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Chess Tournaments
Modern chess tournaments began in the 1840s and the first international tournament was held in London, in 1851. Strong international tournaments were still quite rare and in the 1880s a master would have been lucky to be able to play in one reasonably strong tournament a year.
By the 1890s, however, a master could enter many strong tournaments throughout the year, and the prize money offered at tournaments made it possible for masters to have a professional chess career.
Nowadays there are many strong tournaments for masters and grandmasters, but there are also a huge number of tournaments for players of every strength. Weaker players today have the chance of improving their play by taking part in such tournaments, which are very competitive.