is chess a sport?

Noice

It's not all that hard really. A game is an activity,  or competition, with guidelines. A game can be a broad range of things from leisure activities, to more serious things like business or two lawyers arguing in court. A game can be either mental, or physical. Or both.

But a sport is much more narrowly defined. A sport is a game BUT with the requirement of physical skill. So things like Go Fish, tic tac toe, Monopoly, or chess are games, but not sports. But things like golf, darts, basketball, or tennis are also games, and also sports. 

Chess, being a purely mental activity does not rise to the level of sport. It doesn't reach that threshold. Another simpler, more common sense way of knowing the difference is that when someone practices a sport, the repetition of muscle movement can result in soreness. It's that skilled muscle movement that makes someone better or worse at sport. 

Poeple who call me a nerd for playing chess are about to read this post and

I consider chess a sport, but it is important to maintain the difference between athletic sports and mental sports. Other things like speedcubing and memory also count.

No, for goodness sakes.

Don't want to be harsh, but there was a gentleman even looking to bother public servants about this.

We could probably start with anything where the world champion can't be beaten by my mobile phone.

I mean, people here saying chess doesn't require any physical activity and therefore it's not a sport, but darts is a sport, right? What about snooker? I mean, don't come here and tell me that darts require physical activity, please. Please...

i would say its a sport, i mean has anyone here heard of boxing chess?

its like when two people play 3 mins of chess then switch and fight for hree mins. idk if feet and leg attack are in.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Chess is a sport for your mind!

what?

The IOC required the BCF to show it had the facilities to conduct random drugs tests at National and International events. This was a precursor to chess becoming an Olympic event. Negotiations went on for over a decade.

Well, there is that. 

As it's been repeated over and over again, it's not about physical activity. There is no minimum (or maximum) amount of physical effort required. Physical effort has nothing to do with defining a game, or a sport really. What makes the difference is physical SKILL. Not effort. 

It has nothing to do with the amount of physical ability. It's all about the quality of effort. There is physical effort in chess (just like there is in tic tac toe. But there is no physical SKILL. Chess is a game of mental skill, not physical skill. 

I disagree with your definition, because by that standard a guy that just started playing basketball today and has zero skills isn't playing any sport at all. There's defininitely activity involved, not only skill. The question, imo, is that the activity can also be mental.

Yes

Well if it's mental activity only, then it can't be a sport can it? For instance, daydreaming, or thinking about what to make for dinner. These are mental only activities, and in no way qualify as sport. 

As far as someone just taking up basketball, there is no minimum requirement for skill. Only that it be above zero. So chess, which has zero physical skill involved, is not a sport. Basketball by a complete beginner, is a sport because the complete beginner, in all his clumsiness and awkwardness, is STILL displaying physical skill when trying to put the ball in the basket. It might be pathetic, it might be awful, but it's not mental effort that accomplishes the goal. It's physical effort and skill. 

So he practices. Because he's a complete beginner. Does he practice mental skill? Maybe. But what he practices more is PHYSICAL skill. He practices holding the ball, he practices the right arm movements, he practices how much strength is needed to throw the ball a certain amount of distance and height. It's all physical. 

Chess is not like that at all. Nobody practices holding the pieces the right way. Nobody practices sitting in their chair. Nobody practices fidgeting. Nobody practices ANY of the physical aspects of chess because none of those things determine how the game is played. Chess is mental, not physical. 

This is why people who have no physical abilities or skill (parapalegics) can still play chess just fine. But that same person cannot play basketball (or most any other sport). It's really simple. Sports require physical skill, games do not. 

it's a sport because you can have tournaments, just like poker. just be aware when you're talking about physical sports, because tennis is that unlike chess

Chess is considered an E-sport and in my opinion it should also be considered a sport. I asked some of my friends and most of them answered "No, its not a sport"