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Comment by andrzejkrzywda | Hacker News Reader

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andrzejkrzywda·

This kind of chess battle doesn't happen very often. We can compare it to Fisher-Spasski or Kasparov-Karpov.

If Carslen wins, this will be a generation change in the chess world.

Given the popularity of chess in Asia, it is estimated that about a billion of people are following this match[1].

[1] http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2013-11/14/mag...

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It is insane that chess is a worldwide sport/game and still Carlsen only made about $1.2 million USD last year(a lot for me and anyone else I know but for a professional competitor it is quite low). For a sport that a billion people watch you'd think there would be a lot more sponsorships, media attention, etc. It seems professional eating has more invested in it.

Provided the Wikipedia article is correct.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Carlsen

Probably has a bit to do with the fact that Carlsen doesn't care about money, he only cares about chess. There was a tournament recently where he was offered a draw during the match, taking the draw would be a sure way for him to win the tournament and win the 1. place price money. He didn't, he went into an all in fight to win instead (risking his 1. place) - and pulled it off. Also, his father takes cares of his finances so that he doesn't have to deal with it, AFAIK.

That is very honorable. Carlsen is one impressive man. I hope he wins - his attitude and his energy seem to be revitalizing the sport, even here in the States.

It's not that. It's just that Chess is a hard business to monetize.

Well, in my view that win also sent a message to Anand - perhaps that factored into the decision.

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