Graduation Year
2023
Date of Submission
12-2023
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
International Relations
Reader 1
Peter Uvin
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
Julia C Schulman
Abstract
This paper seeks to explore the reason behind the uneven geographic distribution of top chess grandmasters. FIDE rating data, country data, and survey data given to chess grandmasters are gathered to determine the validity of the hypothesis: That the two main influences in whether a country has a higher or lower number (and percentage) of top grandmasters are chess culture and federation/government support. The research tests the correlation between several variables and explores whether or not there is quantitative and qualitative support for this assumption. Individual studies in the latter end of this paper explore the countries on a case-by-case basis to explore the factors that aren’t immediately visible when observing the data alone
Recommended Citation
Schulman, Julia C., "Positional Advantage: Factors Behind the Uneven Geographic Distribution of Top Chess Players" (2023). CMC Senior Theses. 3517.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3517
