Is chess a sport? Ending the debate

You could also train for a spelling bee, an entrance exam, a video game tournament, etc., but those are not sports.  

I tend to think of anything that's done on a competitive level as a sport of some kind. So sure, spelling bees, competitive gaming, Magic: The Gathering, poker and chess are all sports to me.

Like I said before, these types of things may not meet the classical definition of the term since they lack a direct athletic component, but that doesn't stop myself (and many others) from thinking of them as sports.

Calling chess merely a "game" doesn't seem accurate. It's a simple game when two people play it in their living room. But once you introduce governing bodies, ratings, tournaments, championships, etc you've turned it into a sport.

If it's not, then we need a new word to describe those things that are done on an organized, competitive level that aren't athletic in nature.

For an activity to qualify as 'a sport' it has to have a physical characteristic that can be 'honed physically'.
Ex. Throwing a baseball, or shooting a basketball vs say, playing Tic Tac Toe.

Simply put, you cannot 'hone the game of chess physically'. 

Like I said in my last post, if we're not going to let things like chess, competitive gaming, Magic: The Gathering, etc fall under the category of sports then we need a new word to collectively refer to these things.

Simply calling them "games" does not suffice. Basketball is also a game.

To me, once you have governing bodies, leagues, rankings, championships, etc then it's a sport. So if these competitive, organized, non-athletic activities are not sports . . . then what are they?

Double

Lots of games are organized and competitive, but that doesn't make them sports.   Chess, checkers, poker, Mahjong, Scrabble, Pokemon, Magic:The Gathering and even some video games have organized tournaments, with prize money.  However, they are still games, because there's no meaningful physical component.   I don't think there needs to be a special category for them, just because they are popular enough to attract organized tournaments.   I know that I've said this before, but it bares repeating.  All sports are games, but not all games are sports.   Just like not all rectangles are squares and not all fingers are thumbs.   That doesn't make them any less important though.  

The fact that this thread is almost 500 posts long and we're still debating it shows that there is no resolution, but this article sums up my position pretty well:

http://londonchessconference.com/a-question-of-sport/

Any competition can be a sport, but not all partakers in sport are athletes. The modern definition of sport requires athleticism but a dictionary is always evolving to make the most modern sense of a word. Considering the word sport is essentially the same across all Romance languages except Spanish, I would say the word universally means an activity that is both recreational and competitive. 

Could not have said it better myself.

I find it hilarious that they used this as one of their points to prove that chess is a sport.  This is exactly why chess is NOT a sport.   lol

"People with physical disabilities play chess. Blind people play chess. People with advanced motor neuron disease play chess: Professor Stephen Hawking played chess with his children."

I would agree that's not the most compelling point. But the fact that the IOC is recognizing it as a sport is important, in my opinion. If the Olympic committee can recognize it as a sport, why can't the rest of us?

But if you must, apparently someone has coined the term "mind sport" to refer to these non-physical competitive activities:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_sport

For me though, simply "sport" works just fine.

No. chess is not a sport.  Is poker a sport?  Is backgammon a sport?  Is checkers a sport?  On the other hand at dictionary.com there are 27 different definition of the word sport.

I think all this thread shows is that when someone has a strongly held opinion they like to force others to believe it too.

It is an attitude of mind we could well do without.  It leads to Totalitarian states and such horrors as the Spanish Inquisition.

I think chess is not a sport.  I run, I swim, I cycle, I practice martial arts.  I used to play  soccer (badly!!). They are sports. Chess has (in my opinion) some similarities to my more vigorous activities, but enough differences to exclude it.  I also play the piano.  Piano "competitions" exist. Does that make piano playing a sport?  Perhaps it all depends on context.  Swimming is classed as a sport, but for most swimmers it is fun, recreation and exercise. Perhaps chess is a sport in some contexts whereas in others it is not?

Is it all about the money and/or kudos for the scumbags that run FIDE or for those very few players that might play in the Olympic games?  That would be very sad.

Maybe it is foolish to try to pin a single label on our game.  I do not think anyone can deny that in chess there are elements of sport, but that does not in intself justify the single label of "Sport".

Chess can be studied in a scientific manner, but that does not make it a "Science".  An endgame or attack can be played in a conventional but effective manner, but tht does not make chess a "Craft".  It can result in creations of great beauty that affect us emotionally, but that does not make it an "Art"

So, you people that think chess is a sport, you are welcome to your opinion, for whatever reasons you hold it.  You are welcome to hold and participate in events that are billed as "Chess as a sport".  But please stop trying to ram your opinion (and its unfortunate consequences in the intrusive oversight of their lives that it would bring to the players)  down the collective throats of those of us that Hold a different opinion.

Well this thread was meant to end the debate. (first post)

The way to end the debate is to agree to differ.  Not for one view or the other to prevail.  That is not going to happen.

They already have, chess is categorized as a "mind sport".

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_sport

yes, it is

Shooting the horse that won the race doesn't erase the win.

No misery here. Your sadness must only be a symptom of your delusion if it was pity for me. You feign, but the sadness you feel is the appropriate emotional response for your failure.

The victory lap you saw me take is far from your hobbled or broken state.

Though couched in your veiled language of cowardice, I laugh at your threat and your request for others to shoot me.

At least you had the horse sense to know you'd need to ask others to shoot me if your ability to reason is any reflection of your accuracy.

It won't be the first time and probably won't be the last.

Realize any self-defense in response to your threat would not be unprovoked.

Dude, you are not stupid, get real(stop, and think/study logically about the subject at hand).  You are making yourself look like a lunatic.

I will admit Jeff saying we should shoot you was rude, and HIGHLY uncalled for, but your poetic way of saying you 'know it all', when you are easily definitively wrong about the subject, it is just disturbing. 

he's in the right place then.