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Sub:
Is Chess considered a sport?
Date:
3/29/2007 1:35:26 AM Mountain Standard Time
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.
Chess-poster.com
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').
Source:
http://chess.about.com/od/news/i/aa07d28.htm
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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