"Our motto is ‘one billion clever people’."

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_07_20/FIDE-motto-one-billion-of-clever-people/
Just read the above linked article. FIDE President wants to really increase the number of people in the world who know how to play chess.

That’s nice. Hope they stop being organizational idiots while they’re at it.

“One billion cleverer people” is betterer imo.

A more apt title: “Proletariat of the People Unite in Chess”.

A real whackjob straight from the Cold War.

No smiley face for him.

What is the source of his numbers that over 600 million people play chess? Is he referring to the game we know today or is he including the people who play variants like xianqi (Chinese chess), Shogi, shatranj, and other forms of the game that have a substantial following? I am not questioning that the numbers are true, just where did he get his source(s) to make that statement? Getting people to be on board and sponsor the game requires that the information they are supplied with is accurate and substantial.

I would certainly question if his numbers are true. Just like I question pretty much anything that comes out of the guy’s mouth.

It’s not so unbelievable. Every time I have a tournament I ask other people in the hotel who look curious if they play. A surprisingly high number do, or used to, but “could never play at that level” or something like that.

Alex Relyea

(Disclaimer: Haven’t [won’t] read the article.)

I think the estimate is far too high, but so what? That’s how you market something. Based on his percentages, there would be about 30 million people in the United States who “play chess”. Whatever that means. Yet, the USCF has a paltry fraction of a fraction of a fraction of that number? Either the estimate is way off, or if it is real, then the USCF is doing a terrible job of attracting members.

He’s probably talking about people who know (most of) the rules, but haven’t yet mastered en passant or castling, let alone touch-move or scorekeeping.

Most people “play” baseball, too – or at least have played something more or less resembling it, with a softer ball and about three players per side. But they’ve never played in an organized league. So what?

Bill Smythe

Sad to say, but I’ve seen some of those people in USCF tournaments.

Alex Relyea