24-10-2012, 07:38 PM
Andy Howie Wrote:There are two things that are near certanties. One is that we will rise the grant in the near future, the other is that the UK will finally recognise chess as sport along with the majority of the rest of the world.
I always laugh when people say we will get next to no money. We get next to no money at the moment so losing next to nothing is not as severe as losing over 100k as happened to the ECF when they lost theirs.
There is a major push by fide to get chess into the Olympics and as Stewart Ruben reminded me of the other week, it was a demonstration sport at the Sydney games. With Agon on board you are going to see chess on tv more and more. I've heard what they have planned for the candidates in March and if they pull it off it will be special.
Here is something to throw into the mix. With chess as a sport, clubs renting from councils will find that their rents will decrease and in some cases will be nil. Lanarkshire don't charge rents for junior clubs. Who would benefit from that?