Countries where chess are most popular? - Chess Forums - Page 4

whr42

Dec 2, 2013

0

#61

There are more chess.com members from india and the USA

watcha

Dec 3, 2013

0

#62

This is the improved toplist of countries having more than 1000 registered players. The country names were resolved with the help of chess.com member Scottrf.

Rank	Country Code	Country Name	Registered Players
1	IND	India	35396
2	FRA	France	35364
3	ESP	Spain	31947
4	RUS	Russia	28599
5	GER	Germany	27287
6	TUR	Turkey	13217
7	POL	Poland	12187
8	GRE	Greece	11958
9	ITA	Italy	11919
10	IRI	Iran	10459
11	USA	United States	10074
12	CZE	Czech Republic	8390
13	HUN	Hungary	8115
14	BRA	Brazil	7533
15	SRB	Serbia	6217
16	UKR	Ukraine	5725
17	SVK	Slovakia	5026
18	SRI	Sri Lanka	4940
19	COL	Colombia	4926
20	NED	Kingdom of the Netherlands	4886
21	BEL	Belgium	4619
22	ARG	Argentina	4603
23	DEN	Denmark	4565
24	CRO	Croatia	4547
25	AUT	Austria	4541
26	ROU	Romania	4506
27	ENG	United Kingdom	3950
28	POR	Portugal	3922
29	SUI	Switzerland	3177
30	SLO	Slovenia	3133
31	PER	Peru	2988
32	ECU	Ecuador	2742
33	VEN	Venezuela	2725
34	SWE	Sweden	2711
35	MEX	Mexico	2571
36	EGY	Egypt	2551
37	BUL	Bulgaria	2401
38	AUS	Australia	2380
39	CHI	Chile	2343
40	NOR	Norway	2207
41	CAN	Canada	2091
42	CUB	Cuba	2062
43	PHI	Philippines	1834
44	LTU	Lithuania	1804
45	MAS	Malaysia	1773
46	RSA	South Africa	1746
47	SIN	Singapore	1722
48	ISR	Israel	1627
49	GEO	Georgia	1470
50	AZE	Azerbaijan	1457
51	BAN	Bangladesh	1437
52	CHN	China	1414
53	DOM	Dominican Republic	1367
54	KAZ	Kazakhstan	1361
55	UAE	United Arab Emirates	1344
56	VIE	Vietnam	1257
57	FIN	Finland	1223
58	ISL	Iceland	1212
59	NEP	Nepal	1130
60	BLR	Belarus	1042
61	BIH	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1041

Irontiger

Dec 3, 2013

0

#63

watcha wrote:

This is the improved toplist of countries having more than 1000 registered players. The country names were resolved with the help of chess.com member Scottrf.

Rank Country Code Country Name Registered Players 1 IND India 35396 2 FRA France 35364 (...snip...)

I wish to warn that the list might have some glitches depending on the practices of the federations. For instance, in France, there is no distinction between your national rating and your FIDE rating, which makes that all players with a national ratings have a FIDE rating. I'm not sure this is the case in the US, GB, etc. and might affect the interpretation.

EDIT : What ringed a bell is that France appears second while Great Britain isn't even mentioned, when the population is similar and the cultural proximity should make for similar numbers.

watcha

Dec 3, 2013

0

#64

Irontiger wrote:

watcha wrote:

This is the improved toplist of countries having more than 1000 registered players. The country names were resolved with the help of chess.com member Scottrf.

Rank Country Code Country Name Registered Players 1 IND India 35396 2 FRA France 35364 (...snip...)

I wish to warn that the list might have some glitches depending on the practices of the federations. For instance, in France, there is no distinction between your national rating and your FIDE rating, which makes that all players with a national ratings have a FIDE rating. I'm not sure this is the case in the US, GB, etc. and might affect the interpretation.

Thanks for your remark. I don't know what methodology Fide uses to compile the players list. For example it seems that the list contains more players with ratings than the official rating distribution chart would suggest ( this may be due to distinction between active / non active players, or to the factors you mentioned, I have no clue ).

Nevertheless this is the best publicly available data I'm aware of for estimating the level of chess activity in worldwide comparison on a popular level rather than an elite level.

