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Money in chess
#22
I think I can clear up the influence of one key variable! Big money prizes attract almost all titled players, most of the time, and ambitious, higher-rated untitled players. Even though there aren't really very many (if any) truly (or at least solely) "professional players" in Scottish chess, they will still turn out most for big prizes. These have, of course, slumped dramatically in real value terms since the heyday of the (often very well-sponsored) UK weekend circuit in the 1970s and perhaps also through the 1980s.

It would be a more interesting use of stats to get a truer fix on that decline. It's easy to do (but might take a bit of time to do properly) on the basis of data amassed historically by the Treasury as well as other open access data provided by various other government and non-government bodies.

Empirical evidence!? Speak to the likes of Mark Hebden and Keith Arkell (the latter recently told me that he can hardly remember when he last could be bothered to play in a UK weekender), both of whom will confirm that weekend events no longer matter so much to them as the potential for economic gain has declined.
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