I came across a nice chess site while looking at the English newspaper, The Times Online. They seem to have an excellent chess section run by no other than Raymond Keene. Double click on the header to this post or on the following web address to access their web page.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/games_and_puzzles/chess/
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Bad Chess Marketing
It would seem that we are living our lives presently amidst a media frenzy. Advertising and advertising revenue appear to be both the drivers and the benefactors of this modern day circus. Everything remotely popular from celebrity scandals to indoor bowling to natural disasters have been blown up and window-dressed to fuel this media facade, that is everything it seems except chess.
I among many others do not like what the advertising industry is doing but if chess is to become a more popular spectator sport then the chess world will have to take advantage of everything it offers in this realm.
And what does it have to offer ?
1. It is one of the most popular games in the world.
2. It is one of the oldest.
3. It is extremely cheap to play.
4. It is a perfect sport for todays interactive internet world.
5. It has a history of colorful players and characters.
6. With a good commentary, and lets be honest if the game is speeded up several times, it is very enjoyable to watch.
7 It fits in well in a population that likes to analyse and think.
Many people would like to dismiss the last point but if you look at the success of crossword puzzles, poker and bridge, and you see the success of the history channel, national geographic, pbs and the discovery channel, it is evident that besides being able to be totally enthralled with a good movie, people also regularly like something to stimulate their minds.
What this means for chess is that the game is missing out on a huge untapped market and opportunity to become more popular. Look how huge poker became both onscreen and off once it started being televised more regularly. As everybody knows if you want to make something more popular it has to be on TV.
If you look at the FIDE website and compare it those of FIFA or the NBA you can see that it is basically drab and boring and lacking imagination. Unfortunately this is reflective of how world championship level chess has presented itself since the Fischer - Spassky match, with a couple of exceptions.
Strange to think that the future of the world's oldest and most popular games has been put in the hands of people with little or no imagination.
The present powers in the chess world are either not trying to get chess properly televised or are not being successful. In some countries we are lucky if we see the moves of a world championship game printed in a newspaper. They need to hire executives from other sports who have already been successful in this venture. Why re-invent the wheel. Once media executives are properly shown how popular chess could be as a spectator sport, there should be no stopping chess getting a lot more media coverage provided they are allowed to use their media skills and not told how everything should be done by those who know a lot about chess and obviously nothing about publicity.
If the above path is taken then perhaps in a few years chess will be as popular onscreen as off.
I among many others do not like what the advertising industry is doing but if chess is to become a more popular spectator sport then the chess world will have to take advantage of everything it offers in this realm.
And what does it have to offer ?
1. It is one of the most popular games in the world.
2. It is one of the oldest.
3. It is extremely cheap to play.
4. It is a perfect sport for todays interactive internet world.
5. It has a history of colorful players and characters.
6. With a good commentary, and lets be honest if the game is speeded up several times, it is very enjoyable to watch.
7 It fits in well in a population that likes to analyse and think.
Many people would like to dismiss the last point but if you look at the success of crossword puzzles, poker and bridge, and you see the success of the history channel, national geographic, pbs and the discovery channel, it is evident that besides being able to be totally enthralled with a good movie, people also regularly like something to stimulate their minds.
What this means for chess is that the game is missing out on a huge untapped market and opportunity to become more popular. Look how huge poker became both onscreen and off once it started being televised more regularly. As everybody knows if you want to make something more popular it has to be on TV.
If you look at the FIDE website and compare it those of FIFA or the NBA you can see that it is basically drab and boring and lacking imagination. Unfortunately this is reflective of how world championship level chess has presented itself since the Fischer - Spassky match, with a couple of exceptions.
Strange to think that the future of the world's oldest and most popular games has been put in the hands of people with little or no imagination.
The present powers in the chess world are either not trying to get chess properly televised or are not being successful. In some countries we are lucky if we see the moves of a world championship game printed in a newspaper. They need to hire executives from other sports who have already been successful in this venture. Why re-invent the wheel. Once media executives are properly shown how popular chess could be as a spectator sport, there should be no stopping chess getting a lot more media coverage provided they are allowed to use their media skills and not told how everything should be done by those who know a lot about chess and obviously nothing about publicity.
If the above path is taken then perhaps in a few years chess will be as popular onscreen as off.
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