If anyone has sources which provide objectively measurable data related to chess activity ( rather than anecdotal evidence ) please come forward.

watcha

Dec 5, 2013

0

#65

This is the per capita top list of registered players of countries with more than 50 players. It is interesting that Iceland is first on this list too and Monaco has a high rank meaning that there is something going on in this country about chess apart from that single grandmaster they have.

Per capita registered players of countries with more than 50 players
Rank	Country	Population	Registered Players	Registered players per capita ppm
1	Iceland	321.9 k	1212	3765.6
2	Palau	21.0 k	74	3531.2
3	Monaco	36.4 k	62	1704.7
4	Slovenia	2.1 M	3133	1524.2
5	Greece	10.8 M	11958	1105.7
6	Barbados	274.2 k	302	1101.4
7	Andorra	85.1 k	92	1081.3
8	Croatia	4.3 M	4547	1061.2
9	Montenegro	625.3 k	592	946.8
10	Slovakia	5.4 M	5026	928.9
11	Brunei	415.7 k	368	885.2
12	Serbia	7.2 M	6217	865.1
13	Hungary	9.9 M	8115	816.2
14	Denmark	5.6 M	4565	814.8
15	Czech Republic	10.5 M	8390	798.0
16	Luxembourg	537.9 k	420	780.9
17	Spain	46.7 M	31947	684.0
18	Lithuania	3.0 M	1804	610.3
19	Austria	8.4 M	4541	539.7
20	France	66.0 M	35364	536.2
21	Botswana	2.0 M	980	482.9
22	Estonia	1.3 M	612	475.7
23	Sao Tome and Principe	183.2 k	84	458.6
24	Norway	5.1 M	2207	433.1
25	Belgium	11.0 M	4619	418.5
26	Latvia	2.0 M	836	415.3
27	Switzerland	8.0 M	3177	396.4
28	Malta	452.5 k	172	380.1
29	Portugal	10.5 M	3922	374.0
30	Germany	80.5 M	27287	338.9
31	Bulgaria	7.4 M	2401	326.0
32	Georgia	4.6 M	1470	322.7
33	Poland	38.2 M	12187	319.1
34	Singapore	5.4 M	1722	318.9
35	Kingdom of the Netherlands	17.0 M	4886	286.8
36	Armenia	3.3 M	929	284.8
37	Sweden	9.6 M	2711	283.7
38	Cyprus	1.1 M	312	279.3
39	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3.8 M	1041	274.6
40	Trinidad and Tobago	1.3 M	366	271.8
41	Suriname	566.8 k	143	252.3
42	Sri Lanka	20.3 M	4940	243.6
43	Finland	5.4 M	1223	225.6
44	Romania	20.1 M	4506	223.9
45	Macedonia	2.1 M	432	209.9
46	Uruguay	3.3 M	677	204.0
47	Israel	8.1 M	1627	202.1
48	Italy	59.7 M	11919	199.7
49	Russia	143.6 M	28599	199.2
50	Cuba	11.2 M	2062	184.6
51	Ireland	4.6 M	845	184.0
52	Ecuador	15.2 M	2742	180.1
