I say sport. Because: Nascar is a sport, Golf is a sport, Fishing is a sport, Bowling is a sport, competitive shooting is a sport etc. so if these can be called sports I say chess is too.
nope non of those are sports they are activities, just like chess. I love chess, but it is a competitative activity NOT a sport.
I think it's a sport, but not in the sense that most "sports fans" would think of. Bobby Fischer trained both mentally and physically for the 1972 match with Spassky, his reasoning being that it requires a great deal of stamina to last throughout long games. He had a point. Certainly, chess does not involve the typical physical regimen of other sports, but it is a competitive game with multiple organizations devoted to it and it demands mental exercise. I'm not sure what the answer is; I think this is a debate that could go on as long as people are still playing.
I put emphasis on the word "directly".
sport, Fishing is a sport, Bowling is a sport, competitive shooting is a sport etc. so if these can be called sports I say chess is too.
Sorry but The Olympic Committee is the one that classifies which are sports. Then they allow teams from those countries to compete.
You said Bowling is a sport. It is not a sport. The Olympic committee will not allow teams to compete until it is accepted as a sport. The USBC has been trying for years to qualify as one. We combined the men, the women and kids as one. We have different levels of coaches. We have the Professional Bowlers Association on TV. No Women. But we cannot find a way to be accepted.
Bowling was accepted to appear as a guest Bowling demonstration during the Olympics.
Yet, they accepted curling as a sport and how many countries do you think do that?
You say that Chess is a sport but you aren't the one to make it so. Besides Chess has it own FIDE and methods to select the champions. You don't want the Olympics to do that.
Soccer has a four year qualifying coountry eliminations to go to the World Cup.
The Olympics allow countries to send the amatuers sport teams to compete in their games.
I also believe that chess is a sport.
IMHO
just becuase it's in the olympics does not mean its a sport! the olympics are FULL of activities...come on..
Is it a "sport" ? At least it's a game ! And as Tartakover once said : "it's the king of the game" ! And if for one moment, I go full retard, I could point out that all sports are games. Each of them with their rules, their goals, their players and so on... And what makes a simple game becomming a sport ? Competition ? Professional play ? Fans ? Media coverage ? It seems that these points are true for Chess also. The thing that always come up, is that Chess ain't a physical one ! Let me go full retard once more ! Isn't Brain a part of our body ? Doesn't being exhausted after a long game or when playing tournament, a physical thing ? I will be glad to hear what professionals players can told us about this point.
Anyway, Chess being a "sport" or not is an infinite debate. Will this debate leads us to something ? I hardly believe, it will not ! So let's just play and enjoy.
Although I believe wiki answers everything factually for all practical purposes without any errors, I think the technically exact strict definition of "sport" is locked in a titanium vault in TheHague.
"Chess is a competitive activity" -Hikaru Nakamura (probably the best, and definatly the most exciting player from the USA) you can hear him say this on chess talk on icc with john watson.
i am guessing the op has never played OTB competitive tournament chess. it takes its toll on the player, both physically and mentally. playing 5 minute games on the internet is a completely different thing than playing a six-hour monster of a game with someone who is sitting across from you.
this subject has also been beaten to death, and the OP is simply looking for yet another thread to go 17 pages long.
"What is chess, do you think? Those who play for fun or not at all dismiss it as a game. The ones who devote their lives to it for the most part insist that it's a science. It's neither. Bobby Fischer got underneath it like no one before and found at its center...art." --Bruce Pandolfini, Searching for Bobby Fischer
I consider a sport (and I'm sure a lot of you as well), consider a sport to be a competitive game which is directly physical.
Chess would not be a sport in your consideration. It's no big deal.
Here we got a nice troll attempt from ElivsLsTheKing ? The crowd can't wait to see who's gonna feed him ? Oh my god checkmateibeatu just did it ! What's gonna happen next ? ^^
To make it onto the Olympic programme, a sport first has to be recognised: it must be administered by an International Federation which ensures that the sport's activities follow the Olympic Charter. If it is widely practised around the world and meets a number of criteria established by the IOC session, a recognised sport may be added to the Olympic programme on the recommendation of the IOC's Olympic Programme Commission.
By the way Soccer is listed as "Football"
how is discussing whether chess is a sport or not, which has been done over and over and over on every chess forum and site known to man, important? even if the topic were ever officially solved, it wouldn't help you one bit.
If people here in America can consider rednecks driving around in a circle to be a sport, I will consider chess to be a sport.
I think this is a debate that could go on as long as people are still playing.
It's not that people play or don't play it that causes the debate. It's that people have little to no appreciation for the reality that words can have multiple, potentially contradictory meanings and that this is ok.