Rich Hutnik wrote:
Talk of restructuring, and potentially going under, borrowing money
from FIDE in order to stay afloat and make their payments to continue
to be a member?

People are speculating the Chess Federation of Canada may be going
under. I am seeing other stories regarding FIDE and the U.S Chess
Federation also (although it isn't as bad). [...] If a game can't
support an organized association for it, it is going to have a hard
time being sustainable.

What advantage does membership of an organization like the CFC confer?
I can play chess for free and get a rating on the internet. I can
read chess websites for articles and information. I can play against
people face-to-face by joining a local club and/or being lucky enough
to have friends who are interested in the game. Here in the UK, I can
play in OTB tournaments and get a rating from the ECF for a small fee
per game that's included in the tournament entry fee. (ECF members
typically get a discount on tournament entry that I believe slightly
more than covers the rating fee.)

Do any other sports require amateurs to join some kind of national or
regional association as a condition for taking part in competitions?

The falling membership of national associations doesn't particularly
concern me. The associations just don't seem to be relevant to even
the regular tournament player, let alone the average guy who likes to
play the occasional game of chess against his friends or online.


Dave.

--
David Richerby Flammable Tree (TM): it's like a tree
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ but it burns really easily!