF is probably correct to emphasize it.

Internet is changing the world in many ways, including chess...

12 is a tough age and peer pressure is enormous.  But you need to ask yourself if its more important to you to be seen as "cool" or doing something you enjoy?

There are two chess clubs in my area that I am aware of.  One is about a 30 minute drive and the other is in St.Louis and it has great facilities.  Again it is at least 40 minute drive.  I work and have a family.  My time is limited like everyone elses.  To attend I am looking at least one hour of my time driving.  I can use that time to play online and if the family needs me I can take a short time out and come back.  If the weather is bad the computer is not affected.  I can still play no matter how hard it rains, snows or if there is ice on the road.  I can communicate with many players all over the world online and am limited to the same 10-20 players at the club.  I am not complaining about them because they are great but the experience is limited.  For me it mainly time management and world experience. 

I have to go all the way to Sanfransico to play at the Mechanics Club on Tuesdays and thats 40 minutes away and Im lucky!  I hear of people who have to go to places hours away.  To me the problem is the chess clubs are always in inconveniant places.  I go to another club 30 min. away on Fridays.  So thats what 2 OTB games every week?  I hate that theres no place to just hang out and play a few blitz games.  Im 13 years old and I consider myself pretty good and my last few years I was lazy.  I thought I would be good from playing one game a week.  I thought because I was young in a few years I would be the best.  But now I see I need to work to be the best.  Now I spend 3 hours a days working hard to be the best.  Maybe someday I can actually be the best or at least a great player like Reb or Ozzie.

I live in a town of 14,000 and we have a chess club 1 mile away from me which has 25 members, of whom nearly 20 turn up weekly.

Admittedly, at 24 I am by far the youngest member.

When I mention Chess.com to friends they look at me like I am crazy.  well ok I am but what can you do