Am I a “Chess Tourist”?

@Azice said in #3:
> This is beyond ridiculous. I think that not only FIDE but also other organizations such as USCF should work harder to get sponsorships that can increase the overall profits of the participants. It is easy for us to criticize and I understand they are in a challenging situation but I still think that some sort of corruption must be taking place because not a lot of improvement has been seen within the last couple of years. Perhaps companies like chess.com and the play Magnus group can help with this by offering tournaments with bigger prize pools. Regardless, some sort of program must be put in place by FIDE to help support players better.
>
> Here are my suggestions:
> 1. Setup a program where professional chess players commit to going to jails/schools for troubled children to help them direct their energy to something constructive like chess rather than stuff like drugs etc. Perhaps, grandmasters could go to one of these places three or four times a year in exchange for financial support from the department of education or rehabilitation programs.
> 2. Use big names such as Hikaru and Magnus to help FIDE find more sponsors and increase the prize pools in their tournaments.
> 3. I think a lot of universities should offer elective chess classes offered by GMs. Why this is not a thing is beyond me.
> 4. I don't know... Rather than complain about FIDE, I think we should use this energy to help them come up with solutions to this dilema.

Hello Azice, the problem isn t talking to FIDE but FIDE itself, no other sports organisation did less than FIDE did for chess, its time to put FIDE away and establish an organistation that cares about promoting and developing chess as well as having their top players not constantly deal with financial issues.

Chess com did more for chess in last few years than FIDE did in its whole existence.

i agree FIDE should do a better job

With the advent of hybrid/online tournaments, your travel expenses should be nil and prizes better thanks to potentially high viewership. That's the way forward. Chess also has to be made more marketable, look at the last chessboxing event for clues.

FIDE bad

@JohnnyRooker said in #7:
> Unfortunately, none of this translates to making it appealing to the masses. I love chess, but at the end of the day it is a board game. It will never have the mainstream appeal of a sport like football, boxing, or MMA.
>
> It would be a crying shame if OTB competitive chess disappeared, but I really do see online chess becoming the primary venue for competitive chess in the future.

Oh.... It is very sad. :(

Stop complaining and get a real job.. ;)

Chess is a game, nothing of value is being created in a chess tournament. To get meaningful income you need to be in top 20, where people tune in to watch the games, or create something of value - like a chessable course, give private lessons, etc. Overall seems like the tournament was well run and well funded, accommodation was provided free of charge, and with better results or less daily expenses there was even some money to be made.

@ciega said in #17:
> Stop complaining and get a real job.. ;)

Agreed, but some money on the side IS nice, and if you're a good chess player, shouldn't a little bit be granted?

A distinction must be made between tournaments organized by FIDE and those organized by private organizers (= outside FIDE). The main goal of FIDE is to organize tournaments in order to award its titles (world champion, etc.).

Chessable Sunway Chess Festival is privately organized. It is an open tournament like many others in the world.

In the West, there are not many sponsors for chess, except in the United States of America (Rex Sinquefield in St. Louis).

@Azice said in #3:
> Here are my suggestions:
> 1. Setup a program where professional chess players commit to going to jails/schools for troubled children to help them direct their energy to something constructive like chess rather than stuff like drugs etc.

One little problem is chess being kind of a drug itself :) Treating an addiction by getting the addict hooked on another drug (arguably less dangerous) is common practice in some countries (e.g. in the US), but ...