Welcome to ChessTalk readers! (Feb 2003)

Introduction

When Camille Coudari called me in 1979 to suggest splitting the bill to find out how many chess players there are in Canada, it seemed like a good idea. And it was, but I am not sure if anybody has accomplished great things with its help. Chess is a large, demographically attractive market. Yet despite the passage of two decades, the market remains relatively untapped. In Canada, corporate sponsors for chess are few.

The results, which were pretty exciting, were widely circulated. But they seem to have been forgotten. So I have spent a few hours turning the poll into a web page. May it serve you well.

Chess Federation of Canada
Media Release

23 November 1979

Chess is the second most popular sport in Canada.

The Chess Federation of Canada and the Fédération québécoise des échecs jointly commissioned a Gallup study of Canadians. The question was: "How often do you play the game of chess?"

Over twenty percent of those questioned -- a representative sample of Canadians aged 15 and above -- said that they played chess at least once a year.

How does that compare with other activities?

The 1976 Fitness and Sport survey by the Federal Government asked the same question about other sports. The results were:

Swimming	32%
Ice Skating	17%
Tennis	13%
Golf	11%
Ice Hockey	8%
Cross-Country Skiing	8%
Alpine/Downhill Skiing	7%
Curling	5%

At 20.5%, Chess would rank as the second most popular sport in Canada.

Chess also stands up well against other cultural activities. The 1972 Leisure Study asked Canadians which activities they had taken part in during the previous three months.

Watch Television	94%
Listen to Radio	70%
Read	70%
Listen to Records	50%
Attend Movies	35%
Attend Sports Events	23%
Take part in Sports	23%
Take part in physical activity	20%
Visit Art Galleries, Museums, Historical Sites	13%
Attend non-Classical Music	13%
Attend other live shows	11%
Attend live Theatre	10%
Attend Classical Music	6%
Attend Opera	2%
Attend Ballet	1%

On the same basis, 11% of Canadians play Chess once every three months or more often.

The future for Chess is even brighter. 42% of Canadians aged 15-18 play chess at least once a year. Chess teaches logic, patience and perseverance; young people who take up chess will eventually return with interest the efforts they make today.

Chess is called a sport in most parts of the world. Canada's national obsession is classification. Is it a provincial or a federal matter? Is it an art, sport, science or recreation? Chess is a sport because its salient element is a clean fight. A top-level chess game can burn up as much energy as several rounds of boxing; the preparation and physical conditioning required are no less onerous. Mens sana in corpore sano (Healthy mind, healthy body) works both ways.

The Gallup Poll Results

Notes

The results are all by Gallup, the notes are by me.

In Canada, if you play more chess, you tend to be male, under 30, white collar, urban, do not have English as your mother tongue, have higher education, and have moderate or high income. In bold are the tendencies that are more pronounced. That's in the year 1979. Extrapolate at your own risk.

The groups most likely not to play chess at all -- both over 90% -- are those with only public school education, and persons 50 years of age and up.

Most likely to play at least once a week are those with university education and those aged 15 to 17. That's an interesting combo, as the two sets don't overlap much! But among those who play at least a few times a month, the age group 18 to 29 leads all other groups by a wide margin.

Weighting of Averages

Play Chess how often	Weight given by Gallup	J.Berry suggests
At least once a week	4.0	4.0
A few times a month	2.0	2.0
Once a month	1.0	1.0
Once every 3 months	0.3	0.33
Once every 6 months	0.6	0.17
Once a year	0.1	0.1
Less often than once a year	0.0	0.05
Do Not Play Chess	0.0	0.0

The Average in each table is a weighted average.

It gives an idea of the number of times a month a person in the category plays chess, excluding "Not Stated".

The weights applied by Gallup, especially for the once every six months option, are screwy. In the third column, I provide suggested weights, but the averages in the tables are those calculated by Gallup.

The tables list the numbers who refused to answer the question about chess, but not listed are those who refused to answer a demographic question, but still answered the chess question. In particular, 536 persons, 23% of the total, refused to tell Gallup their income. I have added a column for that. Otherwise, if you see something suspicious, write me.

Frequency of Playing Chess by Region

Chess is most popular in B.C., Ontario, and Québec, with Québec's the most enthusiastic.