53	Moldova	3.6 M	625	175.6
54	Costa Rica	4.6 M	805	175.5
55	Turkey	75.6 M	13217	174.8
56	Maldives	328.5 k	56	170.5
57	United Arab Emirates	8.3 M	1344	162.6
58	Azerbaijan	9.4 M	1457	155.7
59	Dominican Republic	9.4 M	1367	144.7
60	Iran	77.2 M	10459	135.5
61	Chile	17.4 M	2343	134.6
62	Ukraine	44.9 M	5725	127.6
63	Colombia	42.1 M	4926	117.1
64	Jordan	6.5 M	728	111.8
65	Argentina	41.7 M	4603	110.5
66	Belarus	9.5 M	1042	110.2
67	Australia	23.3 M	2380	102.3
68	New Zealand	4.5 M	449	100.5
69	Peru	30.5 M	2988	98.0
70	Mongolia	2.9 M	276	94.5
71	Venezuela	28.9 M	2725	94.1
72	Lybia	5.7 M	520	91.7
73	Bolivia	10.5 M	938	89.7
74	Kazakhstan	17.0 M	1361	80.2
75	Liberia	4.1 M	329	79.7
76	Turkmenistan	5.1 M	370	72.2
77	Nicaragua	6.1 M	425	70.0
78	Jamaica	2.9 M	199	68.9
79	Albania	2.8 M	191	67.7
80	Fiji	858.0 k	55	64.1
81	Paraguay	6.8 M	432	63.5
82	Panama	3.7 M	232	63.4
83	Malaysia	28.3 M	1773	62.6
84	United Kingdom	63.2 M	3950	62.5
85	Canada	35.2 M	2091	59.5
86	Quatar	2.0 M	107	52.6
87	Tunisia	10.8 M	527	48.9
88	State of Palestine	4.3 M	204	47.9
89	Kyrgyzstan	5.6 M	264	47.6
90	Zambia	14.3 M	631	44.1
91	Bahrain	1.2 M	54	43.7
92	Nepal	26.5 M	1130	42.7
93	Brazil	201.0 M	7533	37.5
94	Mauritania	3.4 M	124	36.9
95	South Africa	53.0 M	1746	33.0
96	United States	317.2 M	10074	31.8
97	Kuwait	2.7 M	84	31.2
98	Iraq	31.1 M	958	30.8
99	Egypt	84.5 M	2551	30.2
100	India	1210.2 M	35396	29.2
101	Namibia	2.1 M	59	28.1
102	Algeria	37.9 M	866	22.8
103	Syria	22.5 M	503	22.3
104	Honduras	8.2 M	184	22.3
105	Mexico	118.4 M	2571	21.7
106	Uzbekistan	30.2 M	647	21.4
107	Philippines	98.7 M	1834	18.6
108	Angola	18.5 M	344	18.6
109	Vietnam	90.4 M	1257	13.9
110	Zimbabwe	13.0 M	154	11.9
111	Tajikistan	8.0 M	95	11.9
112	Yemen	23.8 M	240	10.1
113	Bangladesh	150.0 M	1437	9.6
114	Guatemala	15.4 M	136	8.8
115	Morocco	32.9 M	265	8.1
116	South Korea	50.2 M	391	7.8
117	Thailand	66.7 M	386	5.8
118	Uganda	35.9 M	195	5.4
119	Sudan	30.9 M	129	4.2
120	Madagascar	22.0 M	83	3.8
121	Kenya	44.0 M	143	3.2
122	Afghanistan	31.1 M	91	2.9
123	Nigeria	174.5 M	414	2.4
124	Indonesia	237.4 M	533	2.2
125	Japan	126.7 M	198	1.6
126	China	1350.7 M	1414	1.0
127	Pakistan	182.5 M	102	0.6
128	Ethiopia	91.2 M	55	0.6

