Chess Playing Nations
Sort:
rubygabbi wrote:
I could equally put forth the ludicrous claim that Jews make better chess players since nearly 50% of all the World Champion (and all-time strongest players are of Jewish decent. There is simply no scientific connection.
Ludicrous claim? Or empirical fact? Jews are a mere 0.2% of the worldwide population, yet 1/3 of the world champions and 50% of the top players have been Jews, an over representation of some 165 to 250x. This cannot be explained merely by outsized interest in the game among Jews; besides which, chess isn't a particularly Jewish pastime.
"No scientific connection?" Are you sure about that?
Let's discuss the elephant in the room, IQ. High level chess is not possible for people with low IQ's, I think we can all agree on that, right? Magnus Carlson and Gary Kasparov both have IQ's of 193, only something like 1 in 1,000,000 people have such IQ's.
Ashkenazi Jews (not all Jews) have the highest IQ's in the world, an average of about 115, which is one standard deviation above the average of 100. Each standard deviation is about 10x frequency. On the other hand, many nations in the world have average IQ's of 70, around 2 standard deviations below average. This means that a mere 1 in 1,000 people from one of these nations will have an IQ equaling that of the average Ashkenazi Jew. It also means that the exceptional Ashkenazi (the 1 in 1,000) will have an IQ of 160, which only about 1 in 1,000,000 people from the lower IQ nations would posses.
It is therefore unsurprising that Ashkenazi produce so many Einsteins. 22% of all Nobel prizes have been awarded to Jews, that's an over representation of 112x. Jews have won 39% of the Nobel prizes in economics, 26% of those in physics, and 26% of those in medicine. This is a remarkable feat for a people comprising 1/5 of 1% of the worldwide population!
I recently posted (as per FIDE statistics) a link to the list of countries by FIDE rating, noting that Belize, Grenada, and Niger are tied for last place. The average IQ in Niger is 69, Grenada is 71, and Belize is surprisingly high, at 84. https://new-iq-test.com/iq-by-country/
Now obviously, IQ is far from the only factor, but it is nonetheless a necessary requirement for high level chess, and as such cannot be ignored. There is also the matter of having a photographic memory, or photographic imagination, which all of the best chess players have. Without it, one simply cannot reach the highest levels, no matter how much effort is applied.
Which brings us to effort and interest. Clearly, without these, one can never succeed at chess, or anything else for that matter. Places or communities with a strong chess tradition will have a big advantage over those without one. So there's also that.
But to claim that there is "no scientific basis" to believe that Ashkenazi Jews have an innate advantage in things like chess, is simply unscientific.
Take care everyone, and happy chess playing!
Its either Vatican City because the whole population is priest, or its Equatorial Guinea since it is the country with the stupidest people (IQ).
zStefanutz wrote:
Its either Vatican City because the whole population is priest, or its Equatorial Guinea since it is the country with the stupidest people (IQ).
Romania is a lofty 76th on global rank list of countries with the highest to lowest average IQ just below Bahamas and not too far ahead of Turkmenistan.
As the low point is somalia. They laughed with chess when it was represented. And as the high point it is the pearl island behind west. They laughed with chess logic and french opening in particular!!
Jan 8, 2024
0
#91
I think Japan is probably the worst, but I get what y'all are saying about vatikan city. however, considering how small the population is of this country it is a little unfair to single it out for having little chess player. I think the only fair way to determine the worst country is by finding the percentage of GM per player.
mottsauce wrote:
people already said it: but japan plays Go.
Japan is so unique. The most unique nation I know.
They practice Chinese arts that the Chinese no longer practice.
That's mind boggling.
Cool_Guy131 wrote:
I think Japan is probably the worst,
As people already said, Japan plays Go and Shogi.
I play Western chess the most. I hold it in very high esteem.
Western Chess is up there. Way up there on the podium. It came from Indian chess, but it is balanced and perfect.
But there are contenders for the top.
