Visibility and sponsorship

The U.S. Chess Federation announced yesterday the first of four wildcard entrants into the 2010 U.S. Championships. Twenty of twenty four slots are filled by players who qualified either by winning designated tournaments or by virtue of their high rating; the other four slots go to players deemed deserving of a chance to participate. The first such player was none other than radio personality Howard Stern.

The USCF message boards were aflame with debate over the appropriateness of the choice. Detractors argued that inviting an unaccomplished player like Stern, whose rating of 1620 is more than a thousand points too low for him to qualify by merit, would cheapen participation in the event. Supporters pointed out that Stern's participation would bring more publicity to the event than any advertising campaign ever could.

The announcement turned out to be an April Fool's joke (though Stern does play tournament chess), but it's actually not such a bad idea. Inviting a player with the celebrity and public following that Stern possesses would do wonders for returning chess to the public consciousness. This is, I believe, a necessary precondition for securing long-term corporate sponsorship. American chess in the post-Fischer era suffers on two fronts: Lack of visibility and lack of sponsorship. Sustained growth is impossible until these conditions are remedied. With any luck, this year's joke will be next year's reality.