1979 Canadian Gallup Poll #430-C&D	Total	Atlantic	Quebec	Ontario	Prairies	B.C.
Average	0.21	0.13	0.26	0.21	0.15	0.22
Total Interviews	2331 100.0	249 100.0	638 100.0	848 100.0	388 100.0	208 100.0
At least once a week	49 2.1	4 1.7	23 3.6	14 1.7	3 0.8	5 2.3
A few times a month	56 2.4	2 0.9	18 2.8	25 2.9	5 1.2	6 3.0
Once a month	70 3.0	6 2.5	14 2.2	31 3.6	15 3.8	4 1.9
Once every 3 months	84 3.6	4 1.6	28 4.4	38 4.5	8 2.0	6 2.7
Once every 6 months	104 4.5	4 1.6	22 3.4	41 4.8	25 6.5	12 5.9
Once a year	116 5.0	5 1.8	26 4.1	43 5.1	28 7.1	14 6.9
Less often than once a year	178 7.7	18 7.3	24 3.8	83 9.8	31 8.1	21 10.3
Do Not Play Chess	1664 71.4	205 82.6	483 75.6	564 66.4	272 70.2	139 67.0
Not Stated	10 0.4			9 1.1	1 0.2

Frequency of Playing Chess by Age

Chess is most popular among the young.

1979 Canadian Gallup Poll #430-C&D	Total	15-17	18-29	30-49	50+
Average	0.21	0.35	0.36	0.18	0.04
Total Interviews	2331 100.0	193 100.0	676 100.0	739 100.0	694 100.0
At least once a week	49 2.1	7 3.7	24 3.6	15 2.0	2 0.3
A few times a month	56 2.4	7 3.7	34 5.0	11 1.6	3 0.4
Once a month	70 3.0	6 3.3	39 5.8	18 2.5	6 0.9
Once every 3 months	84 3.6	18 9.5	37 5.4	23 3.1	5 0.7
Once every 6 months	104 4.5	13 6.6	42 6.3	40 5.4	8 1.2
Once a year	116 5.0	24 12.2	54 7.9	35 4.7	3 0.4
Less often than once a year	178 7.7	8 4.1	73 10.8	64 8.6	33 4.8
Do Not Play Chess	1664 71.4	104 53.8	373 55.3	532 71.9	631 90.8
Not Stated	10 0.4	6 3.1		1 0.1	3 0.5

Frequency of Playing Chess by Gender

Chess is more popular among men, but a surprising 13.2% of women play at least once a year. While the most avid men outnumber women 5 to 1 in the survey, men outnumber women 50 to 1 in tournament play in Canada.

1979 Canadian Gallup Poll #430-C&D	Total	Male	Female
Average	0.21	0.30	0.11
Total Interviews	2331 100.0	1166 100.0	1165 100.0
At least once a week	49 2.1	40 3.5	8 0.7
A few times a month	56 2.4	35 3.0	21 1.8
Once a month	70 3.0	41 3.6	29 2.5
Once every 3 months *	84 3.6	67 5.8	16 1.4
Once every 6 months	104 4.5	70 6.0	34 2.9
Once a year	116 5.0	79 6.7	37 3.2
Less often than once a year	178 7.7	118 10.1	61 5.2
Do Not Play Chess	1664 71.4	713 61.1	951 81.6
Not Stated	10 0.4	3 0.2	8 0.6

* 67 + 16 = 83, not 84.

Frequency of Playing Chess by Occupation

Chess is more popular among White Collar workers.

1979 Canadian Gallup Poll #430-C&D	Total	Prof/Exec	Sales/Cler	Labour	Other
Average	0.21	0.30	0.27	0.20	0.11
Total Interviews	2331 100.0	471 100.0	313 100.0	853 100.0	639 100.0
At least once a week	49 2.1	14 3.0	8 2.4	19 2.2	7 1.1
A few times a month	56 2.4	20 4.2	11 3.6	17 2.0	7 1.2
Once a month	70 3.0	16 3.4	12 3.9	25 2.9	14 2.2
Once every 3 months	84 3.6	21 4.4	19 6.0	33 3.9	11 1.7
Once every 6 months	104 4.5	29 6.2	19 6.1	42 4.9	12 1.8
Once a year	116 5.0	32 6.9	17 5.3	40 4.7	25 3.9
Less often than once a year	178 7.7	47 10.0	27 8.7	70 8.2	32 5.0
Do Not Play Chess	1664 71.4	290 61.5	200 63.7	607 71.2	525 82.1
Not Stated	10 0.4	2 0.5	1 0.3	1 0.1	6 0.9

Frequency of Playing Chess by Mother Tongue

More English-speaking people play chess, but the French-speaking people who do play, play much more often.

