Is chess a sport? Ending the debate

yes chess is a sport ..... who told you that chess is not sport ??? i will tear him into pieces ...

We are not really getting anywhere. How about instead of deciding whether chess is a sport or a game, lets decide

Is sport a sport or a game? 

Playing in the New York Open Chess Tournament, (4 days, 8 rounds) "feels" much the same as (almost) winning a spot on the US Olympic Team in Judo.

Having done both, I can assure you, they felt equally tiring, sports-wise, at least when it comes to multi-day, competitive OTB chess.

I prefer to let the GMs (such as Gulko) make the assertions -- he characterizes Chess as "Part Art, Part Science, Part Sport."  All three "parts" I find persuasive.

Sadly, this thread keeps splitting hairs regarding the whole versus the part.  Yawn.

Kick back and have a stiff drink, instead.  

Some say that chess is not not a sport. On many forum posts, many people who say that chess isn’t a sport tend to use definitions such as “Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively” as the definition of sport. But there are many more definitions of sport, thus making it impossible to definitively say that chess is a sport or not a sport. I think that chess is a sport. Many people may have a different point of view, which is because their definition of sport might be different from mine. Therefore, instead of directly using a definition of sport, I will compare chess to the sport (everyone agrees it is a sport), soccer, to prove that chess is a sport. Before anyone starts commenting “why should we trust you?” or “I don’t know what I’m saying”, I joined chess.com in 2008 and have played soccer in elementary school competitively and follow the EPL (go Manchester United!). I also want to point out that this debate is clearly pointless as neither side of this debate can be fully correct as the definition of sport varies too much. I will be only basing these arguments based off my definition of sport.

Firstly, chess, like soccer is a physical activity. If you play chess, you know that you plan your moves by looking at the placements of the pieces around the whole board. This becomes a lot harder when you are playing chess using life sized pieces (you literally don’t get the whole board in your range of sight). I do realize how obviously low of a likelihood that a chess player would be playing chess with life size chess pieces (purchase links below), but chess itself in theory can require some physical activity. Then again, a typical chess player would be playing chess either online or on a physical chess board where almost all of the energy spent is mental (less bodily activity caused by physically lifting a life size piece and walking to place it down). Mental is simply another form of physical, the physical activity of the brain. Soccer, is a physical activity (pretty self explanatory). The soccer players physically do a lot of movement, when training and during competitions. The manager of a soccer team also does a lot of physical activity (the physical activity of the mind), planning the playing strategy.

If your definition of sport is hand-eye coordination, chess would not be considered a sport. Instead, all FPS video games would be considered sports (because League of Legends clearly involves a lot of physical activity (hand, finger and arm movements)).  

Life size chess pieces purchase links:

1. http://www.chesshouse.com/Giant_Chess_Set_Combo_p/e052.htm
2. http://yardgames.com.au/90cm-36-teak-chess-set.html
3. MegaChess Giant Plastic Chess Set with a 37" King

Secondly, like soccer, chess has a set of rules. There are things you are allowed to do and things you aren't allowed to do in chess. There are many ways that chess can be played, but there are strict rules each player must follow if you are playing the regular version of chess. Here is The United States Chess Federation’s official rules. Soccer has a set of rules. One rule of soccer is that each team can consists of a maximum of eleven players.

Thirdly, like soccer, chess is often engaged in competitively. You can play chess leisurely with friends or competitively. Many soccer players (common people) can gather together and play soccer together in their neighborhood park. There are professional soccer players that play in professional teams who compete in competitions and play soccer for a living. Chess is the same. There are chess clubs, where groups of chess players (common people) gather to play chess. There are also competitive chess players who play chess as a living by going to chess tournaments. For those who don’t know how many chess tournaments that actually take place, here is a list that depicts many of the strongest international chess tournaments in history (up to date with current tournaments listed).

Not only are there international chess tournaments, but there are also many non-international ones too. In many states across the US, there are state chess tournaments. If you check online, there should be a list of tournaments that was held in your state. Not only are there chess tournaments statewide, there are national chess tournaments. There is a list of US national chess tournaments which can be found on The United States Chess Federation’s official website.

