LoL, good question! Maybe ....

OK, let's get something straight here.  Hunting and fishing are competitive sports, as are auto racing, hiking and mountain climbing.  All of them have significant physical aspects even though for some of them, endurance is the greatest competitive asset.  In any case, any one of them will get you physically beat up.

Chess is a game of endurance, especially otb.  But because it doesn't require great physical effort (unless, of course, it's a case of finding yourself having to restrain your natural impulse to strangle your opponent for being a bonehead), it's not considered a sport, per se.

Drinking coffee and Smoking a cigar while playing Water Polo?? I mean really??

I think not. At least, not while actually performing the acts. Bowling, for instance. One could certainly not get a precise aim on the alley, maintain proper balance and concentrate your entire body on putting the ball on the line you want it to travel with that cup of coffee in your hand. I can, however, move a chess piece with the coffee cup at my lips.

Hmmmm. There may be a sport there ...

Have you heard someone say "would you like to play the sport of baseball/hockey/rugby/football/wrestling??"

probably not.

No matter what you are playing it is reffered to as a game.

Chess is a sport since

a) there was never a defenition of sport that include "must have physical exhertion".

b)Your brain is the only part of the body to which a sport is not attribute to(without chess).

Let's make chess a sport?

yes

LOL.... man.. thats priceless! hahaha

Chess a sport? Ridiculous! Several top notch players in my country are at least 20 kg overweight. Not talking about the many physically handicapped who are attracted by chess.

It's just a game..

Everything's already been said, but since nobody was listening, we have to start again ( André Gide)

Chess is really somewhere between a game and a sport. Like sports, it is played both by amateurs and professionals and there are tournaments and rankings etc. But the same is true of poker (and other card games), and even many video games.

Red-lady, you and André are so right.  Let's get this back on track.  Let's see, where to begin:

Do you consider chess to be a sport?

And now let us make a synopsis of the remainder of the topic:

1) 82% saying no, dont be ridiculous;

2) 5% saying yes; possibly to troll, possibly not understanding what a sport is

3) 3% genuine humour

4) 10% Random chitchat on semi-unrelated subjects.  Well, thats unfair, there is the whole cosmic oneness and interaction to consider.  Which reminds me of the time I went fishing and caught a pike, 23 foot long with a small dog lodged in its stomach, complete and not digested yet.  I feasted on the fish for 4 months and the dog was very happy lying in front of the fire until that tragic night when...oh sorry, I am rambling again.  I will pick up this narrative, possibly in a thread discussing the various strengths of each gender at chess.

People engaging this topic are making several categorical errors. 

Basically it comes down to this: 

If by the noun "sport" you mean the set of competative activities where physical conditioning, reaction time, and skill are the determinants of success: then obviously chess does not qualify. 

However, that is not the only category which is covered by the word "sport." 

Non-competative fishing is an example of something that is a sport which doesn't fit into that category. It is even specifically refered to as "sport fishing" as a means of seperating it from "commercial fishing." 

That is because the use of the term "sport" also means things other than competative physical activity. That use of the term is rarer in American english, but it is not non-existant. That sort of usage is more common in Brittish english. 

Idk I have always thought of chess as a sport for no other reason than because I always feel exausted after a tournament or even a complicated game =)

Chess is many things and a sport is one of them.We are constantly honing our minds by precision play and our bodies reinforce our play if we exercise them as well.Remember many years ago, when the marathon match between Kasparov and Karpov took place and it was stopped because it could have impacted their health in a serious way.Was it just a game then? If something can be done within its own legal rules just once,and impact us in a major way, should we not think of it as more than a game?Just because the motions are of a mental kind compared to a flick of the wrist with a ping pong paddle which I believe is an olympic game does not reduce its life dimensions.We as a society and a world will ultimately decide whether it is just a game or a sport. We should look to build chess up in every way so I believe that it is more than a game.Actually, I would argue that it is even more than a sport as with any sport that I can think of , a person knows whether they are winning or losing. But with chess and ironically so with life as well, it is possible to be winning or losing and not even know it!Perhaps, it is a special riddle gift from God!  

No. It is a game. A challenging game.

I guess he was refering to

1) Physical condition

2) Physical reaction time.

3) some kind of Physical skill or dexterity.

If you think that playing bridge is a sport, then chess is one, too.

Interesting point.

I would add that, at top levels, all aforementioned activities can easily be considered sport.

He is absolutely right. Chess can be very strenous at times.

But all the same, chess can be a stress releiver but also demands skill