watcha

Dec 5, 2013

0

#66

The same list for countries with more than 1000 players:

Per capita registered players of countries with more than 1000 players
Rank	Country	Population	Registered Players	Registered players per capita ppm
1	Iceland	321.9 k	1212	3765.6
2	Slovenia	2.1 M	3133	1524.2
3	Greece	10.8 M	11958	1105.7
4	Croatia	4.3 M	4547	1061.2
5	Slovakia	5.4 M	5026	928.9
6	Serbia	7.2 M	6217	865.1
7	Hungary	9.9 M	8115	816.2
8	Denmark	5.6 M	4565	814.8
9	Czech Republic	10.5 M	8390	798.0
10	Spain	46.7 M	31947	684.0
11	Lithuania	3.0 M	1804	610.3
12	Austria	8.4 M	4541	539.7
13	France	66.0 M	35364	536.2
14	Norway	5.1 M	2207	433.1
15	Belgium	11.0 M	4619	418.5
16	Switzerland	8.0 M	3177	396.4
17	Portugal	10.5 M	3922	374.0
18	Germany	80.5 M	27287	338.9
19	Bulgaria	7.4 M	2401	326.0
20	Georgia	4.6 M	1470	322.7
21	Poland	38.2 M	12187	319.1
22	Singapore	5.4 M	1722	318.9
23	Kingdom of the Netherlands	17.0 M	4886	286.8
24	Sweden	9.6 M	2711	283.7
25	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3.8 M	1041	274.6
26	Sri Lanka	20.3 M	4940	243.6
27	Finland	5.4 M	1223	225.6
28	Romania	20.1 M	4506	223.9
29	Israel	8.1 M	1627	202.1
30	Italy	59.7 M	11919	199.7
31	Russia	143.6 M	28599	199.2
32	Cuba	11.2 M	2062	184.6
33	Ecuador	15.2 M	2742	180.1
34	Turkey	75.6 M	13217	174.8
35	United Arab Emirates	8.3 M	1344	162.6
36	Azerbaijan	9.4 M	1457	155.7
37	Dominican Republic	9.4 M	1367	144.7
38	Iran	77.2 M	10459	135.5
39	Chile	17.4 M	2343	134.6
40	Ukraine	44.9 M	5725	127.6
41	Colombia	42.1 M	4926	117.1
42	Argentina	41.7 M	4603	110.5
43	Belarus	9.5 M	1042	110.2
44	Australia	23.3 M	2380	102.3
45	Peru	30.5 M	2988	98.0
46	Venezuela	28.9 M	2725	94.1
47	Kazakhstan	17.0 M	1361	80.2
48	Malaysia	28.3 M	1773	62.6
49	United Kingdom	63.2 M	3950	62.5
50	Canada	35.2 M	2091	59.5
51	Nepal	26.5 M	1130	42.7
52	Brazil	201.0 M	7533	37.5
53	South Africa	53.0 M	1746	33.0
54	United States	317.2 M	10074	31.8
55	Egypt	84.5 M	2551	30.2
56	India	1210.2 M	35396	29.2
57	Mexico	118.4 M	2571	21.7
58	Philippines	98.7 M	1834	18.6
59	Vietnam	90.4 M	1257	13.9
60	Bangladesh	150.0 M	1437	9.6
61	China	1350.7 M	1414	1.0

ChuckECheese

Dec 6, 2013

0

#67

Great stuff, watcha!

Cosmicaly_Religious

Jan 28, 2014

0

#68

Eastern Europe, India, and perhaps some Slavic nations consider chess as their favored sport.

ChuckECheese

Mar 13, 2014

0

#69

Dead_Assassin wrote:

Eastern Europe, India, and perhaps some Slavic nations consider chess as their favored sport.

I guess Norway is on that short list now too after Carlsen became world champ.

Jion_Wansu

Mar 13, 2014

0

#70

You forgot Germany on the short list

netzach

Mar 14, 2014

0

#71

And Scotland. Western Europe is a desert. Surprising since England are historically quite good at the game :)

ChuckECheese

Mar 14, 2014

0

#72

netzach wrote:

And Scotland. Western Europe is a desert. Surprising since England are historically quite good at the game :)

chess is big in scotland? didnt know that; thought it was same as england and everywhere else in UK

netzach

Mar 14, 2014

0

#73

We prefer football but it gets quite rainy. Then chess, scrabble, monopoly become important.

nerdsworth

Mar 28, 2014

0

#74

Chess is not that popular in Philippines IMO. Not many enthusiasts here, contrary to what some of you say, although many Filipinos do play the game, because as a 3rd world country, a big fraction of pinoys don't have cable tv, internet, etc., so chess is one of their cheap alternatives.

deeptak

Dec 18, 2014

0

#75

whoever says chess is popular in India is kidding themselves. I cant find people to play OTB unless I join a chess club. Its supposed to be more popular in Tamil Nadu but I havent been there, so cant be sure. Most poeple I know think of chess as any oter board game, like checkers or something. A few seem to know that the game has amazing depth, but dont play it.

bluejonz

Jan 14, 2018

0

#76

Women find strong chess men to be sexy

chachamf

Jan 14, 2018

0

#77

yaaas woman, you are excellent 😍

bluejonz

May 1, 2018

0

#78

madagascar

tipish

May 1, 2018

0

#79

deeptak wrote:

whoever says chess is popular in India is kidding themselves. I cant find people to play OTB unless I join a chess club. Its supposed to be more popular in Tamil Nadu but I havent been there, so cant be sure. Most poeple I know think of chess as any oter board game, like checkers or something. A few seem to know that the game has amazing depth, but dont play it.

there is one town in India that everybody is playing chess. I read it somewhere. maybe will give a google

the3answerr

May 1, 2018

0

#80

In Turkey too. There is 20k licanced chess player. And people can play chess everywhere in Turkey. I think Iceland learn chess seriously with Bobby Fischer.