Letter #12 -  2007

Sub:    Is Chess considered a sport?
Date:   3/29/2007 1:35:26 AM MST
From:  araceli_tv
To:      service@chess-poster.com

Can you please tell me why some people consider Chess a sport?

Do players do some kind of exercise or, is it mental exercise?.

Another question I have is that if Chess is played in the world Olympic games like any other sports.

Thank you.

Dear viewer,

We found the following:

Is Chess a sport? That question is often answered with another question: What do you mean by 'sport'? The issue then becomes one of definition. How do you define a sport?

If we look at a dictionary definition of 'sport', there are a number of secondary, irrelevant definitions of the word ('he's a good sport', 'she's a poor sport'). The primary, relevant definition is something like:

A. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.

B. A particular form of this activity. This makes a distinction between sports in general ('He played sports at school') and a specific sport ('She played basketball at school'). Chess is clearly not a sport by this definition because physical activity is not necessarily involved.

Indeed, physical activity can be present in Chess, especially in blitz Chess but it is not a prerequisite. Two competent players can play each other blindfold, where the only physical activity involves speaking the moves.

Two novice players can play each other over the Internet by manipulating a mouse, a physical activity which no one ever considers a sport ('competitive mousing'?).

Another definition of sport is something like:

An active pastime; recreation. If Chess is to be considered a sport, it is according to this definition, which includes the word 'active'.

Unfortunately, the definition is so vague that it covers just about any human activity that serves as an 'active pastime': flower gardening, poetry writing / reading, and card games ranging from the most skilled (e.g. bridge) to the least (the children's game of 'war').

On your second question:

The world Chess federation, FIDE, is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as an International Sports Federation.

A Chess exhibition match was staged at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and, at one stage, there were negotiations for Chess to be included in the Olympics as a regular demonstration sport.

Every two years, FIDE organizes its own Chess Olympiad, modeled on the Olympics, in which teams from around the world compete against each other.

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