An art?

A science?

A sport?

A game?

A puzzle?

A hobby?

A profession?

I personally feel that chess is a game, simply because it most easily fits the definition and mindset that I was raised with. I tend to think of chess as a war reduced to its simplest components, with no consequence other than the loss of esteem or title. And this doesn't fit the category of sport, which I feel requires a physical component filling a primary role. Chess, while physical in some senses, only requires enough physical capacity to support the mental role, which is by far superior and primary.

 And though there is a component of art, and creativity is rampant in the upper echelons of chess; and while the scientific method is rife in chess; while puzzles are a contant in any chess match, and chess is had as a hobby by most and a profession for many; our sport is a game.

Argue semanticts if you must, and call Merriam to your side, but simply put our society doesn't include chess as a sport any more than it allows checkers, or Chutes and Ladders. 'Tis sad, but true.

 

Food for thought:

Chess is a sport-

 http://www.csee.umbc.edu/~sherman/Papers/chess_sport.txt

Chess isn't a sport-

http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1115594970.shtml

Chess is unique in that there are no other games like it. But it still is probably just a game. It would also fit the category of hobby, and profession, for some, but obviously not for all. Chess has amazing history behind it, more than probably any other game. It's closest neighbor is probably something like Go or Chinese chess, although I think both of these are very simplistic when compared to chess.

This question can be more than simply academic.  In the UK, chess has only recently been accepted officially as a sport, which means that clubs can now apply for charitable funding for the first time. 

Chess is all those things because you can't say that it's not a art, science, sport, game, puzzle, hobby, or a profession.

I agree; all. Except maybe sport(physical), but it's the mental essence of all sport! Of course the body & the mind effect each other. So, maybe sport, too.

I believe that chess either is a sport/profession or a game/hobby.

 

For myself I would like to think of it as a sport/profession because I take my chess very seriously. I have devoted much of my life to it and I cannot really see myself doing anything other than chess.

An art

Futile?

peter wrote:

An art?

A science?

A sport?

A game?

A puzzle?

A hobby?

A profession?

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I would say that chess could be viewed as any one of these things, it merely depends on the perspective of the person that is answering the question.

Personally I view it as a game, and to a degree a sport, but as I get older it could become a science or a profession, thusly it all depends on the person.

For me chess is a an enigma wrapped in a conundrum and hidden within a cryptogram. Seriously though, it is, for me, a game which I'd like to turn into a hobby. I believe that I started playing too late in life for it to ever be an art form and certainly not a profession.

jay wrote: It's closest neighbor is probably something like Go or Chinese chess, although I think both of these are very simplistic when compared to chess.

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 I don't think that Go is simplistic compared to anything. I'd hazard that you couldn't find a single chess Grandmaster who'd say that Go is anything but mindboggling. Edward and Emmanuel Lasker, two decent chess players, used to take Go lessons. 

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A battle (of wits).

A game of course it's stated it's a game almost in every chess manuel.

I think chess is a Game. All games are good for health, mind.... So chess is also good for mind. A good chess player can easily face their life problems. Chess gives the problem solving skill. I think like that.

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A game...

It's a game but can become an art, it depends on who is pushing the pawns.

Its combination of all these ingridents

It's a board game, thats all. 

It can't be considered a sport because there is no physical activity to justify it.  I suspect the clock has something to do with the fact some folk think its sport.  I heard that an American study showed a 5 hour game between 2 GM's was the equivalent of 15 rounds of boxing, from the point of view of mental stress.

Scientifically I think there are mathematical overtones to it but that's all.

It sure is puzzling.  Not so much a puzzle, as a series of interlocking puzzles.

For people who play regular it's a hobby and for those who play professionally it's a profession.

It can sometimes be artistic but its not really an artform.  Not all Chess games are artistic.

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You obviously haven't played much Xiangqi (Chinese Chess).

And it's worth noting that the world champion in Xiangqi is still a human being, although computers are expected to get there soon.  In Go, the computers haven't come close.

 

Chess is a game, but it can be any of those other things from the OP as well.  The thing that separates it from any number of other equally complex and rich abstract strategy board games is not really anything to do with the game itself.  It's the community of players that makes the difference.  I can describe to you all sorts of games with equal mental challenges that have all the same characteristics that make Chess a great game, but none of them have been studied, analyzed, and obsessed about for 500 years all around the globe.  That's what makes Chess different.  (Xiangqi comes close, but its influence has been mostly limited to China, Vietnam, and that part of the world.)