I have never understood this attitude that if you're not winning a game, it's not fun, or that if the opponent is not making it easy for you, they're not being nice. If your friends are these sorts of people, the game is not for them, unfortunately. A lot of us are quite happy to play for ages without winning, and that's how we got better (and in answer to whoever said no one would play chess if they never won, I spent about 5 years playing chess against my grandfather before I won my first game, so yes there are people who stick to it). In fact, one of the great things in Innovation is it's rare to get a game which is not fun regardless of whether you're winning - they should focus on their projects in it and always review why their opponent won. Asking is always welcome too - I have only a couple of times come across an opponent who was not polite and friendly - and mostly it's sore losers, not the winners. But it's not fair to expect players to spend a whole game teaching it or not playing to the full, as that's no fun to them.
So no, the game is never going to be for mass appeal, but it's also not dying. Indeed it is true that you can't even get the original 3rd edn IRL, but with the 4th edn it will likely have a renaissance.
Having said all that, I think the tournament you're describing is a great idea, and I also think more inexperienced players should ask questions during the game.
