Is Chess a sport?

[Zdroyd]

a) video gaming is a sport, there are international competitions and everything. also so is chess while sports like football(soccer) and rugby(american football) test physical prowess, chess and video games test mental sbility.

Very true!

Any thing that has tourniments is a sport! So hotdog eating is a sport, quilt making is a sport, all games and compation based activitys are sports!

 

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Yes... Chess is a sport...

 

[jetmav]

I was playing chess competitively for my high school. To perform better I was made to do lots of physical conditionings and train like the other athletes. From that time to date and much more later, I believe people would be playing it seriously and professionally. It is a sport then and now - I believe.

 

[Conmiro]

Yes it is a mental sport. According to wikipedia. Im not sure that that is a reliable resource but it seems right.

 

[cursedpsp]

I don't think it is a sport, otherwise all board games, including games like Monopoly and stuff like that would be declared a sport too.

I think it is a sport actually, they actually have championship events globally and i think it is in the olympics, not sure.

Anyway... They dont have championships in monopoly and stuff like that, so they arent sports - theyre just your average family board game.

 

[kkenny]

I'm not sure. Maybe so maybe not. It could be a world cup sport, but not an olympic worthy sport.

 

[hermitobserver]

i'd say it is...
it's sometimes on tv
some people can play it some people can't
you get money for winning
and you can get really mad when you lose

 

[atlgeo]

YES

I used to play a lot in college. I would get extremely tired and it was physically draining when playing player ranked higher than me or when the pressure was on. It will wear you out if playing for cash.

 

[kkenny]

You know what, I'll be the odd ball and say no. Sports are things that involve physical action and the only thing you do in chess is push little blocks around. Golf and... a game of catch are more of a sport then Chess is. Video games and Chess are not sports, they ruin the thing we call sports.

 

[kjprice]

Perhaps, but chess boxing definitely is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessboxing)

 

[kkenny]

What an amazing find kjprice, haha that gave a good laugh for a while... chess + boxing, how original +rep

 

[cursedpsp]

Is chess a game or sport?
Answer:

It's a game, not a sport. But it can be played as a competitive game.

Game is defined in Dictionary.Com as:

a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators.

Sport is defined as:

an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

Athletic is defined as:

involving the use of physical skills or capabilities, as strength, agility, or stamina.

Since chess does not involve the use of physical skills or capabilities, it is not athletic. And to be a sport, an activity has to be athletic.

Thus chess is not a sport.

Those who maintain that chess is a sport point out that chess at the highest tournament levels requires physical endurance, since chess matches can last several hours, during which you have to be in top physical condition. The more physically conditioned you are, the better you will be able to maintain the intense concentration necessary to win such a long game. Furthermore, one often has to play matches lasting days or weeks.

However, this is a specious argument, since calling the ability to sit and concentrate for extended periods a "physical skill" is reaching. If this were a valid argument, then almost any activity would be athletic. For example, since waiters have to have stamina, waiting tables would be an athletic activity.


Of course, they have things like Billiards, Poker, and cup stacking on ESPN nowadays, so the answer is debatable. I would agree that it is not a sport, but many people will say that it is.

Well since that puts it there in the definitions - chess is a SPORT.

In the definition of chess it said
a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of...

And in the definition of sport it said
an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature

People need physicial endurance to play chess, and thats what the definition means - Physical Endurance

I rest my case...

 

[TarouSensei]

Well since that puts it there in the definitions - chess is a SPORT.

In the definition of chess it said
a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of...

And in the definition of sport it said
an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature

People need physicial endurance to play chess, and thats what the definition means - Physical Endurance

I rest my case...

OBJECTION!

You skipped some key parts of the definition of sport. "Athletic activity", Chess is not athletic. Even if you cherry-pick the definition of athletic and point out stamina, it does not involve physical prowess, therefore not athletic, therefore not a sport.
In the strictest sense, chess is a game. However, we can refer to basketball as a sport, and a game. I would never say I was going to a basketball sport, I would say basketball game. The two can be interchanged to some degree, but going off of strict definitions, chess is a game.

 

[networker]

If Golf is considered a sport I would consider Chess one.I would
much rather watch Chess than Golf anyday.