As an American myself, it pains me to write such an editorial, but what follows is entirely true. There has been only ONE American (Robert Fischer) as World Champion since 1862 -- that's right 1862. The first reason is that we Americans are LAZY. Overweight and obese people abound here in America. "HEY, chess is a mind game, it doesn't matter how FAT the person is", is what you're saying. True to a degree. But obesity equals lack of discipline, lack of self control, lack of focus. When is the last time a person with no discipline, self control, or focus became the world champ of ANYTHING?
Secondly, we Americans have a sense of ENTITLEMENT about us (BLAME OUR PARENTS). We don't want to work for anything. We expect things handed to us on a silver platter. That's why the Lottery/Gambling generates BILLIONS of dollars per year. That's why you can sue and win 1.5 million if your car gets wrongly painted at the repair shop, or you too can get 6 million dollars from a bicycle company because they failed to mention that reflectors dont PREVENT accidents-- so he turns off his bike lights and gets hit, no permanent injuries but 6 million $$ richer. We want the quick fix--free money--free anything--instant success.
Thirdly, YOUNG Americans are not smart, as a whole, compared to other countries. BLAME THE PARENTS and the EDUCATION SYSTEM. Most parents of preschool kids shuffle them off to daycare at 7:00 AM and pick them up at 5:00 PM. They're in bed by 8:00 PM--3 whole hours with their parents--WOW!!! These types of SELFISH parents will never be up for parent of the year, and if I had my way I'd arrest them for NEGLECT. Why even have kids if both parents have to work to support them? The formative young years are the MOST important to a young child--BE THERE FOR THEM. School aged Americans are routinely in the lower percentile in Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic and that's where the school system FAILS. I was just at a store the other day and the cashier (a 16 or 17 year old) had to use a calculator to subtract 12 from 44. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!!??? If a 16 year old cant subtract 12 from 44 and get 32, then what is wrong with Americans??? (Heck, even I added 1+10 and got 10 in my last post, I surely cannot take 100% blame for that) Kids graduate from school and enter college and dont even know the difference from to, two, and too--then or than--lose or loose. WHAT??? I have seen college aged ADULTS spell with the accuracy of 9 year olds. How did they get through the system? How did they pass? Well, the USA Education system pushed them through. Below average was more than enough to graduate them. Grades were inflated to make both the system look good and make the teachers look good. Look how "smart" my students are--90% of them got A's. Better grades equates to a better wage, ya know. HA!!! Remember, this is America looked at as a whole. The BIG picture.
Fourth, we put more emphasis on throwing a ball through a hoop or hitting a ball out of the ballpark than being smart. Listen to any U.S. Pro sports athlete speak and you'll wonder if their IQ is the same as their age. Who cares if he sounds like a MORON, he didnt even have to graduate college and got drafted into the NFL, now he makes 15 million a year by catching an oblong ball and trying to run to the other end of the field without falling down for 3 hours a week. THE AMERICAN DREAM.
We Americans have a few strong points, but Chess will never be one of them. We will produce great chess players, no doubt, but we will never see another Bobby Fischer again.
SCHOLARLY Links to Factual Statistics:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/Obesity/trend/maps/index.htm
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=1
http://www.assetprotectioncorp.com/stupidlawsuits.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/2008/
I think Steinitz considered himself to be an American when he became World Champion in 1886, though officially he didn't become an American citizen until a few years later.
> When is the last time a person with no discipline, self control, or focus became the world champ of ANYTHING?
I'm a big fan of boxing. Quite a few boxers have become World Champion by pure ability and had little or no self discipline. All of them reigned for a very short time. The true greats, e.g. Louis, Ali, Robinson etc. all had great discipline and focus as well as natural talent. Of course it's in the nature of the sport that there have been many more boxing World Champions than their have been chess World Champions.
I once made a cynical remark about Americans and a Canadian pulled me up with these words:
"Prejudice is prejudice, just because it's anti American doesn't make it right."
I had to agree.
Curiously, I reckon that if you replace the word American with any other group of people then this thread would removed.
Anyhow this is a debate. Maybe it should move to the debates section.
Originally posted by cheater1not again 😲
As an American myself, it pains me to write such an editorial, but what follows is entirely true. There has been only ONE American (Robert Fischer) as World Champion since 1862 -- that's right 1862. The first reason is that we Americans are LAZY. Overweight and obese people abound here in America. "HEY, chess is a mind game, it doesn't matter how FAT the pe ...[text shortened]... idlawsuits.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/2008/
What he meant to say was...
