Baboons (aka Is Chess a Sport?)

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34323643

Chess grandmasters use between 6,000 and 7,000 calories a day when competing, Robert Sapolsky, professor of neurology at Stanford University, has said. They are "turning on a massive physiological stress response simply with thought and doing the same thing with their bodies as if they were some baboon who has just ripped open the stomach of their worst rival and it's all with thought, and memories and emotions".

Hi Data Fly,

I've see valid arguments both for against Chess being classed as sport.

I'd not class it as a sport but it needs to get classed as a sport for the funding.
Pastimes do not get funding, art does but is chess an art?

I would classify chess as a sport only if the minimum weight of each piece was 5 pounds

Originally posted by lemondrop
I would classify chess as a sport only if the minimum weight of each piece was 5 pounds

Sport "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."

Chess does not involve 'physical' exertion. While one does move the pieces, presumably at some point that physical movement could be replaced by a mind controlled event. Perhaps blitz chess, where the speed of the movements becomes a factor could be considered a sport.

Brain is body hence it´s physical.
I admit chess players (some of them all right) look more intellectual and nerdy than darts players, but some chess players really sweat much.
Their pants looks (and smell) like sumo wrestlers´ mawashi, as in one Austin Powers movie.

Originally posted by wsossin
Sport "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."

Chess does not involve 'physical' exertion. While one does move the pieces, presumably at some point that physical movement could be replaced by a mind controlled event. Perhaps blitz chess, where the speed of the movements becomes a factor could be considered a sport.

I think its more a philosophical question than a neuroscience one. What exactly does 'physical' mean.

an activity is not a sport if you can consume a 5 course meal at the same time

edit: if chess were classified as a sport then reading a book would also be

Originally posted by sonhouse
Find any neutrino's yet?

I would say that any game that has world class players and world class tournaments has to be classified as sport. How can anyone say that snooker and darts are sports, but chess is not? I don't agree that sport has to be something that has physical exertion.

Originally posted by Steve45
I would say that any game that has world class players and world class tournaments has to be classified as sport. How can anyone say that snooker and darts are sports, but chess is not? I don't agree that sport has to be something that has physical exertion.

Originally posted by lemondrop
if you go by the dictionary definition, sport involves physical exertion otherwise, the simple burning of calories could be defined as sport

Originally posted by Steve45
But that means you can't call snooker an darts sport. But they are called sports.

Originally posted by Steve45
But that means you can't call snooker an darts sport. But they are called sports.