It is a mental sport.

The precise definition of what separates a sport from other leisure activities varies between sources. The closest to an international agreement on a definition is provided by SportAccord, which is the association for all the largest international sports federations (including association football, athletics, cycling, tennis, equestrian sports, and more), and is therefore the de facto representative of international sport.

SportAccord uses the following criteria, determining that a sport should:

• have an element of competition
• be in no way harmful to any living creature
• not rely on equipment provided by a single supplier (excluding proprietary games such as arena football)
• not rely on any "luck" element specifically designed into the sport.

They also recognise that sport can be primarily physical (such as rugby or athletics), primarily mind (such as chess or Go), predominantly motorised (such as Formula 1or powerboating), primarily co-ordination (such as billiard sports), or primarily animal-supported (such as equestrian sport).

Maybe you're not a troll.

The reason chess isn't a sport isn't because it lacks physical activity. The reason is because it lacks physical skill. Billiards and archery are definitely sports because they rely so heavily on physical skill. Chess has no physical skill, so, it can't be a sport. I can see where some video games might require eye hand co-ordination, so they could be sports if someone really wanted it to be. 

Chess can't be a sport no matter how much someone wants it to be. Anymore than a circle could be a square depending on how much someone wanted it to be. Words have meaning. And the meaning of sport (in this century) excludes chess because of the physical SKILL requirement.

Read it carefully, you will learn quite a lot. I am here to educate you. 

That's probably not the best source for a definition of a word. That organization seems self serving, while the dictionary is not. It seems like a conflict of interest to use a definition of a word from an organization that has an interest in promoting what that word is. 

Besides, I dont see hunting or MMA, which nobody questions is a sport, on their list. 

I haven't seen competitive hunting so I don't know why you would consider hunting to be a sport. MMA is a relatively young sport and it had a reputation of being too barbaric, which prevented it from being legal in many regions and some countries still haven't legalized it. But in the long run it will surely be under the SportAccord list.

SportAccord  is the association for all the largest international sports federations so they are not constituted of chess.com members,who keep on arguing forever and never come to a conclusion. 

It is an international agreement which means representatives for many countries came to a conclusion to include chess as sport. 

You can bring up as many points as you want but when there are variable definitions for a word then if the largest association of international sport federations makes a decision about it, we have  to agree that their decision holds more weight than yours. 

It's still more complex than that because many people will debate that physical exertion includes the brain since energy is spent in order to operate, and it requires effort to do so.

I suppose even though you have never seen something, it's still possible it could exist. There are things that probably exist that I have never seen, like a polo match.

It's not uncommon in my part of the country for people to competitively hunt for ducks or doves. Sort of the same way people competitively fish. Your other point about MMA not being included because it's "barbaric" proves my point They dont get to decide what a sport is based on their political agenda. 

Think of it this way. You go to court over some matter related to sport. You tell the judge that the word sport, or any word for that matter, shouldn't be defined by the dictionary. Instead, it should be defined by a self serving organization that represents whatever that word is. I would tell the judge just use the dictionary like everyone else. Who is the judge going to believe? Me, or you and your sports organization that intentionally leaves out actual sports? What would a jury say? Would a jury ignore the definition of a word just because someone doesn't like it? If that's the case, we could simply ignore the definition of guilty and innocent too. You could explain to the judge, and jury, that you dont have to abide by the definitions of those words just because the dictionary says so.

Trophy game is measured, weighed, and the horns (antlers) are scored--all so hunters can compete for the honor of biggest elk, best rack, etc.

Hunting so-called "dangerous game" is also sporting in the sense that many creatures will kill the hunter who fails to place a lethal shot.

Shooting is most certainly a sport.

z, it depends. cheney "hunting" pheasant in a fenced off area is not very sporting.

before anyone mentions the recognition of chess from the ioc, keep in mind it means nothing.

they just introduced breakdancing into the olympics. 

Breakdancing is just a form of gymnastics done to better (or worse) music.

Wow that was backhanded.

I'm just starting to understand and appreciate how big of a sport it is. The competitive scene in my area is very large and very active. Chess clubs seem to outnumber Judo clubs for example by at least 3 or 4 to 1, and there seems to be a quite heavy emphasis on competition and improvement. I think it's great.

Yeah, I don't consider dancing such as breakdancing or figure-skating to be a sport. Anything where the competition relies on a judge's opinion rather than an objective means of beating an opponent.

But hey, different opinions.

Patriot can you stop with your dictionary. The definition of the word sport varies between sources. When there is a subjective opinion about things, then a group of people who consist of members representing different countries decide upon it, we will go by their decision not yours. 

Many countries consider chess to be a sport. So if you go to their court of law, they will consider it to be a sport. 

“Chess is everything: art, science, and sport.”

― Anatoly Karpov

www.reference.com/hobbies-games/chess-considered-sport-aa5ed54714d3f620 it is a sport

No. Sports use ball. Soccer, basketball, volleyball, handball, baseball, etc.