I think chess is a sport
Is chess a sport?
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over the board tournaments are the only part of chess that qualify as a sport... to me
Good point!
Oh, god. There's a thread for this that opened purporting to end the debate, and it's still going strong at nearly 800 posts. Ultimately definitions are descriptive constructions, "chess" and "sport" both being abstract in that they describe human activities which are several steps removed from physical/natural reality- meaning that defining "chess" within or without "sport" wouldn't even matter in our perception of the world.
For those interested, here's my input. I am using the following definition from Google:
an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.
Chess is clearly an activity, of which high level play requires physical fitness as well as mental. However, the activity is not directly physical in action. Instead, it is computational. Some point out that movement of the pieces is a physical action, however, that does not stand up because the board is more of a placeholder for action occurring in the brain. A better argument is that the brain is a physical vessel, and so the electrical and chemical impulses inside of it are a physical activity. This, to me, is a contortion of the spirit of the definition- it seems clear that for this purpose, the physicality of the opposing sides should determine the action, rather than calculation inside of the brain. Without this aspect to the definition, "sport" loses descriptive value, and every game and pursuit can be included. Most arguers that chess is a sport I have seen basically want to make an exception for chess, which we all love. But if we make the exception for Chess, we must allow a great deal many more games to be considered sport. Poker? Trivia night? Competitive karaoke? I'm not sure how to categorize those out if chess is allowed in.
Jan 8, 2017
0
#9
No. A sport is a physical contest.It involves dealing with pain. A game is a contest, but how much is mental depends on the game. A nice hybrid is an athletic game, such as tennis.Best of both worlds. IMOHO (In My Occasionaly Humble Opinion)
I think that it's all three. Chess is a sport, as recognized internationally. Other board games and non-physically demanding games (i.e. backgammon, go, poker, etc) are all recognized to some degree as sport. If board games which involve random chance, such as backgammon, can have world champions, and chess can have a world champion, then of course in my eyes it is a sport. Chess olympiads, team tournaments, and the sheer amount of preparation involved for a tournament all serve as qualifying factors that chess is a sport.
Chess is also an art. There is abstract beauty in it, but a special kind - one based on logic. The beauty we see in immortal games and in games that we call beautiful comes from our admiration for the logical reasoning and calculation as well as their aesthetic, or abstract beauty.
11dex-11 a écrit :
i think it s just a game
Is chess a sport, an art or is it just a game? Post below if you have any other suggestions.
Darts, archery, shooting and snooker are called sports. Chess has to be on the same level as those surely.
Chess is a game let's get that clear but why does that mean it should be ruled out of Olympics,Commonwealth etc etc etc
Chess is an art ....
Magnus Carlsen walked on the moon together wit Neil Armstrong Buzz Aldrin and the other one.
kaynight wrote:
Man did not walk on the moon.
Man did walk on the moon
tiredofjapan wrote:
Oh, god. There's a thread for this that opened purporting to end the debate, and it's still going strong at nearly 800 posts. Ultimately definitions are descriptive constructions, "chess" and "sport" both being abstract in that they describe human activities which are several steps removed from physical/natural reality- meaning that defining "chess" within or without "sport" wouldn't even matter in our perception of the world.
Absolutely, but at about post 800 the 'winner' is the one that just keeps on going. That's the problem with forums. This thread hasn't got going yet -we haven't even touched religion yet !
Science.
tiredofjapan wrote:
Without this aspect to the definition, "sport" loses descriptive value, and every game and pursuit can be included. Most arguers that chess is a sport I have seen basically want to make an exception for chess, which we all love. But if we make the exception for Chess, we must allow a great deal many more games to be considered sport. Poker? Trivia night? Competitive karaoke? I'm not sure how to categorize those out if chess is allowed in.
I agree. According to the believers, any human activity that involves either mental or physical effort must be a sport. So yes karaoke and trivia would be sports, along with daydreaming, fidgeting in a chair, and scowling.
tiredofjapan in posts 5 and 8 is spot on.
If you define sport to include chess what else will sport cover? Spelling bees? Pub quizzes? Short story competitions? Competitive examinations for entry to a profession? Snakes and ladders? Jigsaw puzzles? Crosswords?
If governments say chess is a sport it is because they want to fund and support it, but do not want a ministry of chess.
Is chess a sport, an art or is it just a game? Post below if you have any other suggestions.