Chess is a sport, people



As recognized by the Olympic Games

https://www.olympic.org/world-chess-federation

Please stop calling it an activity, hobby and whatever else.

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Why do you care then? If it has been officially recognized, shouldn't that be the end of it? I personally don't think it's a sport, but I'm all for it being categorized as such, same with golf or esports. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9ak89FwYeI I think this Vsauce video is pretty relevant to this discussion, definitely recommend it. Chess is maybe a sport, but it's not a sport sport.

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Ha, chess already has a long history of cheating so kiss that dream goodbye. Only in chess the PEDs are hidden computers and the like.

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Who exactly is running around ringing a bell and loudly proclaiming it an activity or a hobby and thus winding you up so much?

I suggest - absolutely nobody. This sounds a bit like FAKE NEWS!

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I'm just putting it out there for any people who don't know any better.

I've been playing chess all my life, and it really grinds my gears when people call it an activity and whatnot.

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👍 How good are you?

I've been playing for the past year and I'm still rubbish...

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I'm ok. Highest elo was 1800 as far as I can remember.

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Very impressive!

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Thank you. Will have to test myself again, haven't played recently. Too busy.

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I've seen the "Is chess a sport or not?" discussion get pretty heated actually. Pretty sure there's like a 50-page thread on this over at chess.com.

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A related Sport is ascribing awful things about people you don't like as if they are absolutely true.
"Stop making fun of me !"
"When have I made fun of you?"
"You're doing it right now ! And you did last week and the week before !"
"What are you talking about? I don't even know you."
"Waa. You're all the same, making fun of us, the aggrieved majority. Waa !"
Total bs

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during a match a chess player's heart rate may go up to that of a sprinter.

no joke- it's life or death.

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No it's not. It's a board game. That is what it is.

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Define "sport."

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sport - an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

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Where do I get my Chess Helmet?

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It's a game, and a fun one, but I wouldn't call it a sport. There's nothing remotely athletic about it.

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They’ve petitioned to get chess into The Games. It has not yet been accepted, nor should it. Neither should video gaming. As Uncle said, sport requires physical effort and skill. Period.

I’ll put it another way: No heavy breathing? No perspiration? No getting up off your ass? Not a sport.

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One might argue that the nature of sport itself is defined by the existence of organized competition, not athleticism.

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With BIG reservations, I will provisionally endorse this.

I do tend to make an immediate assessment then later realize I haven't thought far ahead enough.

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Please elaborate.

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I suppose that two people trying to out-wit and out-fox an opponent in an intellectual pursuit might rise to the level of Sport.
I'm not a Gamer so whether people see this as a Legit competitive pursuit is in the hands of other people.
I used to claim Golf wasn't a Sport and might be more likely to claim Bowling is More of a Sport.
I have changed my view over time.
Not saying Chess should be in the Olympics, but in the broad definition of Sport, I imagine Chess qualifies.

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Indeed. I would agree.

I've never understood the whole thing about golf not being a sport. Even if you want to limit sports to physical activities, developing a good swing is physical in nature and involves mastering the necessary biomechanics to be successful.

It seems like, for some, if you're not huffing and puffing you aren't really playing a sport.

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This post reeks of insecurity!

The only people who consider Chess a sport are people who don't play or watch any actual sports. I like chess and I'm decent at it, but it sure as hell isn't a sport by any reasonable definition. If it is, basically anything a person does can be considered a sport and the word loses all meaning at that point. It would be 100% synonymous with activity or action.

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I would disagree.

Not all of "anything a person does" has a competitive architecture, a governing body, a World Championship, leagues, and so on. I have always thought of a sport, by nature, as an organized competitive activity, not necessarily as athletics.

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So is a beauty pageant a sport?

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Hmm. . .

My initial instinct is no but then I remembered that bodybuilding is a sport.

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Why was your initial instinct a no?

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Because the method of winning is completely subjective. But upon further reflection, that's the case with a lot of sports that involve judging.

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Lets be real though, body building competitions and beauty pageants are basically the same damned thing, except pageants have a Q&A component. Both of which are aesthetic competitions and winning is based entirely on subjective judgments. Granted, body builders put in a lot of gym time, but functionally, it really is no different than say competitive gardening or those prize hog competitions.

Now, if they crossover into competitive lifting or strongman tournaments, that's a sport all day. but greasing your body up and getting a gross orange tan to strut on a stage? not so much.

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That's kind of my point. I mean, there obviously IS a physical component to bodybuilding--as you say, they have to put in a lot of gym time--but I assume that most beauty pageant winners do the same. Unless they are just in the top tier genetically, in order to be a serious competitor in a beauty pageant you'll have to diet and exercise.

Many consider bodybuilding a sport--I would say it is, sure, but then again I think of chess as a sport too--and so if bodybuilding is a sport then beauty pageants would have to be too, I think.

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Actually I wouldn't consider body building a sport either. As we've all already agreed on, at bare minimum, a sport generally is some competitive activity that requires physical exertion. Body builders aren't exerting anything when they compete on stage. Its purely based on size and symmetry. Ironically, they are usually physically weak as hell on competition day due to practically starving to reduce body fat.

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If you hear bodybuilders talk about it they all say that posing in stage requires enormous exertion and is physically exhausting due to the constant muscle contraction.

You also can't claim there's no skill in it, because a lot of effort goes into developing posing routines and into developing the technique necessary to make every muscle pop.

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posing in stage requires enormous exertion and is physically exhausting due to the constant muscle contraction.
You could literally say the exact same thing about sex, and no one is trying to make that into a sport(unfortunately).

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They should make that a sport to boost their sagging ratings.

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