Author: Jim Bodkins
Date: 20:19:20 01/11/04
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On January 11, 2004 at 21:05:39, margolies,marc wrote: >My memory is failing me on this subject...could some one please remind me of the >following... >Where is the largest computer chess server in the world located? (is it near >carnegie-mellon maybe?) >Where was the largest dedicated chess hardware assembled ? (is it near Hawthorne >NY maybe) >What country has the highest per capita pc ownership in the world? >What country is the world's largest software market? > >regarding the finances of the US Chess Federation, how is that a computer-chess >issue exactly - unless you mean they were merchandisers... >When was the last (most recent year) that computers were entered in a regular >USCF event? >I do not understand why casual players should be required to spend fifty dolars >a year for the privledge of being nudged by surly overworked amateur TDs who >often are partisan to local players-- it's a business model which is destined to >lose money fast in good times and faster in bad times. But this cannot be >considered a metric of american culture or computer chess. > >On January 11, 2004 at 18:16:59, martin fierz wrote: > >>On January 11, 2004 at 17:03:12, Mike Byrne wrote: >> >>>On January 11, 2004 at 16:42:15, martin fierz wrote: >>> >>>>On January 11, 2004 at 16:11:06, Tom Kerrigan wrote: >>>> >>>>>On January 10, 2004 at 16:24:59, Jim Bodkins wrote: >>>>> >>>>>>The US doesnt play chess really. USCF has 90,000 members out of 1/3 billion >>>>>>people and just went bankrupt (over about $300,000 - chump change to a pro >>>>>>basketball player) and had to sell its store to an english firm. Most of the top >>>>>>US players (USCF) are immigrants not native. >>>>>> >>>>>>I'm a native American, so dont get mad. We play baseball not chess. Chess isnt >>>>>>culturally a part of the US at all. People (Garry) come here mainly because of >>>>>>money not chess. Chess software doesnt interest most programmers in my >>>>>>experience. OS's, databases etc do. >>>>>> >>>>>>The US will get hammered, but the guys will probably have fun anyway. >>>>>> >>>>>>... oh, and we do Mars missions. :) >>>>> >>>>>I believe people on this message board have forgotten their history. :) Shannon >>>>>was American, the revolutionary programs MacHack and CHESS were American, the >>>>>world champions Belle, Deep Thought, and Cray Blitz were American. >>>> >>>>you are forgetting the first computer chess programmer - alan turing, not >>>>exactly american :-) >>>> >>>>>I'd say computer chess is a fairly significant part of American culture. >>>> >>>>and this is the wrong way round: some americans made very significant >>>>contributions to computer chess. but "part of the american culture"?? there are >>>>many things that come to my mind when i think about american culture, both >>>>positive and negative (think football, baseball, everbody having guns, free >>>>speech, the whole idea of the american dream etc). but certainly not computer >>>>chess... >>>> >>>>cheers >>>> martin >>> >>>It is clear that there is much more interest in Chess and Computer Chess in >>>Europe than in the US, but there are times that chess gets a push in the US - >>>Fischer in '72, Deep Blue - GK in '96 and '97 - the last Fritz/GK match was >>>reported regulary in the news ...so I think what we see in the US very latent, >>>under the right circumstances - it could really tale off again , GK visits the >>>US quite often and he does a lot to promote chess (book signings, simuls etc) in >>>the US, I do like him for that. >>> >>>According to the Harris polls in 2001 , about 40% of Amercians own guns ...down >>>from 48% in 1973. Contrast that with Switzerland which has far higher gun >>>ownership since it is legally mandated for every adult male. >>> >>>Getting ot here - but just wanted to point that out. >> >>hehe, i didn't know we had a higher figure :-) >>then again, i believe having guns is much more part of the american culture than >>the swiss - we are, as you say, forced to take our army rifles home. for most, >>they end up in the attic, and we would rather not have them there. >>anyway, i just mentioned some things that spring to my mind when i think about >>the US and the american way of life or american culture. just to contrast these >>things with computer chess, which very definitely is not part of the american >>way of life - of course it is not part of *any* country's culture IMO - it is >>far too insignificant... >> >>cheers >> martin I was a member of USCF in highschool. I was an outcast. :( BTW, THIS forum is in the US. Notice how many aliens lurk here? :) Might be the same with ICS. The USCF server sure is empty most of the time. (WCN is my personal favorite. No idea where that is).
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