(11-27-2012 11:56 AM)garcia1000 Wrote:  

(11-27-2012 05:59 AM)CombatEX Wrote:  At any rate garcia, even if poker were somehow more popular than chess, I don't know how you could know that it's mostly due to a lack of transparency in the ranking system. Do you have some sources?

Well, I don't have sources, but perhaps Anatoly Karpov, World Champion chessplayer, has: http://bigthink.com/ideas/20609
"Will Chess Ever Be as Popular as Poker?"

Maybe his opinion carries no weight, since he is actually just a former World Champion. So, this statement by Garry Kasparov, who is also not a current World Champion, would not matter much either: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/feb/11/the-chess-master-and-the-computer/
"Perhaps chess is the wrong game for the times. Poker is now everywhere, as amateurs dream of winning millions and being on television for playing a card game whose complexities can be detailed on a single piece of paper... Perhaps the current trend of many chess professionals taking up the more lucrative pastime of poker is not a wholly negative one."

Some people say that the New York Times is a trashy tabloid magazine with no journalistic worth. Those people would not be convinced by this link: http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/how-to-make-chess-sizzle/
"For years, chess players have bemoaned that chess is not as popular as poker"

(11-27-2012 05:59 AM)CombatEX Wrote:  I don't doubt you worldfamous, but just out of curiosity, where did you find those numbers? I looked around briefly but I couldn't find figures like that.

At any rate garcia, even if poker were somehow more popular than chess, I don't know how you could know that it's mostly due to a lack of transparency in the ranking system. Do you have some sources?