I’d say chess culture is most established in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, but it is really taking off in India and China as well. All I know for certain is that there are a LOT of kids participating in chess tournaments here in Canada and I hope that is the case elsewhere too. Chess has a bright future.
@LDog11 said in #14:
> Hi Casey, where did you find those maps? I really enjoy looking at statistical maps like that. There's probably other good stuff there too!
I did an image search for "chess GMs per capita" and "chess GMs per country."
I think it's interesting that the results were so different.
> Hi Casey, where did you find those maps? I really enjoy looking at statistical maps like that. There's probably other good stuff there too!
I did an image search for "chess GMs per capita" and "chess GMs per country."
I think it's interesting that the results were so different.
@StateYourPoint said in #6:
> Thanks to the Soviet Union. As with most things tbh. Now that it no longer exists, the level of chess in Russia could (and probably will most likely) fall as less people have ready access to educational material, coaches etc.
chess is dirt cheap. you can even play it without a board to produce even stronger players. your deduction is lacking in many ways, i am only pointing out two of the most obvious.
@CaseyReese
you succumbed to a logical fellacy regarding big numbers and statistics: those nations with more population will NATURALLY produce more statistical outliers. if you look back at your 2nd picture on page 2, the colors just show you the countries with big population basically. i recommend checking out the lichess blog post about male vs female chess players (which i cant find right now), it basically explains the same thing.
instead i found those two articles:
en.chessbase.com/post/what-gender-gap-in-chess
slate.com/technology/2020/12/why-are-the-best-chess-players-men.html
> Thanks to the Soviet Union. As with most things tbh. Now that it no longer exists, the level of chess in Russia could (and probably will most likely) fall as less people have ready access to educational material, coaches etc.
chess is dirt cheap. you can even play it without a board to produce even stronger players. your deduction is lacking in many ways, i am only pointing out two of the most obvious.
@CaseyReese
you succumbed to a logical fellacy regarding big numbers and statistics: those nations with more population will NATURALLY produce more statistical outliers. if you look back at your 2nd picture on page 2, the colors just show you the countries with big population basically. i recommend checking out the lichess blog post about male vs female chess players (which i cant find right now), it basically explains the same thing.
instead i found those two articles:
en.chessbase.com/post/what-gender-gap-in-chess
slate.com/technology/2020/12/why-are-the-best-chess-players-men.html
So, Armenia really is the top chess nation for 2023!
The real best chess nation was the friends we made along the way
Forget it. This question is stupid and we all know that it is Russia or any country that speaks Russian. What a waste of time this was. The United States is also very good.
Just my most honest and most traditional opinion. Sorry if anybody who likes respect was offended.
| Country | GMs | Population | GMs per million |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monaco | 3 | 38,695 | 77.6 |
| Iceland | 13 | 341,243 | 38.1 |
| Andorra | 2 | 77,265 | 25.9 |
| Faroe Islands | 1 | 48,863 | 20.5 |
| Armenia | 40 | 2,963,243 | 13.5 |
| Montenegro | 6 | 628,066 | 9.6 |
| Georgia | 30 | 3,989,167 | 7.5 |
| Croatia | 30 | 4,105,267 | 7.3 |
| Serbia | 50 | 6,963,764 | 7.2 |
| Latvia | 11 | 1,886,198 | 5.8 |
As you can see from the table, Monaco has the highest amount of grandmasters in chess per capita, with 77.6 GMs for every one million people. Monaco is a small sovereign city-state located on the French Riviera, with a total area of only 2.02 km2 and a population of less than 40,000 peoplehttps://www.fide.com/news/782. Despite its small size, Monaco has three GMs: Igor Efimov, Jean-Michel Rapaire, and Algimantas Butnoriushttps://ratings.fide.com/topfed.phtml.
The second place goes to Iceland, with 38.1 GMs per million people. Iceland is an island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, with a population of about 340,000 people and a total area of 103,000 km2. Iceland has a long and rich chess tradition, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is also famous for hosting the legendary World Chess Championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972. Iceland has produced some of the best chess players in history, such as Fridrik Olafsson, Johann Hjartarson, and Hannes Stefanssonhttps://ratings.fide.com/topfed.phtml.
The third place belongs to Andorra, with 25.9 GMs per million people. Andorra is a landlocked microstate situated between France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains, with a population of about 77,000 people and a total area of 468 km2. Andorra has two GMs: Oscar De La Riva Aguado and Robert Aloma Vidalhttps://ratings.fide.com/topfed.phtml.