1979 Canadian Gallup Poll #430-C&D	Total	English	French	Other
Average	0.21	0.18	0.26	0.22
Total Interviews	2331 100.0	1402 100.0	642 100.0	287 100.0
At least once a week	49 2.1	19 1.3	22 3.4	8 2.8
A few times a month	56 2.4	31 2.2	21 3.3	4 1.4
Once a month	70 3.0	43 3.0	16 2.4	12 4.3
Once every 3 months	84 3.6	49 3.5	25 3.9	10 3.5
Once every 6 months	104 4.5	76 5.4	15 2.3	13 4.5
Once a year	116 5.0	83 5.9	23 3.6	10 3.4
Less often than once a year	178 7.7	140 10.0	23 3.6	15 5.4
Do Not Play Chess	1664 71.4	955 68.1	495 77.1	213 74.1
Not Stated	10 0.4	7 0.5	2 0.2	1 0.4

Frequency of Playing Chess by Community Size

Chess is more popular in city than in town or country.

1979 Canadian Gallup Poll #430-C&D	Total	Over 100 K	10-100 K	Under 10,000
Average	0.21	0.28	0.15	0.11
Total Interviews	2331 100.0	1208 100.0	352 100.0	771 100.0
At least once a week	49 2.1	41 3.4	4 1.1	4 0.5
A few times a month	56 2.4	26 3.0	4 1.2	16 2.1
Once a month	70 3.0	44 3.7	12 3.4	14 1.8
Once every 3 months	84 3.6	47 3.9	17 4.7	21 2.7
Once every 6 months	104 4.5	67 5.5	18 5.2	19 2.5
Once a year	116 5.0	60 5.0	16 4.7	40 5.1
Less often than once a year	178 7.7	102 8.4	30 8.6	46 6.0
Do Not Play Chess	1664 71.4	808 66.9	250 70.9	606 78.5
Not Stated	10 0.4	4 0.3	1 0.2	5 0.7

Frequency of Playing Chess by Education

Chess is more popular among those with higher education. One-third of those with University education play at least once a year.

1979 Canadian Gallup Poll #430-C&D	Total	Public	High	University
Average	0.21	0.06	0.22	0.34
Total Interviews	2331 100.0	431 100.0	1605 100.0	288 100.0
At least once a week	49 2.1	4 0.9	33 2.1	11 3.7
A few times a month	56 2.4	0 0.0	47 2.9	10 3.3
Once a month	70 3.0	5 1.1	49 3.1	16 5.7
Once every 3 months	84 3.6	7 1.7	61 3.8	14 4.8
Once every 6 months	104 4.5	4 1.0	75 4.7	25 8.5
Once a year	116 5.0	5 1.3	89 5.6	20 7.1
Less often than once a year	178 7.7	11 2.5	121 7.5	46 15.8
Do Not Play Chess	1664 71.4	392 90.9	1122 69.9	157 51.1
Not Stated	10 0.4	3 0.6	7 0.5

Frequency of Playing Chess by Income

Chess is more popular among higher income groups. One-quarter of those who earned $20,000 or more play at least once a year. These are 1979 figures, so to extrapolate to 2000, you'd have to at least double the income brackets.

1979 Canadian Gallup Poll #430-C&D	Total	Under 10K	10K - 15K	15K - 20K	20K and up	Did not say *
Average	0.21	0.09	0.21	0.20	0.25	0.22
Total Interviews	2331 100.0	369 100.0	328 100.0	323 100.0	775 100.0	541 100.0
At least once a week	49 2.1	2 0.6	6 1.9	5 1.6	22 2.9	14 2.6
A few times a month	56 2.4	4 1.1	10 3.2	11 3.5	19 2.5	12 2.2
Once a month	70 3.0	10 2.7	10 3.1	10 3.1	26 3.3	14 2.6
Once every 3 months	84 3.6	9 2.5	13 4.1	7 2.2	32 4.2	23 4.3
Once every 6 months	104 4.5	4 1.2	14 4.3	12 3.8	48 6.2	26 4.8
Once a year	116 5.0	13 3.6	10 3.0	20 6.3	46 5.9	27 5.0
Less often than once a year	178 7.7	12 3.2	20 6.2	26 8.2	86 11.1	34 6.3
Do Not Play Chess	1664 71.4	313 84.9	242 73.9	229 71.0	493 63.5	387 71.5
Not Stated	10 0.4	1 0.2	1 0.3	1 0.4	3 0.4	4 0.7

* The did not say column was worked out by Jonathan Berry. The rest comes from Gallup.

Working backwards, one might try to guess the income of those who refused to say it. From their enthusiasm for chess, their income looks to me like about $17,500.

CFC Chess Federation of Canada
FQE Fédération québécoise des échecs
Chess as a Sport in the United Kingdom.
Jonathan Berry home

Send email to:
Jonathan Berry, web-butler jberry@islandnet.com

URL: This web page is:
http://members.shaw.ca/berry5868/gall.htm
Last modified February 9, 2005