Local online startup gets R 10million in VC funding

Baboom!

I though VC was Vodacom. I was going all like Woop Woop but then I was all like droop.
Then I read Lazy's comment and I was all like :)

How does chesscube actually make money though? Sponsored chess tournaments?
 
davemc said:
How does chesscube actually make money though? Sponsored chess tournaments?
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I asked the CEO about their business plans, but no feedback yet. Online chess is not an easy place to make money - many excellent free sites available to play. The ICC charges, but they are truly superior to the rest in my opinion.
 
Chesscube is great

rpm said:
I asked the CEO about their business plans, but no feedback yet. Online chess is not an easy place to make money - many excellent free sites available to play. The ICC charges, but they are truly superior to the rest in my opinion.
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I play on Chesscube am are quite happy with them. I used to have an ICC subscription, but I don't play often enough to justify it, so I cancelled.

As far as I can see (from a user perspective), the revenue is from advertising (Chess books, chess courses, etc), it's not too intrusive & I just ignore it.

Didn't know they were hosted in SA though ... :)
 
rpm said:
I asked the CEO about their business plans, but no feedback yet. Online chess is not an easy place to make money - many excellent free sites available to play. The ICC charges, but they are truly superior to the rest in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Agreed, ICC rules. I did not even know of chesscube's existence until today...will check it out though (local is lekker)
 
I can't believe people still play Chess; whilst it does provide a mild sense of satisfaction when one carries out some strategic line, one essentially have to memorize a host of openings to really be competitive.

Chess is too arbitrary and the fact that computer chess engines can dominate any human prodigy should at least move people to reconsider the sort of games people invest time in.

Enter Go/Baduk/Weichi/Igo, the oldest boardgame, which embodies the fluid eastern philosopy of the yin and yang, as opposed to chess which represents western philosopy. Go only has 3 simple rules, yet there are far more game possibilities than electrons in the known universe. Go indulges your spatio-visual and intuitive faculties, whilst still giving ample opportunity to weave intricate strategies with a colourful array of tactics and maneuvers.

Go is the national past time of inhabitants of China, Japan and Korea, they obsess about this game. Their governments pay professional players to play and teach this game. Young children wish to become the professionals they aspire to, and teenagers and adults alike jerk off to posters of professionals on their walls. If you master Go, you become a god in the east. Some tournaments even offer prize money to the liking of a golf tourney.

Computer Go engines are no match to a player with about even 2 years of casual Go experience, and not to mention the 9 dan pro's who breathe Go.


It's easy to get started playing Go, just go to http://www.gokgs.com/applet.jsp .
 
Catal said:
I can't believe people still play Chess; whilst it does provide a mild sense of satisfaction when one carries out some strategic line, one essentially have to memorize a host of openings to really be competitive.
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Welcome to the last 15 centuries :), yes people still play it, more so than ever before

Catal said:
Chess is too arbitrary and the fact that computer chess engines can dominate any human prodigy should at least move people to reconsider the sort of games people invest time in.
Click to expand...

If you are referring to Deep Blue vs Kasparov, then you should appreciate the fact that a human brain which at most can think 15 moves ahead can still beat an engine which can think 1000's of moves ahead...pure instinct and art :); yes kasparov lost 2-1 and drew 3, but then again had no history of the engine's game, while the engine had what, 3 decades of history on Kasparov
 
Online chess is plagued by the fact that anyone can run a chess engine with an ELO of 2500+ on their pc and cheat in their online games, as many kiddies do.

Whilst with online Go, you do not even have 3 dan amateur engine at your disposal for 19x19 games, and even if they did, the value that the eastern tradition place on honour deters cheating to a large extent.

Don't get me wrong, I used to obsess over chess as well, and I played in my high school's first chess team for years. It's just that you get a greater return on the time you invest in Go, since your acquired skill is not cheapened by cheating and the fact that any core 2 duo can beat you even if you have spent years practicing.
 
This reminds me of what i use to do to annoy people.. i'd get a chess simulator thingy and then basically play people based on what they did vs my simulator and go up in rank fast :D use to do that on yahoo, msn etc shame people were amazed
 
Yeah, I understand the cheating, but then again when you play rated opponents, its very easy to spot a cheater. I have been playing on ICC for years and rated cheaters are quickly spotted and banned, so dont have that problem. Also I dont get hung up on cheaters, in fact when they cheat they are doing me a favour...cause the last thing you want to do in chess is play someone weaker then you...cause that weakens your game ;)
 
Love chess , played online on yahoo for years , sadly in the last 2 years I have not payed that much , dont like their new look and too much spammers and girls inviting you to their chat rooms. Will def try chesscube later tonight.
 
krycor said:
This reminds me of what i use to do to annoy people.. i'd get a chess simulator thingy and then basically play people based on what they did vs my simulator and go up in rank fast :D use to do that on yahoo, msn etc shame people were amazed
Click to expand...

All you really did was waste your time actually. There is no point in cheating on Chess online , u dont get anything for your points. Thats why I would rather play 2 mins blitz games.
 
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