In my 34 years in chess, I have been asked tens and thousands of questions in countless interviews, lectures and seminars, etc. One of the most popular questions of in the last few years is about this blog. The common questions are why did I create it, why do I devote so much time to this blog, how do I pick the stories / items to post and why don’t I commercialize it?
I did answer these questions a number of times but I will repeat my answers again.
1. Why did I start this blog?
I am not only a professional player, I am also a chess enthusiast. I would like to know what is going on in the chess world. I was tired of waiting forever for chess news. It was too slow and too few to come by. On top of that, there were so many factual errors. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and created a chess news center. Just as in chess, to be a champion or be the best, you have to love what you do. You also have to be patient and very diligent. I made a commitment to excellence in everything I do and this blog represents how I approach life. I also want to prove that chess players do not have to be single dimensional. I am a chess player, chess Mom, chess coach, business woman, chess journalist, chess commentator, chess promoter, chess organizer and now I run SPICE. As I said many times before, you can do anything you wish if you set your mind to it.
2. How do I pick the stories / items to post?
Easy! I absolute despise negativity, gossip, and dirt (no offense to Mig – He is my friend and he is a very creative writer). People say negative stuff sells. I disagree and I intend to prove it. I will post anything and everything that is positive and good for the game I love. I am determined to promote chess positively and to my standard. If people do not like it then they can find chess news elsewhere. I am very thankful for having an excellent team of supporters.
3. Why don’t I commercialize this blog?
Because this is my contribution to the chess community! This blog is not about money. It is about promoting chess. Many people send in materials for this blog because they have the same vision. I am proud of what I have created and it will stay this way. I do not pay anyone and I do not charge anyone for posting anything. This is how it will be.
Don’t change your way and don’t let the slime balls intimidate you. There’re many of us who fully support you. Thanks for everything that you do for chess. They don’t hold a candle to you.
Javier
Keep up the good work mi lady.
“Not everything is about money”. I am not 100% sure about this statement. I do not question your love and enthusiasm for chess of course, however, you didn’t need to write what you wrote in point #3, because it is not true. What do I mean? This blog serves as a way for promoting yourself, for letting people know that you are there, you do this and that, etc. This blog has become a very strong means of advertisement for you, isn’t that correct? More people get to know about you, more people will pay you money to have chess lessons with you, Universities will give you a job, etc.
Of course I don’t mean that you didn’t earn all of this with your skills and abilities. This is undoubtful, and no one could question that. But you don’t need to write things like you did in point #3. It is written in a way like you only give and do not expect or don’t want anything in return. And I believe this is not the case. I don’t mean that what you do is not 100% legitimate, but you are also not being 100% truthful I think. Maybe it wasn’t your intention when you started the blog, but this is how it has evolved right now, at least in my eyes.
In any case, keep up the good work, because it really is good work.
Well, anyway, you’re currently mentioned in an Aussie paper.
– TCG
ioannis, she has the right to make money in chess. that’s her profession. she doesn’t generate money from posting on her blog. i applaud her effort and we should all appreciate it.
I follow 4 chess websites: This blog, chessbase, chessville and twic. The NY Times blog has become too trashy lately. Others are just so so.
@anonymous 2:23:00: I specifically wrote that she earned all her success and of course it is completely lawful of her to make as much money as she wants. I didn’t say that she makes money by posting in her blog, I said that the blog serves (apart from pure chess enthusiasm of course) as a means of her promotion, i.e. it helps her earn more money. Again this is completely lawful and it takes skill to achieve, however she implied that this blog is kinda like “a favour” (gift) to the chess community. But something is a gift only if you don’t get anything in return.
I forgot to sign the comment above, I apologize.
“no offense to Mig” Why no offense? If they are promoting something you hate and are disgusted with, bring’em down. Strange friendship, indeed.
Susan,
Thank you so much for this labor of love. This is my number chess website. I check it at least once per day. It opens my eyes to chess news and events in the state and aboard. I send the link of this blog to all my chess friends.
Your new video — “My Brillant Brain” — is a must see!
Keep up the good work! S&P.
