Interesting development!! We will have to wait and see how it all works out.
Chess in Canada -- soon to be a 'sport'?
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Lively discussion at Team Canada! (In a Forum topic)
https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/petition-to-make-chess-a-sport-in-canada
A very good article I came across on this very topic!
What does chess get from Sport Canada? Nothing.
According to Sport Canada, chess does not qualify for sport funding for the simple reason that chess is not a sport. But chess satisfies every single criterion for being a sport, except one: it is not considered a physical activity...
Sport Canada’s position on chess may be shared by many Canadians, but it is mistaken and out of step with the position of many other nations for at least two reasons.
First, in 1999, the International Olympic Committee recognized chess as a sport. Chess was even featured as an exhibition event at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney...
When the time comes and chess is featured at the Olympics, Canada will not be ready to compete unless we start funding chess now.
Second, when chess is played at the highest levels, it is indeed a physical activity, contrary to the naïve position of Sport Canada.
https://theconversation.com/why-canada-should-invest-more-in-teaching-kids-how-to-play-chess-191413
That there is a debate is a bit funny/odd I think! ...as it was Not some magazine named 'Games Illustrated', but rather one named 'Sports Illustrated' that had covers featuring Chess Masters! And not in 2023... but 1960 and 1972! Seems like some nations thought of Chess as a sport, just a little while ago, meanwhile we keep debating the fact? Why? What exactly is the 'Good' that is achieved by denying Chess the place and standing that other nations have extended -- decades ago?
Oh -- and it was NBC Sports (News) that covered the last W.C.C. Match -- not NBC Entertainment (News). https://www.chess.com/news/view/nbc-sports-world-chess-championship-ashley
Two Great SPORTS stories covered in 1960 and 1972 (Time for Canada to enter the 1960s maybe?)
The Original 'Queens Gambit' play on words -- and Player!
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/lisa-lane-article-1960
And of course... Bobby!
https://vault.si.com/vault/1972/08/14/how-to-cook-a-russian-goose
An interesting article... just saying....
On Friday, top GMs Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura as well as WGM Jennifer Shahade took part in a panel discussion at the MIT Sloan School of Management's annual Sports Analytics Conference
https://www.chess.com/news/view/2023-mit-sloan-sports-analytics-conference-chess
Jamaica is doing it!
Jamaica's government has announced an ambitious plan to pour J$40 million (approximately $260,000 at the time of writing) into chess in a drive to create a new grandmaster by 2033, ...The funds, to be plowed into the Jamaica Chess Federation through the island's Ministry of Sport, were announced during a budget debate last week.
https://www.chess.com/news/view/jamaican-government-invests-heavily-into-chess-to-find-next-grandmaster
Do people in Canada even play chess? I think all they do is hit each other with hockey sticks and drink maple syrup.
brianchesscake wrote:
Do people in Canada even play chess? I think all they do is hit each other with hockey sticks and drink maple syrup.
I live in the Canadian Maritimes.
You may judge for yourself whether I play chess or not.
A Heroic Defense in the Sicilian Najdorf - Kids, don't try this at home! - Chess Forums - Chess.com
Chess as a recognized sport in Canada... Final chance to sign...
The petition closes for signatures: April 1, 2023, at 3:23 p.m. (EDT)
Sign the petition here: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4283
So hundreds of millions of chess players on the planet, many millions in Canada alone. And after two months less than 2,000 people think this is a good idea. No, chess is not a sport. Thinking hard is not a sport.
But lets keep in mind the expiration date on this petition. It coincides with the expiration date on the petition to put Bigfoot on the Endangered Species list.
verylate wrote:
If thinking were a sport, Canadians would be good at it.
No doubt. Taking an SAT test, or completing very complicated taxes can be very demanding. Very difficult mentally, and therefore physically stressing. But doing taxes and taking SAT tests are not sports. This topic has come up quite a few times before, and nothing has changed. Chess is still not a sport because it doesn't have the physical requirements for sport.
I look at it this way. How many really good sports bars are there in Canada. I'll bet there are a lot, and quite a few very good ones. And yet I'll also bet most, if not all, will air things like hockey, skiing, tennis, golf, or even curling. But never chess. And there is a very good reason why.
It WILL be a sport.
And for the next 50 yrs, Canada will apologize for it. 
April Fools deadline is a bit suspicious. I wonder if Canadians fall for those? 🤣
amogus!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Well... we will see! However there is an official government petition to make it so! (Wild.)
A Chess.com blog post on this at: https://www.chess.com/blog/MomOnaBreak/lets-do-this-canadians
...is it merely now a 'mating net' being woven? ...time will tell!
The petition closes for signatures: April 1, 2023, at 3:23 p.m. (EDT)
Sign the petition here: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4283