IS CHESS A SPORT?????????

Hi, the topic that is being asked is about chess not soccer. however with regards to soccer, It can be called a game of soccer if you play it virtually or using a computer or without making physical contact with real players. But technically soccer is still a sport not a game.

most over the board chess games i play end in physical confrontations

The definitions of game and sport have some overlap.  However one of the definitions of sport is physical activity for pleasure.  Generally most of us would agree that chess is not a physical activity.  So tennis would be a sport and chess a game a board game in particular.  

So if chess is a sport and you are a good player does that make u athletic?

The national curling competition was at my university a couple of weeks ago. I let them know that it’s not a sport because no one has ever lost an eye. They didn’t take the news very well. I just got out of the hospital yesterday.

You may owe them an apology then. I think you meant to say curling IS a sport because it's a competition that requires physical skill. (chess obviously does not). But also curling almost always has a designated field of play and because it's physical, there is always the chance for injury.

Sorry to hear about your hospital visit, I hope it's nothing serious and/or contagious. 

ok then, if you say so

thats so funny

I mean the Olympics qualify and claim it a sport.

you can play chess at olympics

of course. it keeps your brain healty.. wait sometimes it gives you headache.. hmm no its not a sport.. wait.. running gives you leg aches too.. final decision. it is a sport.

but there's no work. you don't do any physical activity except take your hand and move the peices and shake your leg when you nervous.

Actually, thinking is a physical activity but for your neurons. Your brain keeps changing its shape over years, like your muscles. A baby's brain and an adult's brain looks quite different. So thinking makes physical changes on your body..

wrong

That's not very accurate...

Not that I care about the semantics of what is and isn't a sport. "A rose by any other name" and all that.

But calling chess a competition of strategy and the mind and not of skill is silly.

Chess is similar enough to "sports" to be called a sport, IMO, because:

1) To become good requires systematic training over a long period of time.

2) To be your best you have to fix seemingly unrelated life issues. For example how disciplined are you in life in general? How healthy is your diet? How is your health overall? How do you react to adversity? Are you humble enough to forgive personal failure? Are you proud enough to believe your work will allow you to win? Are you reflective enough to find lessons even in your successes?

To be the best chess player you can be requires not only years of learning and practice, but requires self improvement in general.

That fact that you don't have to take a shower after playing always come off as a very childish and superficial objection. It's not only a shallow understanding of what chess is, and what sports are, but a shallow understanding of the English language in general.

That's my two cents on this recurring topic.

you could slip on a chess piece lying on the floor and get seriously injured.