wrote in message
...
On Feb 16, 12:47 pm, "Chess One" wrote:
An interesting chart circa 1977 allows the following figures for

Region; population [in 1,000s] , chess players [in 1,000s], titled players
[masters and GMs]

USSR 250,900 4,180 84

Eastern Europe [7 countries
126,900 209 168

USA 212,900 50 39

Western Europe [15 countries
328,500 153 103

Source: Fide and Arpad Elo. Caveat [Elo's] not every country provides
reliable data.

In the same set of references* there is a figure for 1950 when the title
systems was first standardised by Fide, there were 27 grandmasters, and 94
masters. By 1977 there were 157 grandmasters and 355 masters.

Phil Innes

* Chapter, "The Sedentary Sport 1914-1980", title; Chess, The History of
the
Game. Author Richard Eales.

What percentage of the chessplayers, compared to the rest of the
pouplation, molest children?

**A relatively small amount, by all public accounts. Still and yet, messing
with children is a very increased activity in the USA.

Perhaps we need an OPERATION ROUNDUP to lock up all of the child
molesters invovled in scholastic
chess!

**Too late if they already molest childrden. Far better to divert the
idiotic drug screening to background screening of chess teachers. But that
is an untouchable topic, since it actually has an effect, whereas the drug
thing just hustles after money and status for Olympics, premumably for
burocrats themselves since Olympics are amateur - and which willfully
associates with a drug-soaked culture.

**Background screening is, as far as I can see, the most cost effective
means to achieve a certain yet imperfect result. It is utterly ignorned by
chess burocrats, and wannabees - all of whom have gone deaf since to the
issue, since they too would need to pass such a test. And that is the state
of our game as burocrats play it.

**Just as I ask Sam Sloan to comment on opening up USCF - which he spent a
whole year promulgating, but who now is deaf to the issue - and just as Rob
Mitchell asked Sam Sloan if he would support and encourage the issue, and
was banned for it.

**That is chess politics for you. It is, needless to comment overmuch,
nothing to do with the welfare of chess players.

Phil Innes

Marcus Roberts