CHESS IS A SPORT, POST YOUR PROOF HERE

Chess must be a sport because the thread title is written in capital letters. No one can refute capital letters.

Blunders are merely typos

it is a sport of the hands!...they set up the pieces and do all the pushing, holding the chin up so u dont hit the chess board if u fall asleep,reaching for the drink, holding the stoagie etc etc etc

Coach screaming "NOOOOO! YOU TWAT!" in my ear - check
Some hand-eye coordination required - check
You can (and more often than not you're encouraged to) drink whilst doing it - check
Professionals often enjoy criticism from regular people and journalists who knows nowt about what they're talking about - check
Involves training - check

Either which way, it doesn't matter what it's called as long as it stimulates you.

It must be a sport - FIDE has introduced drug testing.

To be serious, I think it has more right to be called a sport than Olympic rifle shooting, which must require a double figure IQ to make it seem worth the time and money, as well as being less physical than tiddlywinks, without any intellectual demands to compensate. To me the most important things about sport are the competitive aspect and the pursuit of excellence, both of which chess has in abundance among those who are devoted to it. Myself, sometimes I just can't be bothered these days.

What other sport can be played competitively by computers? What other sport can be played on the Internet?

Well, with a liberal definition of sport, a vast array of games played on the Internet would count. The sort of lame brain who thinks shooting a rifle is physical but chess isn't has probably not realised that the brain is a part of the physical body. Mental agility, endurance, and sheer fighting instinct are all aspects needed for chess of various types, and achieving a perfect score in Pacman over four hours or so of play requires an extraordinary degree of specialised mental fitness.

I'm not familiar with the particulars of the Olympic events, but I've done a fair bit of shooting (rifle and archery), and I know there is a phenomenal amount of physical talent and skill needed to perform at top levels.  Breathing, heart rate, trigger discipline, etc need to be mastered.  These are characteristics that don't seem applicable in chess (though I'm a poor player, so I'm not the one to say), so IMO it's an apples-and-oranges situation when considering the "sport-ness" of either.

Whether it's a sport or not, I don't favor chess at the Olympics; it just doesn't seem to fit the games.  It's like tennis; I don't see the point, since international competition at a championship level is already available.

Like every other significant game and sport then?

With regard to the physicality of chess, it's a fact that many GMs do physical training to help them avoid fatigue during matches and tournaments (eg Kasparov). The brain normally burns 20% of the energy used by the whole body (10x greater per kilogram than the body as a whole), and one might expect it to be a slightly higher proportion during a chess game.

Chess is a sport. A violent sport.  -  Marcel Duchamp

I only agree with the last part of this quote, because I think a sport is a physical activity.  The only physical activity I do doing a chess game is lifting my drink and moving the chessmen.  Oh yes, I forgot, writing the notations. 

Chess is war over the board. The object is to crush the opponents mind.  -  Bobby Fischer

Now that is a violent thought!  We go from sport to war.  

chess ain't much of a spectator sport (unlike beach volleyball)

the physical demands of chess may not be obvious, however most top players are thin and many people shake to varying degrees during tense periods of the game

>:)

I don't think I have ever shook during a game.  I have a friend that becomes very nervous in the endgame, but he doesn't shake.  It more as though he turns to stone. Only his eyes move. 

he is not understanding the true calorie burning potential of a good game of chess.

maybe if he shakes during practice he will do better during his games.

I am not going to suggest it, because we are evenly matched and I am not going to give him advice that may aid in him beating me.  

Fantasy football... come on

 it can happen in competitive chess

>:)

Chess boxing!

Is being a "spectator" sport that much of a factor to be called a sport in the olympics? I wonder why rifle shooting is still there then? More people would pay to watch golf and poker tournaments rather than rifle shooting events.

We can use your own arguments to make the comparison apples-to-apples. What you mentioned are all techniques. They are physical but nothing close to "phenomenal." In high level chess, players must have the stamina and constitution to last through the long matches and the whole tournament, to concentrate throughout the matches and to manage their time all at the same time.

BTW, is rifle shooting under time pressure?

Also, neither event could produce atheletes that would be described as "stronger, higher, faster" in the physical sense.

Probably the deciding question on why chess is not part of the regular Olympics is: Did the ancient Greeks have chess (or a similar event) in their roster of the original olympic games?