As an American myself, it pains me to write such an editorial, but what follows is entirely true. There has been only ONE American (Robert Fischer) as World Champion since 1862 -- that's right 1862. The first reason is that we Americans are LAZY (I AM AN AMERICAN, I TOO AM LAZY) . Overweight and obese people abound here in America (I AM AN AMERICAN, I TOO AM OBESE). "HEY, chess is a mind game, it doesn't matter how FAT the person is", is what you're saying. True to a degree. But obesity equals lack of discipline, lack of self control, lack of focus. When is the last time a person with no discipline, self control, or focus became the world champ of ANYTHING? I DON’T KNOW EITHER, BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER BEEN A CHAMPION, LACKING ALL OF THESE QUALITIES AS WELL
Secondly, we Americans have a sense of ENTITLEMENT about us (BLAME OUR PARENTS – I BLAME MINE). We don't want to work for anything. We expect things handed to us on a silver platter. That's why the Lottery/Gambling generates BILLIONS of dollars per year. That's why you can sue and win 1.5 million if your car gets wrongly painted at the repair shop, or you too can get 6 million dollars from a bicycle company because they failed to mention that reflectors dont PREVENT accidents-- so he turns off his bike lights and gets hit, no permanent injuries but 6 million $$ richer. We want the quick fix--free money--free anything--instant success. I DO TOO, THAT’S WHY I CHEATED AT CHESS TO WIN THE WORLD CHESS CHEATING CHAMPIONSHIP IN MY OWN MIND
Thirdly, YOUNG Americans are not smart ( I AM NOT THAT YOUNG ANYMORE, BUT ONCE I WAS YOUNG AND NOT SMART&hellip😉, as a whole, compared to other countries. BLAME THE PARENTS and the EDUCATION SYSTEM (I NEVER WENT TO SCHOOL). Most parents of preschool kids shuffle them off to daycare at 7:00 AM and pick them up at 5:00 PM. They're in bed by 8:00 PM--3 whole hours with their parents--WOW!!! These types of SELFISH parents will never be up for parent of the year, and if I had my way I'd arrest them for NEGLECT. Why even have kids if both parents have to work to support them? I DON’T KNOW WHY MINE EVER HAD ME!!!The formative young years are the MOST important to a young child--BE THERE FOR THEM, IF YOU DON’T, YOUR CHILD COULD END UP LIKE ME. School aged Americans are routinely in the lower percentile in Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic and that's where the school system FAILS (REMEMBER I NEVER WENT TO SCHOOL). I was just at a store the other day and the cashier (a 16 or 17 year old) had to use an abacus to subtract 12 from 44. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!!??? If a 16 year old cant subtract 12 from 44 and get 87, then what is wrong with Americans??? (Heck, even I added 1+10 and got 57 in my last post, I surely cannot take 100% blame for that) Kids graduate from school and enter college and dont even know the difference from to, four, and an elephant--then or than--lose or louse. WHAT??? NEVER MIND, I’M JUST TRYING TO WORK OUT WHAT I WROTE - I have seen college aged ADULTS spel witth the ackuracy of nyne yeer olds. How did they get through the system? How did they pass? REMEMBER I NEVER WENT TO SCHOOL Well, the USA Education system pushed them through. Below average was more than enough to graduate them. Grades were inflated to make both the system look good and make the teachers look good. Look how "smart" my students are--90% of them got A's. Better grades equates to a better wage, ya know. HA!!! Remember, this is America looked at as a whole. The BIG picture. ME. IT’S ALL ABOUT ME.
Fourth, we put more emphasis on throwing a ball through a hoop or hitting a ball out of the ballpark than being smart. MAN, CAN I THRROW A BALL THROUGH A HOOP, THOUGH I USE A COMPUTER TO HELP ME. Listen to any U.S. Pro sports athlete speak and you'll wonder if their IQ is the same as their age. Who cares if he sounds like a MORON, he didnt even have to graduate college and got drafted into the NFL, now he makes 15 million a year by catching an oblong ball and trying to run to the other end of the field without falling down for 3 hours a week. THE AMERICAN DREAM. MY DREAM. LIVE IT. BREATHE IT. WITH ME. FOREVER.
We Americans have a few strong points (ONLY KIDDING), but Chess will never be one of them (THOUGH I DON’T REALLY PLAY THE GAME). We will produce great chess players, no doubt, but we will never see another Bobby Fischer again.
SCHOLARLY Links to Factual Statistics:
http://WWW.ISPOUTRUBBISH.COM
http://WWW.IGNOREME.CO.UK
http://WWW.INYOURFACE.COM
http://WWW.WASTEOFTIME.COM
Apologies to any Americans, or obese people offended by my editing.
Saffa73
Once again,typical wrong generalization from thread poster,as a U.S.A. citizen I am not lazy fat obese or unwilling to work hard for what I have and will have in the future,and it is precisely these attributes which have in themselves led this great nation to be the envy of the civilized world in its industrial agricultural scientific and intellectual output which far exceeds that of all other nations.Present economic hardships aside,which are for the most part the result of global governmental disregard for the economic well being of ordinary people,and individual personal greed in the U.S.A. and elsewhere worldwide. The vast majority of Americans are not atal as described,far from it! As to the chance of yet another American becoming world chess champion,that is no more than a speculative possibility and the probability is far too fluid to acurrately make any such assessment,one way or the other for now.😉
Of course it is!Look at Romania as an example of a small country population,it is not population in my own opinion which determines world champions,it is the ability of the players from whatever country they may originate from. Scotland for example has consistently provided the worlds best engineers throughout history, and has invented more modern everyday inventions than any other nation including telephone and television,and yet today has little more than five million people. National population is not decisive,individual ability is!-----------😉