Why has chess deteriorated as a sport while its publicity keeps increasing? Is there a strange correlation between the two? Chess continues to be an enigma to the majority of the world's population, but it is commonly cast as an intellectual activity. How many players can truly say they feel more intellectual as a result of being a chess player? Maybe a few.

In the "65th Square" essay, we examine the myths and oft-repeated mistakes in the marketing of the chess image to the public.  The image of chess has taken a beating of recent with the lack of a unified crown and the abuse of top chess personalities (including
Zurab Azmaiparashvili and Bobby Fischer). Why is it that chess is revered, but at the same time its image continues to be deteriorating? There are many such factors and the following essay perhaps provides some insight as to a few things that need to be done to solve these issues.


Read, "The Marketing of Chess"

Posted by The Chess Drum: 19 March 2005