I think with chess as with everything, marketing is the main issue.
The Nanjing games are homework by Garry Kasparov and me, [...] Today's game was provided by Garry.
I played like a child!
I'm more interested in the games than the people.
I was lucky enough to attend schools where they were understanding about when I needed to go abroad to play chess. Of course, socially it is important to go to school and interact with people your own age.
Chess only appeals to quite a small minority. It does not have the cachet of a mainstream popular sport.