The rest of the top ten countries are mostly from Europe or Asia, with Armenia being the first big country (population > 1 million) to appear on the list at fifth place. Some notable countries that are not in the top ten are Russia (31st), China (53rd), India (54th), and the United States (56th). These countries have more GMs in absolute terms than most other countries, but they also have much larger populations.
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monaco | 3 | 38,695 | 77.6 |
| Iceland | 13 | 341,243 | 38.1 |
| Andorra | 2 | 77,265 | 25.9 |
| Faroe Islands | 1 | 48,863 | 20.5 |
| Armenia | 40 | 2,963,243 | 13.5 |
| Montenegro | 6 | 628,066 | 9.6 |
| Georgia | 30 | 3,989,167 | 7.5 |
| Croatia | 30 | 4,105,267 | 7.3 |
| Serbia | 50 | 6,963,764 | 7.2 |
| Latvia | 11 | 1,886,198 | 5.8 |
As you can see from the table, Monaco has the highest amount of grandmasters in chess per capita, with 77.6 GMs for every one million people. Monaco is a small sovereign city-state located on the French Riviera, with a total area of only 2.02 km2 and a population of less than 40,000 peoplehttps://www.fide.com/news/782. Despite its small size, Monaco has three GMs: Igor Efimov, Jean-Michel Rapaire, and Algimantas Butnoriushttps://ratings.fide.com/topfed.phtml.
The second place goes to Iceland, with 38.1 GMs per million people. Iceland is an island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, with a population of about 340,000 people and a total area of 103,000 km2. Iceland has a long and rich chess tradition, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is also famous for hosting the legendary World Chess Championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972. Iceland has produced some of the best chess players in history, such as Fridrik Olafsson, Johann Hjartarson, and Hannes Stefanssonhttps://ratings.fide.com/topfed.phtml.
The third place belongs to Andorra, with 25.9 GMs per million people. Andorra is a landlocked microstate situated between France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains, with a population of about 77,000 people and a total area of 468 km2. Andorra has two GMs: Oscar De La Riva Aguado and Robert Aloma Vidalhttps://ratings.fide.com/topfed.phtml.
The rest of the top ten countries are mostly from Europe or Asia, with Armenia being the first big country (population > 1 million) to appear on the list at fifth place. Some notable countries that are not in the top ten are Russia (31st), China (53rd), India (54th), and the United States (56th). These countries have more GMs in absolute terms than most other countries, but they also have much larger populations.
@Rookitiki said in #23:
> chess is dirt cheap. you can even play it without a board to produce even stronger players. your deduction is lacking in many ways, i am only pointing out two of the most obvious.
I haven't met a single player who has crossed master without the use of any educational material on chess, not to mention Grandmaster or higher. Even Magnus Carlsen, who undoubtedly is one of - if not the most - talented players of the modern era has had access to books, coaches, international tournaments etc. So I'm not quite sure what point you're trying make here. The quantity and quality of strong players in a country is directly determined by how much funding and attention the sport receives by the government. And all of that is ignoring the time you need to put in.
> chess is dirt cheap. you can even play it without a board to produce even stronger players. your deduction is lacking in many ways, i am only pointing out two of the most obvious.
I haven't met a single player who has crossed master without the use of any educational material on chess, not to mention Grandmaster or higher. Even Magnus Carlsen, who undoubtedly is one of - if not the most - talented players of the modern era has had access to books, coaches, international tournaments etc. So I'm not quite sure what point you're trying make here. The quantity and quality of strong players in a country is directly determined by how much funding and attention the sport receives by the government. And all of that is ignoring the time you need to put in.
you describe a scenario that is completely riduculous in two ways.
firstly you vastly overexaggerate the consequences of russian failure when fighting on foreign ground.
no books, no printers, no phones or computers, no coaches (all dead coz not enough combat skills for the zombie apocalypse due to excessive chess training)...
and secondly your missing a very important point:
if russia goes into such kind of crisis mode your describing i can get a chess coach for 1 potato per hour and its with foot massage too. chess coaches dont have a very high standing in an existential crisis like that.
if you looked at the list provided directly in front of your last post, you would realize many of those countries are rather poor. not fighting for survival against wild life poor, but still poor compared to their neighbours.
firstly you vastly overexaggerate the consequences of russian failure when fighting on foreign ground.
no books, no printers, no phones or computers, no coaches (all dead coz not enough combat skills for the zombie apocalypse due to excessive chess training)...
and secondly your missing a very important point:
if russia goes into such kind of crisis mode your describing i can get a chess coach for 1 potato per hour and its with foot massage too. chess coaches dont have a very high standing in an existential crisis like that.
if you looked at the list provided directly in front of your last post, you would realize many of those countries are rather poor. not fighting for survival against wild life poor, but still poor compared to their neighbours.
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