Is chess a sport?

[Zunee]

I've been on the Academic Team for 7 years straight. I consider it a sport even though we're not physically exerting ourselves simply because it is competitive, there are several rewards, it's regularly televised, and it has very strict rules.

I consider Chess a quasi-sport.

[Wilgrove]

There is, as we have established several times already.

Not really. Im sure it gets hot in there, and of course there are physical risks. But if NASCAR is a sport then driving every day in NYC is a sport too.

Driving in NYC isn't an organized competition. You're just being obtuse in these comparison of yours.

[The Welsh Colonies]

I believe it's a sport

[Minoriteeburg]

Football requires a lot of athletic ability. And I am not saying that is the best sport (because it is far from it) But unless you can throw a ball 50 yards, or kick a ball even longer, or sprint 100 yards without stopping if nesscessary, or be able to fend off large fast men who are all trying to take you to the ground......

What is the physical aspect of NASCAR? Climbing in the window? Hitting the accelerator? Steering the Wheel?

The physical aspect comes from having the physical stamina to endure a 400 to 500 mile race. Not anyone can sit in the cockpit of these machine for so long without fainting or getting physically stressed out. Also, like I said, these cars are loose, what that means is that you need to have damn fine motor control skills to control your car and to drive it through the turns, because if you don't, you end up in the wall.

Then if that is the case, is being an astronaut being an athlete?

[Galloism]

The physical aspect comes from having the physical stamina to endure a 400 to 500 mile race. Not anyone can sit in the cockpit of these machine for so long without fainting or getting physically stressed out. Also, like I said, these cars are loose, what that means is that you need to have damn fine motor control skills to control your car and to drive it through the turns, because if you don't, you end up in the wall.

Then if that is the case, is being an astronaut being an athlete?

Is it a race to space?

Do two space shuttles start off at the starting gun, and one who gets to space first wins?

[New Humanity Unleashed]

(sorry for gravedigging, but I felt I had to adequately address this issue)

No, it's game,but not a sport.Chess is based on mental power while sports are on physical power.Simple.

Correct. In fact, it is even overly simple. Football is a game as well. The thing that makes football a sport is the spirit it is played in during competitions (i'm going to ignore your use of the word "power" because it is too imprecise). If I'm just kicking a ball around with my cousins on a sunday afternoon I don't consider myself to be engaged in a sport, just as I don't consider myself to be engaged in a sport if I'm playing chess against my dad. However, if I'm playing football in a league, you can't deny that I'm engaged in a sport. Thus, it appears that the defining characteristic of a sport is the intensity (brutality at times) with which the game is practiced and perfected, for the sole purpose of improving one's results. In that respect I say chess is at least if not more a sport than the activities commonly designated as sports.

The intensity of chess is difficult for non-chess players to understand, but few people can deny that chess is utterly different from other board games in terms of what it brings out in people. Losing a game of chess utterly incomparable to losing in a game of checkers, monopoly, stratego, or risk. When you lose a hand in poker, it is because of the cards in your hand. When you lose a game of chess it is because you were outplayed: there is no external element of luck or uncertainty that you can attribute your loss to. If you've ever seen a competitive person (even if they are only a casual chess player) lose a game of chess, you can see in their body language and in their face that they do not, deep down, treat the loss as a mere loss. There is something ineffable in the fundamental nature of the game that makes the stakes going into every game much higher, so that by its nature it is not casual. The same cannot be said about other board games (there may be exceptions to this statement, but their existence does not undermine my argument in any way; I'm simply trying to illustrate the nature of chess to those unfamiliar). Moreover, chess is a game of infinite opportunities waiting to be taken; just as in physical sports, there are virtually not limitations to the options available to you in the medium and long term (this distinguishes it from other finite games of perfect information, because the possibilities in chess are inconceivably large and the game is unsolvable with conventional computing).

That being said, I know that there are casual chess players out there who will not agree with my characterization. I attribute this to the obvious: a lack of exposure to competitive chess (you shouldn't leave the judgment of a sport up to the people who don't appreciate it). As someone who has played a handful of sports competitively, I can say that the pressure of playing a physical sport is fairly comfortable compared to the pressure of playing in your average chess tournament; sitting in a chair within two feet of your opponent, and catching his gaze in an austere room, completely silent except for feet shuffling and your clock running down, puts a certain psychological pressure on that can't be matched by competition alone. The bliss of playing physical sports is that they take your mind off of the competition, and release you into a world that is purely physical; you lose awareness of all the stressors of the situation and are completely motivated. In chess, you must not only confront the mind, but dissect it meticulously and without mistakes. To play competitive chess at a high level requires tremendous psychological strength and an uncommon drive to dominate. I actually find it impossible to play close to my best against friends and family because I can't summon that brutality that has made me a successful competitor in chess against them, as I imagine Muhammad Ali would if he were boxing his old man.

Lastly, lets not forget that regarless of how we twist the issue, this is a lexical dispute. We are not arguing about what the word sport means colloquially (in that sense chess is most certainly not a sport). Rather, we are arguing about the idea of sport; that is, what makes what we think of as a sport a sport: the intensity, the brutality, the clash of two unequal wills. I argue that the distinction between a physical sport and a mental sport is arbitrary (the idea of a sport goes beyond things like whether an activity is based on physical strain or mental strain), and I've had my share of both enough to know and appreciate their rigors.

By the way, congrats on your chess success! If you want to play a game I'm down.

