Why do Americans place so low in world rankings?

Is it because of our mixed gene pool?

Is it because of our poor diet?

Is it because of our economy?

Scott wrote:

Why do Americans place so low in world rankings?

Do they? If so, I'd guess it has more to do with number of total
players, players per capita and lack of government support than
anything else. Chess as a professional sport doesn't pay off as well
monetarily as football or baseball. Becoming a professional chess
player might not be an intriguing career option in the US, compared to
Russia or China.

Claus-Juergen

It is primarly because most adult Americans are not willing to live on
$25,000 per year (if that much). U.S. chess players are not subsidized like
they are in many other countries. I'm amazed there are as many good
American chess players as there are! Just getting to IM level requires an
enormous amount of time playing and studying. After working 8-10 hours per
day, I don't know how most folks do it.

"Claus-Jürgen Heigl" wrote in message
...
Scott wrote:

Why do Americans place so low in world rankings?

Do they? If so, I'd guess it has more to do with number of total
players, players per capita and lack of government support than
anything else. Chess as a professional sport doesn't pay off as well
monetarily as football or baseball. Becoming a professional chess
player might not be an intriguing career option in the US, compared to
Russia or China.

Claus-Juergen

The reason why you sniveling, slimy, troll is that WE JUST AIN'T GOOD
ENOUGH!!!! HAPPY! HUH! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW!!!!!

EZoto

No, this is an honest question. Why is it that the best, most
dedicated, smartest, skilled, educated, American-born and raised chess
players do not make it far up the ladder in the big FIDE European
tournaments but players from all over the world come to American
tournaments such as at Foxwoods and the World Open and destroy us?

-Scott




"Neil Brennen" wrote in message hlink.net...
"Scott" wrote in message
news
Why do Americans place so low in world rankings?

Is it because of our mixed gene pool?

Is it because of our poor diet?

Is it because of our economy?

Is it because of silly trolls named Scott?

"Scott" wrote in message
news
Why do Americans place so low in world rankings?

Is it because of our mixed gene pool?

Is it because of our poor diet?

Is it because of our economy?

Much, I believe, has to do with our booming economy. American chess
players were at their best during the Great Depression, when work was hard
to come by. One thinks immediately of Fine, Reshevsky, and Kashdan, with
Horowitz not too far behind.

Today, too, those who are interested in problem solving can earn a good
living by turning to computer programming, a profession that did not exist
in the past.
--
Ian Burton
[Please Reply to Newsgroup]

It's because we don't respect chessplayers or support them financially.

You'd have to give them the copyright to their games before that would
change, or wait for another freak like Fischer who can get good enough to
earn a living before he's 22.



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"Scott" wrote in message
news
Why do Americans place so low in world rankings?

Is it because of our mixed gene pool?

Is it because of our poor diet?

Is it because of our economy?

Scott wrote in message . ..
Why do Americans place so low in world rankings?

Is it because of our mixed gene pool?

No.


Is it because of our poor diet?

No.


Is it because of our economy?

No.


IMO, it is primarily cultural. By that I mean chess is not nearly
as highly valued by the general public in the U.S. as it is in a
number of other countries. Compare chess in the U.S. to Russia
for example. In Russia, you may as well call chess their national
sport (that is, if you can call chess a sport) In the U.S., if you
randomly ask people out on the street about chess, you will get
comments like "I can never follow how the knight moves" that is,
if they even know how the pieces move. Most will not be able to
tell you whether a pawn can promote to any piece, or to only a
piece that has already been captured, and very few will have even
heard of "en passent" capture. The general public in the U.S.
really doesn't care about chess. In Russia, students learn about
chess in school while classes about chess are virtually non-existent
in the U.S. In Russia, the top players get publicly financed so
they can devote themselves full time to chess. In the U.S., the top
chess players have to learn about chess in their spare time after
working all day to earn a living. In the U.S., if a Congressman
tried to pass a bill for publicly funding chess players, people
would react with incredulity wondering why anybody would want to
waste taxpayer money on THAT.

Claus-Jürgen Heigl wrote in
message ...
Scott wrote:
Why do Americans place so low in world rankings?

Do they? If so, I'd guess it has more to do with number of total players,
players per capita and lack of government support than anything else.
Chess as a professional sport doesn't pay off as well monetarily as football
or baseball. Becoming a professional chess player might not be an intriguing
career option in the US, compared to Russia or China.

With respect to the prospect of having a chess career in China, it's worth
noting that GM Xie Jun and GM Zhu Chen (as far as I can recall) both pursued
advanced degrees from Chinese universities even *after* they had become
well-established as among the top women players in the world.

--Nick

In Russia, students learn about
chess in school

Actually, they learn in pioneer groups, which are the rough equivalent of
our cub scouts/boy scouts.