Loss of Grant

[Andy Howie]

http://www.farleigh.com/2013/chess-playe...k-a-punch/

Discuss??

I actually don't think this kind of title helps. If we are to make Chess more mainstream then we must challenge the myth that it's a game only played by "nerds". From a branding and marketing point of view, that's a really poor way to make the game more appealing to the masses. Very few people want to be associated as a nerd. Boys will relate it to being bullied and marginalised, and girls will not want to risk the social stigma attached with hanging around a bunch of nerds.

I believe we need to look at successful examples of what is making Chess appealing. Take the world number 1 at the moment. He is referred to as a "genius", with some kind of eidetic memory. He's also fashionable, physically fit and loves sport. That's the kind of image we want to associate Chess with, and it's doing wonders for the world of Chess.

But I disagree with Ian. I do not think that we should go down the "Chess is a sport" route. I think that's an admission that we are not confident in the benefits of Chess, and so we associate it with sport to raise its profile by somewhat artificial means. By the time you have convinced the masses that Chess is a sport, you'd have already long convinced them that it's uniquely different from sport, but nonetheless enjoyable and with numerous benefits that few sports could ever bring about. So my view is that we should play to the strengths of Chess, and market it as such; rather than trying to make it fit a mould that doesn't do it justice.

Whether we agree with this or not, Chess has been defined as an Olympic sport for some time.