99% of people discussing this were like, tl;dr. Seriously, people. READ IT.

Then argue.

[Wilgrove]

The physical aspect comes from having the physical stamina to endure a 400 to 500 mile race. Not anyone can sit in the cockpit of these machine for so long without fainting or getting physically stressed out. Also, like I said, these cars are loose, what that means is that you need to have damn fine motor control skills to control your car and to drive it through the turns, because if you don't, you end up in the wall.

Then if that is the case, is being an astronaut being an athlete?

Not an organized competition, analogy fails.

[Thailandalia]

I've been on the Academic Team for 7 years straight. I consider it a sport even though we're not physically exerting ourselves simply because it is competitive, there are several rewards, it's regularly televised, and it has very strict rules.

I consider Chess a quasi-sport.

I exert myself trying to play. Even when my best friend was getting poorer grades than me, he could always boost his own confidence knowing he could trump me any day in the game.

[Minoriteeburg]

Then if that is the case, is being an astronaut being an athlete?

Not an organized competition, analogy fails.

So basically if one shuttle launches alongside another, with the goal of one reaching the moon before the other, then it's a sport?

[Galloism]

Not an organized competition, analogy fails.

So basically if one shuttle launches alongside another, with the goal of one reaching the moon before the other, then it's a sport?

I think there might be a problem with wake turbulence if you did that...

[Minoriteeburg]

Then if that is the case, is being an astronaut being an athlete?

Is it a race to space?

Do two space shuttles start off at the starting gun, and one who gets to space first wins?

Even then, not a sport.

[Minoriteeburg]

So basically if one shuttle launches alongside another, with the goal of one reaching the moon before the other, then it's a sport?

I think there might be a problem with wake turbulence if you did that...

well separate them to a safe distance, you know what I mean.

[Wilgrove]

Not an organized competition, analogy fails.

So basically if one shuttle launches alongside another, with the goal of one reaching the moon before the other, then it's a sport?

Yea, I could see it as a sport. It does test the astronauts physical stamina and endurance.

[Galloism]

Is it a race to space?

Do two space shuttles start off at the starting gun, and one who gets to space first wins?

Even then, not a sport.

Define a sport for me.

[Minoriteeburg]

So basically if one shuttle launches alongside another, with the goal of one reaching the moon before the other, then it's a sport?

Yea, I could see it as a sport. It does test the astronauts physical stamina and endurance.

Then astronauts would be athletes without the race. But they are not, therefore not making it a sport.

[Wilgrove]

Yea, I could see it as a sport. It does test the astronauts physical stamina and endurance.

Then astronauts would be athletes without the race. But they are not, therefore not making it a sport.

They're not athletes because they don't partake in an organized competition. You're deluding yourself if you think NASCAR (or any form of motor sport) doesn't involved some physical aspect.

[Minoriteeburg]

Even then, not a sport.

Define a sport for me.

I know what the definition says, but it should be more about physical ability. Not just because something is an organized event.

Pie eating contests are organized events, which can leave one feeling physically exhausted at the end of it, but it is not a sport.

Here is an example.

To me track racing is a sport, but Horse Racing is not (well except for the horses).

[Minoriteeburg]

Then astronauts would be athletes without the race. But they are not, therefore not making it a sport.

They're not athletes because they don't partake in an organized competition. You're deluding yourself if you think NASCAR (or any form of motor sport) doesn't involved some physical aspect.

It doesn't involve enough to be considered a sport IMO.

[Wilgrove]

They're not athletes because they don't partake in an organized competition. You're deluding yourself if you think NASCAR (or any form of motor sport) doesn't involved some physical aspect.

It doesn't involve enough to be considered a sport IMO.

skillful physical activity

I'd say controlling a loose 800hp machine through the tracks and a pack of cars would fall under skillful physical activity.

[Northwest Slobovia]

So basically if one shuttle launches alongside another, with the goal of one reaching the moon before the other, then it's a sport?

I think there might be a problem with wake turbulence if you did that...

Not for a side-by-side launch, tho I'd hate to be in trail behind one. "Kennedy Departure advises caution for inconceivably extreme wake turbulence, gigawatt rocket blast, and the odd hunk of ice falling off the departing heavy experimental..."

On topic: chess is a game. A very deep game, but a game nonetheless.

[Minoriteeburg]

I think there might be a problem with wake turbulence if you did that...

Not for a side-by-side launch, tho I'd hate to be in trail behind one. "Kennedy Departure advises caution for inconceivably extreme wake turbulence, gigawatt rocket blast, and the odd hunk of ice falling off the departing heavy experimental..."

On topic: chess is a game. A very deep game, but a game nonetheless.

Agreed.

[The Basset Warriors]

It seems as if this debate will last forever.

[Minoriteeburg]

It seems as if this debate will last forever.

Which makes it a good debate.

[Galloism]

Define a sport for me.

I know what the definition says, but it should be more about physical ability. Not just because something is an organized event.

Pie eating contests are organized events, which can leave one feeling physically exhausted at the end of it, but it is not a sport.

Here is an example.

To me track racing is a sport, but Horse Racing is not (well except for the horses).

So, the Red Bull Air Race is a sport?

Because that's all I really care about.

[Neo Art]

Not really. Im sure it gets hot in there, and of course there are physical risks. But if NASCAR is a sport then driving every day in NYC is a sport too.

Driving in NYC isn't an organized competition. You're just being obtuse in these comparison of yours.

the presence of an organized competition doesn't make something a sport.