Even if people do not go to those official chess tournaments, there are many online chess playing sites (e.g. chess.com, lichess.org, etc). On those sites, players can choose to play with an AI or with live people from around the world. There are many online chess tournaments, where the best players get to be on the leaderboard. There is a great deal of tournaments out there for people to participate in, thus meaning that chess is competitive, like soccer.

The final point I want to make is that chess, like soccer or other sports, fundamentally involves a lot of strategy. Why do you think that many good soccer teams do so badly, even though the team has so many top players (e.g. Manchester United). This is not the player’s fault, but the manager’s fault. One of manager’s role is to plan out the strategy for playing the game. The manager chooses what formation to use, which players are playing, etc. The player’s are there to act out the strategy the manager planned out (assuming that all the players are equal in skill). Chess is no different. The chess players are the ones that plan out the strategy of the game. The piece, which are controlled by the player, are used to act out the strategy of the game which was planned by the player.

In conclusion, I proved that chess is very similar to soccer, which is a sport, without directly using the definition of sport and forcing my arguments to support the definition. therefore, I can conclude that chess in my opinion is a sport. Also, haven’t you noticed that I actually broke down the definition of chess that I had given in the beginning in my argument? If you didn’t notice, then take a look again the arguments I provided and look at the definition of sport in the introduction.

Yes, I understand that there are many definitions for sport. But looking at the similarities between chess and a sport like soccer, and realizing how similar they both are, proves that chess is a sport.

As i said before, chess can be a sport or not a sport depending on your definition of sport, so if you still don’t think that chess is a sport, then I won’t force you to change your views. After all, I find that this debate is pointless as it ends up being an argument where people try to find merits using different definitions of sport (all of which are correct if coming from reputable source). Why can't we just end this debate?

No, chess is not a sport. 

If chess is a sport then anything we do in live should be considered a sport. 

Doing math exercises should be considered a sport, shopping should be a sport, driving a car should be considered a sport. 

No one ever has became ripped from playing chess, no one single doctor has ever said "You need to lose some fat, play chess 30 minutes per day, 3 times a week". 

- What do you do in live? 

- I am a professional athlete!

- Wow that is great! What sport you do? 

- I am a chess player. 

- Ahmm....Ok...

Chess can be many things, but it is not a sport. 

Actually there are many "sports" that should not be considered sports at all. 

- Poker

- Darts

- Curling

- Pro Wrestling 

Just to mention few. 

It depends on your definition of sport if your definition is like team 1 V team 2 then yes chess is a sport. If you define sports as trying to reach a goal before your opponent does yes chess is a sport.   But it all depends on your definition of what a sport is.

It also depends on the context.

Why can't we just end the debate and start new topics:

Is debate a chess? Ending the sport

and

Is sport a debate? Ending the chess

Chess is not a sport !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! chess is a game!!!!!

I still say it makes no difference what a persons definition of sport or chess is. If someone were to say they love their husband, can someone else correct them and say "not so fast, that depends on the definition of love". If someone believes chess is a sport, no amount of defining any words is going to make any difference. 

This whole thread is about semantics as are discussions about the existence of 'God' or whatever - just change the word...

I notice that radio talk hosts skillfully use the shifting definitions of terms to encourage interminable and unresolvable debate to connect commercial breaks together.

Just like billiards, rock paper scissors and hot potato, I firmly contend that chess is a sport.

Does this mean it is a sport? Or not a sport?

Absolutely correct, you don't need sports to be happy but I would be happy if chess was considered a sport.

Walk into your local department store, go to the sporting goods section, pick out a chess set...wait...what? No chess sets there? That's right, they are over with other board games like Monopoly, Sorry, Hungry Hungry Hippo and the like. Case closed.

While that's true, Dick's Sporting Goods does sell baseballs. Baseballs are round, and must be used with a persons hand. The base of chess pieces are also round, and must be used with a persons hand. If the fact that Dicks sells baseballs isn't proof chess is a sport, I dont know what is.

But you don´t throw chess pieces with force at people in chess and you don´t need to run fast from base to base... which actually requires some sort of physical fitness.

chess is a board game and only that. End of the debate

BigKingBud's post number 771 sums the debate up in four words and two pictures.