Why is chess not included in the Olympic Games??

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Olympic is for all sports. Chess is only a game of chess.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/is-chess-a-sport-or-a-game

Ray Duque III, GMBD

Unless you're a die hard chess player. NO ONE is going to sit in front of a TV and watch two people stare at a chess board for hours. You want to kill the Olympic TV coverage? Add chess.

I agree. Chess is only game of chess, NOT a sport.

I didnt say chess is not a sport, im saying its not in the Olympics because no one would watch it.

In fact: chess is a sport, as it's recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and numerous countries worldwide, and has a governing body (FIDE).

Mental Exertion:
Chess requires intense mental focus, strategy, and creativity, which some argue qualifies as a form of sport.

Competition:
Like all sports, chess involves competition between individuals with a shared goal of winning.

Physical Toll:
Some studies have shown that grandmasters can experience significant calorie burn and stress during extended matches, leading to weight loss due to the intense concentration required.

So while it lacks the physical attributes of other sports. Chess is a sport. Obviously not everyone agrees and thats fine.

To me, it's only a game of chess game. That's my opinion. To you, it's a sport. That's your opinion. That's it.

We both agree no one will watch chess on TV. Again, to me, it's only a game.

Please comment on this link too, if you want it. Thank you.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/is-chess-a-sport-or-a-game

Sport or game. As long as its something you enjoy doing, that's what counts.

People do watch it, though the the numbers probably aren't there for it to be a big enough draw. Though if it ever happens, it will likely be faster time controls and possibly something like the E-sports type system and coverage.

Yes Martin people do watch it. People as in chess players. But it will never be a draw on TV. That is why shows like Queens Gambit show games in speed chess mode. If its not fast no one will watch it.

would be amazing to watch

You're exactly correct.

No one will watch it on TV.

Would be cool

"To my chagrin, the International Olympic Committee classifies chess as a sport, a decision I wholeheartedly disagree with. Chess is a board game, not a sport. The Oxford Dictionary defines sport as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or a team competes against another for entertainment.” While both sides of the argument would agree that chess is a competition that provides entertainment, the physical exertion aspect is where the sides split and I begin my case that chess is not a sport. 

Those in favor of chess as a sport cite the extreme exertion grandmasters experience while playing chess. One Stanford study found that grandmasters burn up to 6,000 calories during a game of chess, often leading to weight loss. There is no denying that chess can take a toll on a player, but I would argue that mental exertion should be placed in a different category than physical. After all, sitting in a chair for seven hours can hardly be considered exercise. Rather, the constant mental stress from a game causes high heart rates and, in turn, leads to weight loss and calorie burning. 

Take the 1984 World Chess Championship, which was called off after five months of intensive chess games because competitor Anatoly Karpov lost 22 pounds and, as one commentator put it, “He looked like death.” This “looking like death” is not from physical strain but a symptom of prolonged mental stress. But anything that causes extreme stress cannot be considered a sport just because it burns calories. After all, if stress was a sport, then having a heart attack would be like winning a gold medal. Chess-as-sport debaters cite how the seven-hour-long games are filled with strategy, nerves and lots of sweat. But if strategy, nerves and sweat are all it takes to be considered a sport, then suddenly the socially awkward guy who asks out every girl he sees out is a top-tier athlete. 

Another common chess-as-sport argument is done by carefully extracting aspects of sports and showing how they can be found in chess. For example, like sports, chess is competitive and universal, requires skill and sportsmanship, inspires national fervor and has anti-doping regulations. This is all true, but just because chess has these elements does not mean it is a sport. It is easy to cherry-pick aspects of two things to make them seem comparable. To prove my point, I'll claim that professional soccer teams are drug cartels. Soccer teams, like drug cartels, are composed of individuals who come together for a common purpose. Both groups work together to dominate their field, and the better they perform, the more money they make. They are both especially popular in Latin American countries. Rivalries between competitors are also common in both, and they both have a leader (a coach or a drug lord) who supervises the people in the group and plans strategies. As shown, they have quite a bit in common, but no one would go as far as to say Messi is scoring drug deals. 

When we stretch the boundaries of what it means to be an athlete, it becomes harder to see where to draw the line. Extreme crafting, puzzles, climbing the ladder to get into my loft bed at night: could these be the next big “sports"? We have to draw the line somewhere, and personally, I would like to draw it before we start calling teenagers on Chess.com, hunched over their computers munching on Doritos in their basement, 'athletes'. 

There is no real reason that chess needs to be considered a sport other than a desire for prestige. I believe this is a result of the societal importance placed on sports over mental games and talents. We should change that, not the meaning of any word. Sports are a dominant form of entertainment, especially in America. The posters hung up in children's rooms are favorite athletes, not famous astrophysicists. People flock to the stadiums to see the biggest sports rivalries. It seems to me chess players just want a small piece of this reverence. My message to any chess player turned aspiring athlete is this: just do your own thing. Chess is an impressive game that takes far more strategizing and patience than any sport. Be proud of your classification as a game of strategy, and don’t try and be something you are not."

A check on chess as a sport - The Observer

I think chess or other eSports don't belong in the Olympics. Should we include Poker and Counter-Strike too?

Chess isn’t in the Olympic Games because 1. Chess already has a Chess Olympiad. 2. Chess takes TOO long to complete. 3. No one wants to see someone play a 5-hour chess game. (Unless they’re professionals or just weird) 4. Chess is TOO boring to stare at. 5. India will always win. (Pragg, Gukesh, etc) 6. There are lots of tournaments on chess already. 7. Most people don’t play chess. 8. Most people don’t like to play chess. 9. Most people don’t like to look at chess. 10. Whoever is hosting the Olympic Games will lose money cause they have to build the stadium etc. (People won’t like to watch a chess game for 5-hours with it ending in stalemate right?) Yeah that’s BASIXally it.

In general that's why people prefer to watch sports rather than games. In the Olympics the events with the lowest viewership are the ones that are the longest and/or the viewer doesn't understand how the event is performed or judged.

You are right, only chess players would watch chess, since they are the only ones who understand how the game is played. Sports draws viewers who have never participated in the sport. People who have never ice-skated watch ice skating. But people who have never played chess will NEVER watch chess.

The way I see it, trying to include chess in the Olympic is a colossally bad idea for two reasons. It would diminish the game of chess (trying to make it mainstream would lessen the perception of an elite board game) and also it would give the Olympics a black eye by including a board game in a sporting event. Nobody wins, everyone loses.

it’s because chess is a sport and the Olympics are only games.

Why you allow to play under israel flag?