How Much I spent on Chess in 2023?

This post is originally published in my newsletter - https://nikhilchess.substack.com/p/how-much-i-spent-on-chess-in-2023

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I have never seen a blog post where chess players are telling their expenses. Most people think that chess is an expensive game and it’s true. If you are a hobby player then it’s quite cheap but for those who are title aspirants, it’s a really expensive sport.

Disclaimer

1. Tournament and coaching expenses vary from player to player and country to country. Some players might feel this amount huge or some players feel it low.
2. Suggestions are always welcome.
3. I have tracked all the expenses in Indian Rupees. Although for viewers I have converted all amounts in USD. The amount is approximate (3-5%)

1- Tournament Expenses ($11338)

I started my first classical event with the Baku Open and Finished the year with the Rilton Cup 2023-24. I am not going to add any tournament links as I am going to publish year in review blog post later.
Let’s go by each tour/event. Expenses include everything i.e. Flights, Travel costs, entry fee, stay, and food.

Baku Open - $1020

This event was held in Azerbaijan and it was a +2250 event.

Nagpur GM Event - $480

Nagpur is a city in India and it hosted the 2nd Maharashtra Grandmaster event.

Europe Tour (5 Events) - $4085

In total, I played 5 tournaments in this including 5 open events and 1 GM closed event in 4 different countries.

Abu Dhabi Masters - $1140

Event in UAE

Qatar Masters - $1440

This is the most prestigious event I have ever played. In the same event Magnus, Anish, and Hikaru participated.

Rilton Cup 2023-24 - $1863

Event in Sweden

Rapid Events - $250

I played many events in Rapid events in India. I have all the records but here I am just putting the total. Ofc I won prize money but here we are only talking about expenses.

2- Books and Chess Material Expenses ($430)

I purchased a lot of materials this year. I find so much value in books and courses. Let’s say if you want to take a coaching from GM, it will cost you $50-100. With the same price, you can buy a good chess course and save a lot of money. However, personal coaching does have many benefits.
Following is my list of purchases in 2023

Modern Chess Courses

I have purchased a lot of chess courses from the Modern Chess website. I have an affiliate with them where users can use Nikhil45 and get flat 45% off. These courses are too good compared to other websites and the major benefit is that they provide you with the PGN file which you can see in chessbase.
Following is the list of courses I bought

• Advance Variation against French and Caro-Kann (6h Running Time)
• Beat the Sicilian - Practical Repertoire for White (9h Video Running Time)
• Practical Endgame Play (9h Running Time)
• Scotch Game - Expert Repertoire for White
• Play the Ruy Lopez
• Top-Level Repertoire against the Sicilian
• King's Indian Defence - Expert Repertoire for Black
• Play the Sveshnikov Sicilian
• 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 - Repertoire against 3.Bb5 & Nc3
• Play the Gruenfeld Defence
• French Defence - Top-Level Repertoire for Black

Chessable Courses

• Tame the Sicilian: The Alapin Variation

Chessbase Courses and Tools

• Chessbase 17
• Play the Sveshnikov Sicilian by Dorian Rogozenco
• Fritz 19 - (I don’t know why I purchased it)

Books - All bought from ChessBase India and Forward Chess

• A Matter of Endgame Technique
• The Match of All Time: The Inside Story of the legendary 1972 Fischer-Spassky World Chess Championship in Reykjavik
• How I Became a Chess Grandmaster by Vinay Bhat
• Chess Middlegame Strategies Volume 2
• Chess Lessons: Solving Problems & Avoiding Mistakes: By Mark Dvoretsky
• Forcing Chess Moves
• Endgame Labyrinth

3- Chess Coaching Expense

In total, I did 2 coaching camps for Indian GM Vishnu. These camps were only for +2200 players and I was more than happy with his teaching approach. No personal or any other group classes apart from following.

Camp 1 - $150

This camp was held online on Zoom. So only camp fees were the expenses

Camp 2 - $480

For this camp, I traveled to Chennai and the camp duration was 5 days.

How do I manage these Expenses?

This year I managed to earn some active income from 3 major sources and barely managed to make all the above expenses.

1- Affiliates

For the last 2 years, I am doing blogging and learning a lot of new things. I also run a website called Chess Article and my own blogs, newsletters, etc.
I have partnered with many chess websites such as Modern Chess, The Chess World, Chessify, Square Off, and many more. You can check the full list from here where you will find a lot of personalized promo codes from which you can save a lot of money.
Because of this, I managed to get a decent amount from all the sales.

2- Chess Coaching

Chess coaching can be a very good revenue source especially for above 2000 rated players. Many of my friends are doing full-time chess coaching and making a living out of it.
As I was trying to achieve some title, I was not accepting many students at one time. Now in 2024, I am also giving priority to chess coaching.

3- Winning Chess Tournaments

I played many rapid and blitz events throughout 2023 and several prizes. I am planning to play more rapid and blitz events in 2024

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Is it worth it?

Since 2021, when I started coaching and started to earn some money, I understood how difficult it is to earn money. This is why I don’t think spending this much amount is worth it, especially on chess.
But the problem was I was trying to get the title and hence had to play good events. Most of the events I played are atleast +2100 where you get high chances to increase the rating as you don’t play against the lower players.

How much do other players spend?

I talked with 8-10 other Indian players ranging between 2000-2450. All of them spent anywhere between $7-20k. Some of them take regular chess coaching which costs them $5-7k a year or more. Even I know few Indian GMs above 2500 who spent 8-10k+
Although all of the above guys are aiming for something. Some trying to get an FM title to some trying to reach a 2600 rating.

Your thoughts

If you are an active chess player with any chess rating, I request you to share your thoughts or how much you spent on coaching, playing, etc.

If you are a nonactive player or parent, please do share your thoughts also.

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If you have any chess-related questions, feel free to contact me at contact@nikhildixit.com

You can now schedule a chess coaching session with me from here - https://tidycal.com/nikhildixit

For all chess resources, please check the page on my website. I have partnered with many chess brands which are creating amazing chess courses and tools for chess and you will find discount codes there. Here is the link - https://chessarticle.com/chess-resources/