Is chess considered a sport?

Oh come on, we all know chess is a sport because:
We can have Olympic games
Sports draw sponsors
Depending on the country, the clubs don't have to pay the rent
sports get funded by the governments(e.g. for the Olympics)
...

Originally posted by jfkjmh
Oh come on, we all know chess is a sport because:
We can have Olympic games
Sports draw sponsors
Depending on the country, the clubs don't have to pay the rent
sports get funded by the governments(e.g. for the Olympics)
...

Originally posted by secret squirrel
dont throw stones.😠😠😠😠

I'm of the opinion that a sport, as most people would tend to think of it, has to meet several qualifications.

1) It has to be based largely on one's physical abilities, as opposed to primarily mental capacity. This includes strength, muscle control, physical coordination, and any combination thereof.

Please note that a sport may have mental components to it, so long as there is a substantial physical component as well. (For example, games like soccer and hockey involve strategics and tactics related to how well a team tries to get the ball/puck into the opponent's net.)

So while darts games are based on one's ability to precise control a throwing movement, and even NASCAR requires physical reflexes of the driver, games like chess or poker (the latter of which does appear on ESPN) aren't sports in my mind, because the physical component is insignificant. It's all in the mind.

2) A sport must be competitive in a objective manner. This could be one side against another, or a free-for-all.

This could arguably include partially-subjective judgment of form like figure-skating, because there are objective standards for what constitutes an ideal execution of the moves involved, as well as a objective understanding of the difficulty of one move relative to another.

Chess is definitely competitive.


That said, chess could be called a sport by a loose definition.

There are many definitions for sport and YES one of them accurately describes the nature of Chess.

Diversion; Recreation; pleasent pastime.

In your face.

Originally posted by geepamoogle
I'm of the opinion that a sport, as most people would tend to think of it, has to meet several qualifications.

1) It has to be based largely on one's physical abilities, as opposed to primarily mental capacity. This includes strength, muscle control, physical coordination, and any combination thereof.

Please note that a sport may have mental compo ...[text shortened]... finitely competitive.


That said, chess could be called a sport by a loose definition.

Originally posted by Phlabibit
Again, someone making up criteria for a well defined word that can easily be found in any dictionary.

P-

In Denmark this discussion has been going on for many years.
The danish chess and bridge federations have both argued
that their "sport" should be considered a sport and thus be a member
of DIF (Dansk Idræts Forbund). This never happened and as a result, Danmarks Tankesports-Forbund (Danish Brainsport Union) was formed many years ago (1994). The union includes Bridge, Chess, Backgammon, L'Hombre, Othello, Go.

Unfortunately only members of DIF get money from the danish state...

Originally posted by Phlabibit
Again, someone making up criteria for a well defined word that can easily be found in any dictionary.

P-

Originally posted by Wulebgr
Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive.

I did a quick search and was interested to find that Chess is a recognised Olympic Sport... http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/recognized/index_uk.asp

That does not mean it is an Olympic event but just that they recognise it as a sport... If it is held as an exhibition sport then it could go on to be an Olympic event.

regardless of peoples views of "sport or not" I think this would be a great way to promote Chess... and if events like skateboarding (planned to be in 2012 Olympics) then why not Chess.

Originally posted by Horsey
I did a quick search and was interested to find that Chess is a recognised Olympic Sport... http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/recognized/index_uk.asp

That does not mean it is an Olympic event but just that they recognise it as a sport... If it is held as an exhibition sport then it could go on to be an Olympic event.

regardless of peoples views of "sport ...[text shortened]... Chess... and if events like skateboarding (planned to be in 2012 Olympics) then why not Chess.

Originally posted by LivingForJesus
yeah but it is all mental

Based on the ideas of this thread, chess is a sport. It is not associated with athletics.

On page 10 of the June issue of Chess Life, GM Andy Soltis states: "In the sport-art-science debate, chess shares a key characteristic with the sporting world..." So according to Soltis, chess is not a sport, only similar to one.

btw, Nakamura looks ridiculous on the cover