FROM: http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_sports_bids/1216134018.html

World Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, told Gulf News he is confident that chess will soon be included in the Olympic Games.

Ilyumzhinov said, "my aim is to ensure that chess becomes a part of the Olympic movement and is one of the events in the Olympic Games soon. Today FIDE is made up of 165 countries and we would jointly appeal to get recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC)".

Ilyumzhinov, reportedly one of the most powerful and influential sports administrators in the world today, is president and head of the Republic of Kalmykia and has been president of FIDE since 1995.

When asked by Gulf News in which continent chess is spreading at a fast pace, he said, "chess is now being played in all continents. However Asia, Europe and America are organizing more chess tournaments every day. It is nice to see chess event being played regularly in Mexico and Argentina".

Gulf News reports that Ilyumzhinov is keen to spread the game at the grass-roots level. He said, "we are having special programs in FIDE for chess in schools. We now support chess as an academic subject".

Meanwhile another champion wants his sport to be included in the Olympics. The Mirror reports darts champion Phil Taylor says darts players need to be as fit as footballers. He has renewed his campaign for darts to be included in the Olympics from 2020 onwards.

Ilyumzhinov is an idiot that has no business running FIDE.   Politics, corruption, and lack of competence within the two main governing bodies of chess is as much a problem as ever.  I don't get the whole chess as Olympic sport at all anyway.  Why?  There are so many more valuable and useful things that could be done to promote the game instead.

Academic subject.  Won't happen in US.  Could be a lot better supported as extracurricular activity.  Lot of opportunity there.  I'm not opposed to sports, but in the US they are given an extreme disproportionate level of support.  Sure, there is a lot more interest in football, but we do a lousy job of backing up our rhetoric about 'education first'.

That's because "education first" is rhetoric (which most everyone realizes, whether they admit it or not).

Don't know why chess needs to be in the Olympics, since it's already got an Olympiad of its very own. It would be cool to see darts in there though (even though I'm sure we'd never get to see any actual coverage of it in the States...same as with table tennis and a lot of other "fringe" activities, like soccer!).

It is nice to see chess event being played regularly in Mexico and Argentina

I am from Argentina but I dont know that there are chess events in my country, cos few people plays chess.

Darts is quite fun.  I can see darts being accepted, but not chess.

I think chess will be included quite soon. It has a high status in many countries.

I'm less sure about dart, I dont see it as a sport with olympic qualetees. But perhaps.

Chess will never go to the Olympic games nor commonwealth games, as it is not physical, but the 100m sprint will always be there.

I agree with you JRadis. Chess has grown to be very popular in many different countries. I think there should be strategic games at the Olympics not just physical.

It will never make it.

i think darts and MMA should be included. chess should not.

...but there should be a new "intellectual" olympics where people play chess, go, poker, bridge, etc.

I'd say erik's right, Darts is more physical and you do have to be accurate with the dart, like the tardget shooting I suppose. But chess no. The intellectual olympics sounds good.

Why all this anti-Olympic talk?

Why wouldn't chess be well served by becoming part of the largest televised/publicized human event every four years?

The it's not a sport argument is kind of weak. A full day of OTB tournament action and I'm exhausted, my legs and arms may not hurt as much as my brain but it's ridiculous to say that any game/sport that uses your mind more than your body is off limits to the olympics.

Because Chess isn't a sport it's a game.

try telling that to the professionals in those games :)

I also reckon the pole vault will be there to, but not chess.

 The popular forms of Poker are not luck dominated, and duplicate bridge is as scientific as chess is.

It appears you don't know anything about Duplicate Bridge, so what's your opinion worth?

Forms of Poker such as the Hold 'ems require a great deal of skill to succeed at the highest level. It's not a game to piss on ignorantly--like chess isn't just a couple of nerds pushing toy pieces of wood around a toy board.

Is this an appeal to ban any sport that begins with a coinflip (football, baseball, etc.)?  Or does that rank below the 1% luck threshold?

Someone who has played poker once in his/her life can join a game with the top professionals in the world and they have a chance (not a high one) to win on luck.

About as much chance as I have in beating GM.  I don't play poker or bridge, but a small amount of luck will not overcome players that have developed high skill levels in any game.

As far as Olympics, Phelps' winning of 8 Gold Medals this year was, despite his dominant skill, had an element of luck.   Winning by .01 seconds, or when the difference between first and last is < 1 one second - there is an element of luck...a fraction of a fraction late on jumping the start, the slightest break in form.  Not just skill.  The right place at the right time has won a lot of Gold Medals.

No element of luck in Duplicate Bridge. No. None at all in the sense that chess has no luck. You obviously don't understand what Duplicate Bridge is.

I can't think of an example where a raw beginner at Poker entered a top tournament and met with any success. Sounds like it never happened.