Is chess a sport? Ending the debate

     I live in the San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland) where we have had the earliest, longest-lasting and most extensive mask, vaccination and shutdown regulations in the US. It has been irksome but we also have a covid death-rate well less than 1/2 of any other urban area in the US. It seems most people here think thousands of deaths prevented is worth a little inconvenience. I've worn the masks so much for so long that the only thing that bothers me anymore is using the gym--too hard to get enough oxygen.

     If you're travelling in the US, the one place you don't want to miss is New Orleans. I haven't seen anything like it anywhere. Only problem is the heat and humidity, but the only time to visit in cooler weather is during hurricane season.

     I really like the Oregon coast, but the population is sparse so amenities are few. It's also the whitest country I've seen in a long time--I didn't see a black, Latino, or East or South Asian person driving through five years ago between Eureka, CA and Portland.

     I spent seven weeks in the British Isles four years back. I thought London was nice but not as interesting as other European cities I have visited (Paris is best--I LOVE Venice but it's so different from other cities that comparisons seem unfair--Florence, Athens, Moscow, Rome and Istanbul). I enjoyed Cambridge, Bath, the Cotswalds, Dublin and particularly Edinburgh. It does seem that with all the places around the world the English colonized they should have been able to find better cuisine.

Because every once in a while somebody new notices it and has something interesting to say.

You actually use the masks while exercising in a gym? That seems incredible. But at least you've survived. I have always wanted to see New Orleans. I know Montreal ... is it anything like that? I love Bath ... my son lived there directly after leaving university and we visited a lot and stayed with him and his friends. Excellent city but bad to drive in, and expensive. Bristol is also a wonderful place and Liverpool, where I went to university. My son's favourite city is Edinburgh. He studied in Newcastle and St Andrews. We stayed with him in St Andrews a lot and now we visit him and his wife in Newcastle frequently, because both his mother and I have had a lot of business dealings there. It's also near where I went to school, in Morpeth. London still knocks me out. Our dear son gave his mum and me a few days at the Savoy in the Strand a couple of years ago, for a Christmas present. London still knocks me out and I lived there from 1978 to 81. I've never been to Paris but have visited other parts of Europe except for Spain. I've slept at night in the Parthenon in Athens, and hitch-hiked to Kashmir and back, among other things. Cambridge is a nice place, isn't it. But more recently I got to know Oxford. My wife likes Taunton and also Lewes and Brighton. I love Cornwall and am from the English Lake District.

I just noticed the bit at the end. I don't think it's possible to find better cuisine than England, anywhere in the World. I do like very much Turkish, French and Japanese cuisine but English is the best. Maybe you didn't know where to go. I just cook it myself.

     I can't say much about Montreal as I was only there for two days in 1976. If you don't care for "hot" jazz music or spicy cuisine derived from France, Africa, the Caribbean and local traditions, New Orleans may not be your cup of tea. Quirks like a general laissez-faire attitude toward life (usually including law enforcement tolerance of exotic behavior), as many festivals and celebrations as can be crammed into a year, funeral processions led by bands playing soulful, mournful music liable at any moment to turn raucous and energetic, real estate and hotel listings informing you whether or not the place is haunted, abundant alcohol consumption, world famous "music halls" that seat about 50 people, and "night life" that lasts until morning most days and starts again by mid-afternoon, very good bands playing for contributions on street corners, are all staples of this fairly small city. Best to avoid Mardi Gras as it has become incredibly overcrowded and touristy.

   Oh--I did have some good meals in Britain, but the numbing sameness of pub menus and blandness of too many dishes lead me to stand by my opinion. German food suffers from the same problem, but that's the source of the mid-American food I grew up on so it didn't seem as bad to me. And the Netherlands food is worse, saved by the fact that they colonised Indonesia and there are many Indonesian restaurants in the cities. Turkish and Greek food is good but even though they are similar the Turks get more elaborate and use a wider variety of meats and spices--probably a remnant of the centuries when the Ottomans ruled Greece and took the best things for themselves.

There's an African food shop in Wigan and a few years ago, it was serving Carribean and African cuisine. I ate there quite a few times but certainly wouldn't want to live on it for the rest of my life. I doubt I would live long! Pub food in Britain is what it is. Cheap food enjoyed by the masses, because it's cheap and they don't know any better, unless you know a good pub that serves restaurant quality food. Same in any country. Italy has all its awful pasta dishes, of mindnumbing sameness. Spanish food is just awful, apart from a few better tapas. German, well .... Norwegian it just gets worse. But traditional English cooking is the best I've tasted. We have a big choice of foreign cuisine here so it's easy to eat Vietnamese, Korean, Malayan, Nepalese. Mongol was a fad ten years ago. I liked that. I do genuinely love Japanese. But that's actually because it's so similar to Brit food, except we don't have sushi, which I like. I know Turkey pretty well though and their food, when you get away from all the kebabs, is amazing too.

if architecture can be an olympic sport, i think chess can be considered a sport

 But architecture is not an Olympic sport. 

it was an olympic sport

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

https://olympics.com/en/news/look-to-the-past-when-olympic-medals-were-awarded-for-architecture-music-and-lit

Many things are.
How about 'sychronized swimming' ?
To survive - the Olympics have to have entertainment elements.
They need to offer something to a sufficient cross-section of society. 

The biggest dynamic might be though - "Hey its our team against your team - our citizens against your citizens"
That seems to be a big deal worldwide.
Even "Its our city against your city.  Our neighborhood against your neighborhood.  We will beat you at this sport.  And that sport."
'Neighbors':  "Our lawn is greener than your lawn"
Human nature isn't going to change. 

Whatever the original reason for being in a sport is - it can 'get lost and forgotten'.  Does.  

Competition. Essential.  Including in the marketplace and the workplace.

Yes, so was poetry. But I doubt anyone would say poetry (and architecture) are sports. They were Olympic events, and there is no reason chess couldn't also be an Olympic event. But that doesn't  mean they are sports. 

Olympic events have never been limited to just sports. 

There already is a chess Olympiad.  Its been around for a while.
Unless they stopped it.
But it doesn't seem there's 'chess Medal' events in the regular Olympics.
You'd think if they allow marathons - they'd allow chess too.
There's no Olympic car racing either.  Too dangerous.

Archery is physically very difficult. I've heard that incorrect argument before. Shows these people have no good arguments!

Actually though, you're right. Now I come to think, the Olympics recognises the 100 metres sprint as a physical sport and there's no physical exertion in that at all. There can't be ... it only lasts ten seconds and that isn't time enough to get tired.

Doesn't mean anything because they are a self-interested party.

You probably know more about this than I do, but I heard there was a time, in the UK, where golf was banned because people were spending too much time golfing, and not enough time practicing archery. 

I think the two are very similar, as far as physical requirements. Both are physically very difficult. 

blitz chess with a lawn set.

Practising archery was a duty at some times in our history. It was like National Service became later. Archery is extremely physically demanding. I don't know whether it's amusing or sad for our species to see so many incorrect arguments. The idea that various "official" bodies which stand to gain from chess being a sport "proves" it's a sport shows pretty clearly that democracy may not work. If people applied the same arguments to politicians .... Oh they do?