The commercial interest is definitely there but we will tolerate that for the general good will this blog promotes; unless your name initials are S.S.: which is almost a four letter word here :).
Susan,
What you do for chess is incredible and i just want to thank you for everything , ( like posting my chess poem last year!)
i remain a big fan as i will forever.
love from australia!
-Bryce
ioannis
made a good point.
Susan, you should be more carefull, otherwise you will loose credibility.
Pali
omg, ok stop jumping on every litle mistake this lady makes!
and anyway susan did not start this blog to promote herself or gain money, but now becouse this site is now so successful ofcourse its going to help her, but she cant prevent success coming her way, can she????
P.S i got your back susan!
maybe “doing something for free” is just unconcevaible to some “american-born” minds.
ioannis said…
….you didn’t need to write what you wrote in point #3, because it is not true. What do I mean? This blog serves as a way for promoting yourself, for letting people know that you are there,…. Maybe it wasn’t your intention when you started the blog, but this is how it has evolved right now, at least in my eyes.
Based on your line of thinking, any person who does any good to anyone, could be accused of doing it for whatever selfish reasons, if for nothing else, he or she will “feel better”. That is the classic case of why people give money to beggars. I am a goal oriented person. The beggar needs the money, and the bottom line is that the one who gives is better than the one who doesn’t (from the standpoint of the goal).
Same here. We have an unprecedented blog, personally handled by a world champion of chess. And it is free. What else do you want? I find it sad, that in our financially oriented world, people can’t even imagine that someone like Susan could do an unselfish act, such as this. But your own words contradict your own assumption, since if it is true that “Maybe it wasn’t your intention when you started the blog,” than you have absolutely zero possible complaint or valid criticism about item #3
Gabor
This is in response to the comment of Ioannis in this thread:
Ioannis says: “Something is a gift only if you don’t get anything in return”
So what about the concept of exchange of gift? Suppose A gives B a gift and B, pleased, later gives a gift to A – Does it mean that A did not give a ‘Gift’ to B and it was A’s calculated move and pre-existing intention of a give-and-take business transaction?
I think more appropriate idea can be: “Something is a gift if you don’t intend or calculate to get anything in return”. In that case, I presume it is improper to judge others’ intention unless there is clear indication.
Gabor said…
Based on your line of thinking, any person who does any good to anyone, could be accused of doing it for whatever selfish reasons, if for nothing else, he or she will “feel better”.
Of course this is not what I said or implied. I specifically pointed out the indirect *material* gain from this “good deed”. People have blogs and contribute to different things without ever mentioning their real name for instance, or if they mention their name, they never mention their business activities. Again, I say for one more time: **there is nothing wrong in having direct or indirect personal gains from a blog**, what someone could find not straightfoward is the pretension that this thing isn’t actually happening.
I find it sad, that in our financially oriented world, people can’t even imagine that someone like Susan could do an unselfish act, such as this. But your own words contradict your own assumption, since if it is true that “Maybe it wasn’t your intention when you started the blog,” than you have absolutely zero possible complaint or valid criticism about item #3
I don’t see any contradiction in what I said. Susan is talking what the blog is about, and I believe she refers to the present, not the past.
kingsolomon wrote…
I think more appropriate idea can be: “Something is a gift if you don’t intend or calculate to get anything in return”. In that case, I presume it is improper to judge others’ intention unless there is clear indication.
I agree 100% with your redefinition of the word “gift”. I also agree 100% with the second sentence. However, it can be also considered “improper” to turn a blind eye to which purposes a blog or a web site can have.
anonymous wrote…
maybe “doing something for free” is just unconcevaible to some “american-born” minds.
If you are referring to me, my name is an indication that I am neither “american-born” nor american-related. Wouldn’t that be a good reason to actually *make* a comment like the one I did?
In response to some other comments who try to make political significance about my posts (from either side), please, not everything is about politics. A plain blog reader can have his own opinion, he doesn’t need patronage from one side or the other, thank you very much. It’s just a friendly opinion exchange among adults, nothing more nothing less. Well-meant criticism is what makes people better.
Ah – sorry that appeared twice. Bit of a glitch here.