> What makes it even harder is that chess elo is a zero sum game. It's not zero-sum though, because as more Chess players enter the ranks the pie itself grows

> What makes it even harder is that chess elo is a zero sum game. It's not zero-sum though, because as more Chess players enter the ranks the pie itself grows larger, meaning there will be more total players who can attain an Elo of 2,500+ and thus become a Grandmaster. Zero-sum typically means that the entire pool is of fixed size, but that's not the case here. I'd say that Chess is win-lose but not zero-sum.