(Nick) wrote in
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"ian burton" wrote in message
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I have never understood the obsession of people to make chess "popular."
It's a game for two people that brings great joy to all who appreciate it.
Do I need to see it played in an stadium with tens of thousands of
spectators to enjoy it more? No.

I concur with your sentiments about chess (in spite of a troll's recent
vehement insistence in the RGCP thread, "Sportsmanship and pre-arranged
results", on his alleged close analogy between chess and American football
as sports today).

With regard to appealing to casual spectators in being able to appreciate
the games, one significant difference between chess and, say, American
football, is that a chess game, unlike a football game, lacks a scoreboard.

When some non-chess-playing spectators have approached me while I was playing
chess in some public places, there's been a rather common dialogue like this:

X: Who's winning?
I: It's unclear now.
X: What do you mean? Can't you tell who's winning?
I: Not yet, the game has hardly emerged from the book opening.
X: You mean to say that you know how to play chess, but you can't even
tell who's winning? Then you can't know too much about chess.
I: And how could you know that?
X: It's obvious. At a sports stadium, everyone always can know who's winning.
All you have to do is to look at the scoreboard. Doesn't chess have
something like that too?
I: Not quite like that.

Actually, in a global context, chess evidently never has been more popular
than it is today, given the recent awakening of interest in China and India.

Yes, I deeply sympathize with the greats at the top for not being able to
make a decent living from their art and their love. But I also realize the
same holds true for millions of musicians, painters, and similarly gifted
people around the globe. I don't think painters, to take one, are desperate
to have their works shown during the next Olympics.

What gives with so many chessplayers?

I suspect that many chess-players may seek some cultural validation that
their pursuit is worthwhile (apart from the personal enjoyment that it may
bring to them) by hoping for a wider recognition of its social status
(such as chess events on television) among the non-chess-playing public.
--Nick