Originally posted by Will Everitt
Can grandmasters use grandmaster as a title instead or Mr. or Sir or whatever. For example does Garry Kasparov get his bills etc. as Grandmaster Kasparov Or GM. Kasparov
If so then I might set myself a little challenge to get a more interesting name...
This is the silliest thread I believe I have ever witnessed in the history of the internet. For one, grandmasters are not out to save lives like doctors! If anything, they're out to take lives by stressing the other player out. They get pleasure out of destroying another's intellect one moment at a time. If they didn't, they wouldn't be playing chess. Every chess nut has this fascination of bamboozling the other player whether it's through an aesthetically beautiful combination or just plain ol'e hack and slash. I would think it amazingly silly for a grandmaster to place GM before his name on his mail box! After all, the game of chess is art, science and then maybe a game. But, you didn't hear of Monet putting an artistic title in front of his name. You also didn't see Hugh Hefner calling himself Billionaire Hugh Hefner. And, you didn't see Picasso putting Great Artist Picasso on his mail box. Doctors have that title in front of their name because it signifies they truly have the experience to save lives. Mister is only a cordial title that can be traced as far back or farther than the medieval ages. These are titles that are helpful and most needed, whether it be for identification or respect. Yes, in the chess world, Kasparov is referred to as GM Garry Kasparov. But, in the real world, he's only a chess player. I once tested the point. I have asked some random people if they knew who was in the picture I was holding. It was of Bobby Fischer. Ironically, many non-chessplayers know the name Bobby Fischer to be associated with chess. But, when you show them a picture, they don't even know the young face of Fischer. Only when he was on the news as an old man do they recognize the old countenance. And, also, only the baby boomers seem to clearly identify Fischer of the 1960s. My mother is 59 and she remembers when he played Spassky. But, let's get real. Most people think chess is boring except for people like us. LOL