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Is chess a sport? Is it a game? Is it a past-time? Why are the answers to such questions even important?
Apart from it being a matter of pride (some chess players seem to fancy themselves as “athletes” despite having never set foot in a gym), the question of “is chess a sport?” has important implications for funding.
Several charitable foundations and government grant programs only give financial aid to officially recognized “sports”. If chess is a sport, it opens the door to much-needed outside assistance for clubs and chess coaching programs. Whenever money is involved, the answer matters.
In this video, Grandmaster Damian Lemos discusses whether chess is a sport, giving his thoughts on the big question and drawing on his experience as a professional full-time chess player.
Like sports, chess is competitive. The participating players feel a drive to win in a tough struggle against a motivated opponent. The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat, as Jim McKay from ABC’s Wide World of Sports put it.
As any chess player knows, there is physical exertion involved, and not just the basic motor skills of picking up a piece and moving it to another square. The trouble is, it is impossible for people to understand how physically taxing chess can be unless they have played it themselves.
Think back to your last intense game: when the outcome rested on a knife-edge, when the complications made your mind burn, when you had to concentrate every fibre of your being into making the correct move, and when you deeply cared about the result. After hours of combat, you would have finished the game feeling drained in both mind and body.
Mental exertion manifests itself physically – a tough game of chess can elevate the heart rate, heighten a player’s blood pressure and cause perspiration, even though chess hardly involves much kin-aesthetic movement beyond furrowed brows and nervous trips to the bathroom.
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