Western Chess, Chinese Chess, Go, Mahjong, Backgammon
And whatever the Japanese play. Shogi is only played in Japan. But they play it with a seriousness and reverence, like in everything they do. You cannot beat them in their seriousness.
Fromper wrote:
goldendog wrote:
There's nobody to play here in the US, unless you live in one of the few major cities with a Chinatown neighborhood.
You forget Vietnamese.
ShoeMann wrote:
as for south africa, i know very little about this country so someone else could probably figure out the why.
I get my education from YouTube.
South Africa is hell hole.
ReedRichards wrote:
. . . so in this example Russia's chess supremacy is directly related to Government Inceltives...
That's the selling point of "government". Communism. And I mean Communism in the positive sense. In the idea of community, communal, commonality.
But you cannot do it. It is a top down approach. It is the few who take the resources of the people to promote the agenda of the few. It is dictatorial.
It is not democratic.
Capitalism is democratic.
People should choose what game they play.
Who is to say chess is better than cards? You cannot say that. Chess came from India. Cards came from China. Seriously, who can say one is better than the other?
I've never played cards. My prejudice do not make cards any less valuable.
I never played Mahjong. But I think Mahjong is just a good metaphor for life as chess.
Like ballet. The government support ballet. Ballet is fantastic, it is the best. But it is not everything. It is only the king of dance in one dimension, the standing dimension. Breakdancing is king in the ground dimension. Pole dancing is king in the air dimension.
Rhönrad is contender up there too.
People should choose their arts in the free market place, equally. Government should not take money from the public and choose one style of art.
That is the free Capitalistic way.
Crazychessplaya wrote:
To sum up what was already said, and to add some of my own, factors leading to "poor" chess performance per specific country could be:
1) Competition from a similar game with cultural roots in the country (e.g. Shogi in Japan, Xiangqi in China)
Half correct.
It is not a similar game. It is the same game of a different lineage.
Western chess is only one lineage of Indian chess, Chaturanga.
Chinese chess in Vietnam. Where do you see the popularity of chess like this? This is real life, this is not a YouTuber like Botez, who is re-creating this real life.
And who has reverence for chess like the Japanese. They play in a shrine, literally. They play chess religiously, literally.
They do that for all their arts. Karate. A "dojo". We call it a Karate studio, or gymn in the west. "Dojo" is a religious term from Buddhism. It literally means "the place of the way". Originally it is a meditation room in a temple, Grasshopper.
onlyaman wrote:
Making this kind of thread is not very productive. Only thing that will happen is some country will be called either stupid or put down in some form or way and people will be insulted.
It is what it is and lets just leave it at that.
I disagree. Honestly.
What is wrong with calling people stupid? If that is the truth?
Countries are like people.
People, and countries that don't play chess (Western chess, Chinese chess, Japanese chess, etc . . .) are countries that
"Ain't got no home training." to say it in Ebonics.
May 2, 2024
0
#99
onlyaman wrote:
Making this kind of thread is not very productive. Only thing that will happen is some country will be called either stupid or put down in some form or way and people will be insulted.
It is what it is and lets just leave it at that.
its very productive actually knowing which people to abort against and which to play is very useful
Let's get it on.
Russia, Western chess. Everyone knows that.
China, Chinese chess, and Go, and gambling. China invented gambling.
Japan, Shogi, Go. Martial arts.
India, of course, where chess was invented. And Parcheesi.
Europe, Western chess.
North America, American Football. Real chess. Real war game.
The Olympics from Greece.
Backgammon, Egypt.
Nothing comes out of Africa and South America, off the top of my head.
Soccer is universal for its simplicity.
The answer has been on the FIDE website all along. The three countries on the bottom are Belize, Grenada, and Niger, each with and average FIDE of 1000 for the top 10 players. They rank 198th, 199th, and 200th worldwide. St. Kits is 197th with a rating of 1055, Burkina Faso is 196th with a rating of 1066 for the top ten players.
In comparison, the average top 10 FIDE in South Africa is 2281, and it ranks 79th in the world.
Source: https://ratings.fide.com/top_federations.phtml