Arturo Ochoa wrote:Albert Silver wrote:Arturo Ochoa wrote:Taner Altinsoy wrote:Arturo Ochoa wrote:
Chess is just that, a game, but a very good one.
Sports imply physical activities. I don’t know how physical activities can happen during a chess game.
The physical preparation to be prepared to resist 3 hours is not chess itself.
Apparently you are not aware of the physical preparedness required to play in tournaments. I used to loose 2-3kg's in 2-3 days of chess tournaments which consisted of playing chess almost 8 hours each day. I think chess is a bit like motorsports. People think that steering the wheel and changing gear cannot be physical until they hear that racing drivers are subject to g forces sometimes as high as 6g... So yes chess is a sport.
On the contrayy, I am awared.
What you say it is not part of chess itself.
You don't need to run during a chess game. Just to move your hands and your fingers.
Physical preparation is not chess. You can run, go the gym, walk, swim and they are not chess activities. They help to be in good shape for any activity.
I practice certain extreme sport and part of my preparation is a heavy GYM session. It doesn´t mean that GYM is part of that extreme sport.
Sorry, chess is just that, a game. A very good one.
That is because your definition of sport is muscles.
I'm guessing you don't agree that that game that is very popular in Canada, I keep forgetting its name, but resembles shuffleboard on ice with a bunch of maids sweeping the ice, is not a sport (even though it is a part of the Olympics).
You don't get it either. When I talk about muscles, I mean a physical activity. Look this:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sport
–noun
1. 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.
2. a particular form of this, esp. in the out of doors.
3. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.
What you talk about is a sport called curling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard.
Chess is just that a game, a table game.
Personally, I do not care, but If I am pressed to define it, chess is a sport without a doubt for me.
Including muscle activity is very narrow requirement. Otherwise, shooting would not be a sport. What is needed is
1) a activity in which we use our body (brain is part of it) and it is improved in the process. The sport should make us better and more skillful.
2) Competition, this is the main component of a sport. No competition, no sport. Athlete means competitor in greek, not "physically fit person" as it is used today.
3) Victory should be based on skills, not random
4) There should be always be a chance to win or lose and the result should not be predetermined (Who is tallest is not a sport)
5) It should be organized, played by many with a federation and a defined set of rules, to preserve its integrity.
6) The sport itself should grow with its practice. e.g. We should improve, and also learn about the sport and pass it on.
There are certain grey areas, and chess shines in all points except point one if you do not consider brain as part of your body and all the physiology that helps it (I physically trained 3 hours a day at least 3 months in advance for important tournaments).
Other sports are weak in this point too. Shooting, golf, curling, etc, but you should not forget that hand-eye coordination, pulse, precision etc. are certainly "body skills" that are good to have.
Other sports are VERY weak in key points like 2. For instance, figure skating, gymnastics, etc. The competition aspect is extremelly subjective. When you need judges to give a score the competition suffers (better to have goals, time, weight, checkmates, knock outs, hits, etc.) and it is a gimmick to hide its non competitve nature.
If you make me choose which one is ¨more" sport, I would choose chess over figure skating.
Miguel