Why does this game cost so much?

[diamondspider]

Years ago I was browsing a bookstore that had a particularly huge selection of books on chess: a game that I had enjoyed for years.

I wanted a book covering openings as I was getting more serious about the game.

I notice a very thin book in amongst the many other larger volumes and pulled it out. It was a small booklet covering an obscure variation of the English Opening: only that one variation.

I actually liked this opening but I'd never seen a book that was so specific about such a tiny slice of chess arcana.

I flipped open the front page and noticed the price: $20! (note that this was over 20 years ago so that would be more like $35 dollars of today's money). This seemed very steep when a 3 inch thick book that covered, in brief, every major opening costed the same price and was on the same shelf.

At first I couldn't understand how such a small book could cost so much, but then it dawned on me: how many of these books would they sell?

Someone put untold hundreds or thousands of hours into researching, compiling, typesetting, and printing this book and yet the content would only be precious to those players who enjoyed this level of very specific information about chess.

To them it was gold, actually to me it was also since I was exactly the sort book I was looking for without even knowing they existed.

Did I buy it? Of course, and it was worth every penny to me as it would be to anyone who had such refined and specific tastes in chess.

The nice thing about products that appeal to vast masses of people is that by selling so many it is easier to get back something substantial for all the work it takes to create something.

On the other hand, the nice thing about having refined tastes is that, while they may often be more expensive, they can sometimes offer a kind of quality that goes beyond what the masses can really appreciate without being an bit of an aficionado in regards to the subject matter.