I am interested in the demographics of tournament chess players in the
United States.  How many are there?  What is their age distribution? 
Average income and average chess-related spending would be great to
know as well.

The United States Chess Federation (USCF) has 80,000 members
(http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/section_39.php). However, there are
many competitive chess players who aren't members of the USCF.  Based
on my own observations, many competitive chess players are children.

I am not looking for purely recreactional players, rather players who
participate in tournaments and spend money on the game.  The
information will be used in a chess-related business plan

<Chess Player Demographics.

According to the USCF there are 90,000 active tournament players.
Source: USCF.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA421026.html

However if the results of the 2004 chess player survey are applied to
the total number of chess players in the US (45 million) this gives
the following results:
3% or 1.35 million describe themselves as pros.
39% or 17.55 million describe themselves as tourney players.
4% or 1.8 million play tournaments several times a month.
15% or 6.75 million play tournaments every other month or so.
50% or 22.5 million play tournaments a few times a year.
30% or 13.5 million never play tournament.

2004 chess player survey results.
I play OTB chess in rated tournaments.
Several times a month ? 4%
Every other month or so ? 15%
A few times a year ? 50%
Never ? 30%
http://home.comcast.net/~zugz/SurveyResults/ResultsMainPageWith2Frames.htm

Respondent demographics
Age
17 and under 4%
18 to 25 11%
26 to 40 30%
41 to 55 38%
56 and over16%

Sex
Male 93%
Female 3%

Type of player
Casual 23%
Club 31%
Tourney 39%
Pro 4%

The vast majority of respondents live in the United States. The site
also gives a breakdown of where they live by state.
http://home.comcast.net/~zugz/SurveyResults/ResultsMainPageWith2Frames.htm

Chess is played by 39 million people in the US.
Source: US Chess Federation
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2003_Dec_2/ai_110742292

Of the 40 million chess players in the US, only 40 are grandmasters.
http://www.utdallas.edu/news/archive/2002/chessrivalry.html


There are more than 45 million play chess in the US. Half are children.
Source: Cindy Hsu. CBS-2.
http://wcn.tentonhammer.com/print.php?sid=692

7.5 percent of chess players in the US are women.
Source: Chess Glass Ceiling. Shoba Narayan.
http://www.research.ibm.com/deepblue/home/may08/story_3.html


In the US there are 45 million chess players.
Source: Susan Polger.
http://lifestylesmagazine.com/Lifestyle_02-2005_003.html


More than a million schoolchildren play chess in the United States. Of
these only 50,000 have any connection with the federation.

An average adult tournament attracts 50 players whereas scholastic
national events have between 2,000 and 3,000 people.

60% of the US Chess Federations members are 14 or younger. 
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E0D61339F934A1575BC0A9659C8B63

36,000 children are members of the U.S. Chess Federation. 
Source: U.S. Chess Federation.
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20041127/NEWS/111270026/0/News

It is estimated that there are 30 million children who play chess in the US.
Source: MonRoi.
http://www.monroi.com/news.php?id=23

According to this report there are 8 million chess players and 90%
travel to tournaments.
Source: CKPR
http://www.ipra.org/library/docs/gwa2251.htm

---------------------------------------------
Tech enthusiasts are highly likely to play chess (40% more likely than
other U.S adults).
They number 26.7 million. 
Male 51%
Female 49%

Age 18 to 24 ? 13%
25 to 34 ? 21%
35 to 44 ? 27%
45 to 54 ? 24%
55 or older ? 15%

Household income 
$75,000 or more ? 44%
$60,000 to $74,999 ? 16%
$40,000 to $59,999 ? 21%
$20,000 to $39,999 ? 14%
Less than $20,000 ? 5%

Education 
Postgraduate ? 13%
Bachelor?s degree ? 25%
High school grad ? 23%
Did not graduate high school ? 4%

Occupation 
Professional ? 18%
Executive, manager ? 16%
Clerical, technical ? 24%
Other employed ? 21%
Not employed, retired ? 21%

Race
White 90%
Black 6%
Asian 3%
Other 1%

Marital status
Single 22%
Married 67%
Divorced, other 11%

The report also gives data on the number of children, region of the
U.S and city type.
Source: Mediamark Research.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/trends/06/27/geeks.pass.time.idg/index.html



Demographics
The majority of chess players are males between the ages of 10 and 60.
  The game is most popular in Europe and Asia , although the North
American market is growing.  The majority of players are well educated
and primarily made up of engineers, artists, and businessmen.  Most
chess players have access to computers and the Internet and earn a
middle class income.   They are affluent and particularly interested
in Fine Arts, Music, Science, and Technology.

http://www.monroi.com/products/letterFOR.php>


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<Hope this helps.>