World Chess Flotation

[John Sellen]

From the Telegraph today

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... on-market/

I am not sure what the history is behind this

Here is the original article

https://news.sky.com/story/checkmate-fo ... n-12460677

[JustinHorton]

Executives are said to believe that the growing global popularity of the sport, with 600m people now estimated to describe themselves as chess players

I know what the history behind this is.

[John Sellen]

"I know what the history behind this is."
Thanks Justin
Can you elaborate please. Maybe there are old threads I have missed

[Matt Mackenzie]

Its a statement with basically zero evidence, but which has now become unchallengable received wisdom for many.

Justin has indeed examined it a great deal in the past.

[Roger de Coverly]

From two years ago
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=9869&p=237508&hili ... on#p237508

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/ ... -flotation

From the Guardian article

World Chess still has the commercial rights to Fide’s Grand Prix series, but it is seeking to broaden its revenue streams. New products planned include merchandising, a new form of competition chess more suited for broadcast, in which draws are impossible, dubbed “Armageddon chess”, and even “World Chess clubs” in major cities around the world such as London, New York and Berlin. The clubs will sell cocktails and cater to “hipster” chess players, said Merenzon.

At the same time, the company is trying to develop a €25 (£21) per year online chess platform. Merenzon said a contract with Fide means the platform will allow users to earn points in online games that could count towards an official Fide world ranking.

World Chess is also developing software to detect cheating using artificial intelligence techniques, working with companies linked to one of its backers, the venture capital firm Prytek, Merenzon added.

[John Sellen]

Thanks Roger
You have answered my question
I have now gone back through old threads and there are are indeed a lot of posts on this topic

[NickFaulks]

The 600m claim is only one trivial problem with this article.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"The clubs will sell cocktails and cater to “hipster” chess players, said Merenzon."

It's difficult to find words... Actually, it wasn't, but I can't put them here.

[IM Jack Rudd]

Cocktail-drinking hipsters is certainly a target market, and possibly an underserved one within the chess community. I'd be interested to see how that goes.

[Kevin Thurlow]

I imagine there will soon be an ECF Director of Chess for Cocktail-drinking Hipsters.

[Roger Lancaster]

Let's analyse this at a basic level. There's a logical argument that chess needs money, money needs sponsors, sponsors need an audience of attractive customers, "cocktail-drinking hipsters" are more attractive customers than those who consider £100 annual club subscriptions to be exorbitant.

[Stephen Westmoreland]

Any boost is a good boost I suppose. Are hipsters still a thing?

'The 21st-century hipster is a subculture (sometimes called hipsterism) that is defined by claims to authenticity and uniqueness yet, ironically, is notably lacking in authenticity and conforms to a collective style. The subculture embodies a particular ethic of consumption that seeks to commodify the idea of rebellion or counterculture. Fashion is one of the major markers of hipster identity. Members of the subculture typically do not self-identify as hipsters, and the word hipster is often used as a pejorative for someone who is pretentious or overly concerned with appearing trendy or fashionable in a non-mainstream way

Stereotypical fashion elements include vintage clothes, alternative fashion, or a mixture of different fashions, often including skinny jeans, checked shirts, knit beanies, a full beard or deliberately attention-grabbing moustache, and thick-rimmed or lensless glasses.[7] The subculture is broadly associated with indie and alternative music. In the United States, it is mostly associated with perceived upper-middle-class white young adults who gentrify urban areas.'

A good target audience to be honest.

[John Upham]

The 600m claim is only one trivial problem with this article.

What, in your estimation, is a more likely figure?

[NickFaulks]

The 600m claim is only one trivial problem with this article.

What, in your estimation, is a more likely figure?

Why are you asking me? As indicated, I regard the question as pointless.

[JustinHorton]

What, in your estimation, is a more likely figure?

What in your estimation is yours?