Question on my Mind...

[Mark Howitt]

Yeah life's about doing what u want as much as possible...

[MJMcCready]

There is the added problem that many top level Grandmasters look down on other Grandmasters who have jobs still, and classify them as amateurs, as was the case, again, with Luke McShane, described by many as an amateur despite his rating and title.

Referring to Luke McShane as among the strongest amateurs is intended as a compliment. I would suspect he is not entirely amateur either (he presumably gets paid for his newspaper column). Whether or not he gets appearance money and so on is another matter. The term amateur is being used here to refer to the fact that he does not solely make a living from chess. I don't get the sense at all that other grandmasters look down on amateurs who have the GM title. They still fully respect the title and the chess, and are probably in some ways envious of those who have been able to take a different direction. When it comes to professional bodies (such as the PCA and ACP), whether they accept those who are not full-time professionals is another matter (did/do they?). Do chess journalists, for example, form their own professional bodies, or do they join associations or unions of journalists and similar?

It is a compliment yes but it was sometimes said in a disparaging way, for whatever reason. Like he's not part of the fold or something.

[Paul Heaton]

Because the real deal is... chess is v good mental training...

Prob helped GM Norwood get his skills to get nice and rich...

Well he was briefly part of the Bankers Trust intake of chess players. But from a 1996 interview with New in Chess : “Chess players are very guilty of the idea that because they are good at chess they can automatically transfer their skill to any other subject. Which is clearly nonsense. But certainly some of the qualities which are required to be a good chess player can be very useful in the world of business”.

[IM Jack Rudd]

Whether any given player is an amateur or a professional can be a tricky question; chess organizations tend not to make or rely on the distinction.

[MJMcCready]

They don't but there is snobbery in chess.

[Paul Heaton]

Whether any given player is an amateur or a professional can be a tricky question; chess organizations tend not to make or rely on the distinction.

If the distinction is having a full-time job outside of chess, LinkedIn shows this has not been the case with McShane for almost a decade.

[Ian Jamieson]

Whether any given player is an amateur or a professional can be a tricky question; chess organizations tend not to make or rely on the distinction.

That’s one of the reasons why I quoted what I believe is Jacob Aagaard’s definition.

[Joey Stewart]

With the current state of chess it would be borderline insanity for anyone young who is not destined for the upper echelons of the game to consider trying to make it a career:

Teaching is rewarding but unless you are a renowned coach or writer you are only looking at one or two sessions a week at best so you would pretty much have to run a school to make this viable.

Streaming was once a free market for all but has now been cornered by top GMs and 'celebrity' players - forget about making money from that, the market is oversaturated.

Playing is the biggest gamble of all, outside the very elite events prize money has barely changed in the last 40 years and the £200 for winning a weekender which would have been a sizeable prize in the 80s or 90s will now be evaporated by accomodation and travel costs + you HAVE to win every single time not to make a loss (conversely you could turn up to work at a regular job with a hangover, slack half the morning and still get paid the same as a great productive day)

[MJMcCready]

And lest us not forget, when chess players do enter into the world of work, it is not always by honest means and may elect to scam you instead if they can.

https://www.ftadviser.com/pensions/2019 ... am-banned/

[Mark Howitt]

Key thing I think which I need to make sure I do...

BALANCE...

TBH if someone offered me a great job paying loads of money I'd prob do that over playing much competitive otb chess lols...

Key thing for a lot of chess players- balancing time spent on chess for 'reward' you get from it.

[Mark Howitt]

BTW I hope I can personally ring up the ECF and try and negotiate an offer for my Bronze... never been a member before u see

[MJMcCready]

Good luck with that.

[Mark Howitt]

I think they should do since a number of freebies seem to be given out... I'm actually going to call them tomorrow anyways... will be first time I've done it.

[Stephen Westmoreland]

They are nice and helpful people staffing the phones Mark.. We are also talking £18 for a full year.

[Mark Howitt]

Mhm it also seems a lot of people are talking £0 for a full year...

We'll see what happens got lots of stuff to do yet either way going to phone them up to see how they are...