Why do some say chess is dead? like bobby fischer.

ok sorry i took it personal, just having a bad day.

You start a forum topic , people speak their minds and than you insult them by calling them trolls?

its not off topic. It just needs more explaination. When you compare chess to sports by saying, 'why isn't chess more popular than these?" You are seeking a reason why chess is dead in comparison. My statement is, "chess is nothing like sports." That's the reason.

Chess was never popular until the Bobby Boris match.

It's 2016,  Chess online , live through video, and membership,  has never been more popular.

But at the end of the day it's Chess, knock on your neighbor's doors and ask them how many watched Qatar instead of the end of the NFL season,, it's stronger than ever, it's far from dead, but chess will always only be defined by us.

Chess puts a lot of mental strain on players, and I suppose for most people after a long day at work something strenous is off the table. If you have a 9-5 job sitting in a chair all day, I can understand why spending more time concentrating for entertainment might be unappealing.

Something like basketball and other sports are still popular because of the excitement that people get from it, constant back and forths between two teams, and while in chess, you have to understand the game moderately well enough to know who is dominating a position.

Another big let down of chess could be the high drawing tendencies at the master level, since there is no end-all-be-all in most matches. If you went out to a football game and the score at the 4th qr was 21-21, would you be happy if your team just called it off? There is something to be said when a GM says "I was comfortable with a draw as black".

Theory is another tedious aspect of chess. Novelties used to be like move 10 and onwards, now games can be predicted into the 20th move just by knowing the opening well enough, which is a bit pathetic. "Oh, he played Rfd1 instead of the more accurate Rad1, as you can tell he is in a lost position". (Exaggeration but you get my point).

While the games not 'dead' in my opinion either, I don't think a sit-down game is what most people find entertaining.

why don't we see "STAR TREK" like chess.  Remember in the old 1960s series they played across multiple boards on different levels  (sorta like 3d).   I'm constantly surprised how complicated the game is at its current incarnation, but i'm equally surprised it doesn't have more permutations that have sprung up.  Even sports are constantly tinkering with nuances of their respective games more than ever it seems.   

I assumed after computers finished beating the pants of the very best human chess players in history that the game would enter a slow decline and end up about as popular as pinochle.

I also thought it would decline because the openings were being theoried to death -- as Fischer said.

But I was wrong. Chess is more popular today than it was at the peak of Fischermania.

That said, chess is never going to overtake the Super Bowl. I'll argue chess is a sport but not that kind of sport.

craven: That's a reasonable thought.

I'd say we are tinkering with chess in terms of time controls and no adjournments and the like, but changing chess itself is tough. There are no changes available on par with raising or lowering the pitcher's mound.

Chess, as lutak remarked earlier, has evolved for centuries. I prefer to avoid hyperbole, but I think chess is close to human perfection. You can't really change chess without creating essentially a different game such as 960 Chess or Capablanca Chess (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capablanca_chess).

Why do some say george bush was a good president?!!

BECAUSE THE WORLD IS POPULATED WITH A FAIR NUMBER OF RAGING IDIOTS IS WHY!!

ChastityMoon: Gee and I just said something nice about you.

Who said anything about George Bush?

Sorry, just to illustrate the fact that a lot of people say and do crazy things.    Nothing to be taken seriously.   How can anybody claim chess is dead?  How can anybody think global warming isn't occurring?   How can anybody think smoking cigarettes isn't harmful?  How can anybody think people should serve ten years in prison for possessing/using a little pot?  How could anybody think Lance Armstrong wasn't juiced?

But yer right, better to leave sleeping dogs lie.  Forget I mentioned chimpy Mcflightsuit.

Tell that to Sports Illustrated.   They used to publish articles about it when BF played.   I don't know about since then but once is enough to earn Bona Fides.  

Then again the question used to come up on Jim Rome sports talk radio about whether or not golf or bowling were sports and some maintained anything a fat smoker could be good at wasn't a sport.   Are there any fat smoking chess players who play at the top level?

Sorry, just to illustrate the fact that a lot of people say and do crazy things. 

Chastity: You're sounding pretty crazy to me and how any of that has to do with chess is a big part of it.

I guess I'm supposed to surmise that YOU agree with the proposition that chess IS dead, and are taking offense at my assertion that to think so means one thinks erroneously.   Why don't you just come out and say it?

Chess is dead when we stop playing it. That is all.

Chess isn't dead like Bobby Fischer.