They say Chess is not a sport!

Chess is not a sport, it is something much greater than a mere sport.

First, sports are games too. Secondly, mathematics are not directly competitive like chess. For example, if I do better on a test, it doesn't mean that the rest of the class is getting an F. Anyway, don't tell me chess isn't a sport when my heart is beating faster in the heat of a tough OTB game than it does when I'm running a mile.

Probably, the most accurate categorization is: mind sport. Although, to play good chess competitively, it helps immensely to be fit. The mind-body connection is important.

Chess is, for all practical purposes, infinite! Calling it a sport is degrading

Okay, right about now somebody says "Chess is life." Then the thread poops out, and about four months from now a new member will ask "Is chess a sport?" and we can do this all over again. "Isn't fun the best thing to have?" (Dudley Moore, Arthur.)

 Please stop embarrassing Canadians. Thank you.

 WHEN DID I SAID THAT! LOL!

Hmm, I thought chess was an obsession. Oh well

Chess requires intense concentration and the ability to sit quiet and motionless for hours. In fact a lot of chess players run each day and get in shape so they can deal with the intensity of tournament games.

If chess isn't a sport than something like nascar certaintly isn't either.

I think chess is a martial art. Everything is in your mind. You have to calm down, to attack, to defend. All at the right time. Not before, neither after.

So i think it's an martial art.

For sport you have to get a sweat up!

p.s. not just body odour.

Rather than exertion, I would say that a sport must involve physical acuity.  This includes billiards, shooting, racing, and golf -- just not chess.  Chess is the only example that does not require physical skill to execute the mental plan (in auto racing, the racer uses the tools of the game to manipulate the physical state of his machine).

Yes, and sweat... which is why I don't consider golf a sport. Or billiards. Or Formula 1. Not enough sweat. :)

But I think the question we need to ask ourselves is not whether or not chess is a sport, but why we think that calling something a "sport" raises it high above other endeavours? Why is being labeled a sport considered such a great thing that some people feel the need to argue for or fight for the label?

Smith, its not that we as a community think that sports are somehow superior to games, it is just that there is a distinction between the two words; the two words are NOT synonyms.  English is a nice language in the fact that different words can have different meanings.  Why should we allow the two terms to blend into one.  If there is a clear distinction, then it is the  intellectual responsibility of a people to maintain that difference.  (in my opinion)  Personally I think chess is much more important game than any sport, however this is because I value the intellect much more than I do the physical.

haha XD