"There's only one chess champion in the world and a handful of grandmasters, by definition, and those are gonna be the ones with talent and hard work."
There are in fact over 1000 grandmasters.[1]
Originally there were just 5, but as you can see, over time the ranks of grandmasters have swelled.
Many in the chess world lament that it's too easy to attain (or even buy) a grandmaster title these days, and that it doesn't mean nearly as much these days as it used to.
In a world of 6 billion people, 1000 is metaphorically a handful, as far as I'm concerned. In the context that we're talking about, there's certainly more than 1000 "good programmers".
There are in fact over 1000 grandmasters.[1]
Originally there were just 5, but as you can see, over time the ranks of grandmasters have swelled.
Many in the chess world lament that it's too easy to attain (or even buy) a grandmaster title these days, and that it doesn't mean nearly as much these days as it used to.
[1] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Grandmaster_(...