Sport?

[Holden]

I agree chess is a game. It is also a sport. All sports are games. No exceptions. Note that people play a game of baseball, a game of soccer, a game of basketball, etc.

I agree doing a crossword puzzle at your kitchen table in your boxer shorts is not a sporting event, but neither is a game of football in your backyard.

Regarding physical activity, most grandmaster level professional chess players are in excellent physical condition, because maintaining high level concentration for 4-6 hours a day for days or weeks is only possible if you are in good physical shape. This is why physical training is essential for the training of professional chess players. As with many athletes, professional chess players usually peak in their early to mid thirties.

The International Olympic Committee classifies chess as a sport.
http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/recognized/index_uk.asp

There's also chessboxing, which is not for the timid....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing

[Russell Nash]

I agree doing a crossword puzzle at your kitchen table in your boxer shorts is not a sporting event, but neither is a game of football in your backyard.

I was referring to the huge crossward and scrabble tournaments, where everyone gets the same puzzle each round and there are time limits.  The scrabble is run like a single elimination tournament.  These players also maintain their physical condition for the same reason.

[slic]

I agree chess is a game. It is also a sport. All sports are games. No exceptions.

All sports are games, sure, but not all games are sports.  Chess is a game, not a sport.  Poker, regardless of how mentally demanding, is a game.

Regarding physical activity, most grandmaster level professional chess players are in excellent physical condition, because maintaining high level concentration for 4-6 hours a day for days or weeks is only possible if you are in good physical shape. This is why physical training is essential for the training of professional chess players. As with many athletes, professional chess players usually peak in their early to mid thirties.

First off, you handicapped yourself with "...most grandmaster level professional chess players are..."  name one international soccer player who is not in excellent physical condition.  Second, any activity is going to be helped by being is good shape and health, painting, sculpting, etc., chess is no exception.  Even in the world of sports, Tiger Woods showed pro golf players that they had to change their lazy ways, by being is very good shape.  As a result, many got healthier and better (or eliminated).

[Russell Nash]

I agree chess is a game. It is also a sport. All sports are games. No exceptions.

All sports are games, sure, but not all games are sports.  Chess is a game, not a sport.  Poker, regardless of how mentally demanding, is a game.

Regarding physical activity, most grandmaster level professional chess players are in excellent physical condition, because maintaining high level concentration for 4-6 hours a day for days or weeks is only possible if you are in good physical shape. This is why physical training is essential for the training of professional chess players. As with many athletes, professional chess players usually peak in their early to mid thirties.

First off, you handicapped yourself with "...most grandmaster level professional chess players are..."  name one international soccer player who is not in excellent physical condition.  Second, any activity is going to be helped by being is good shape and health, painting, sculpting, etc., chess is no exception.  Even in the world of sports, Tiger Woods showed pro golf players that they had to change their lazy ways, by being is very good shape.  As a result, many got healthier and better (or eliminated).

I think part of the definition being used is competition=sport.  I'm going to say that's just wrong.  I think running a marathon is sport, but not everyone out there is competing.  Many (most?) are just trying to finish.

[Leon Kensington]

Running is totally a sport!  If it's not a sport then neither is soccer, or football(US), or pretty much anything else.  Though I do have an extremely biased opinion on that matter.

[Russell Nash]

Running is totally a sport!  If it's not a sport then neither is soccer, or football(US), or pretty much anything else.  Though I do have an extremely biased opinion on that matter.

I was asleep at the switch. Did someone say running wasn't a sport?

[Listener]

Running is totally a sport!  If it's not a sport then neither is soccer, or football(US), or pretty much anything else.  Though I do have an extremely biased opinion on that matter.

I agree -- you can quantify a score in running (specifically, how long it took you to finish x distance).

[Planish]

I say something is a sport if being physically fit and/or "athletic" gives you a big advantage over someone of average physical abilities.
Not a sport:
Golf

Change the rules so that the winner is the guy who hits it into the hole first, not whoever gets it in the fewest strokes. Everybody tees off at once, nearly shoulder-to shoulder, using colour-coded balls. Give 'em all helmets and light-weight hard-shell torso armour, and make the ball just a little bit softer. Now that would be a much better sport.

[DKT]

I say something is a sport if being physically fit and/or "athletic" gives you a big advantage over someone of average physical abilities.
Not a sport:
Golf

Change the rules so that the winner is the guy who hits it into the hole first, not whoever gets it in the fewest strokes. Everybody tees off at once, nearly shoulder-to shoulder, using colour-coded balls. Give 'em all helmets and light-weight hard-shell torso armour, and make the ball just a little bit softer. Now that would be a much better sport.

I would totally watch that on ESPN 

[lowky]

personally if it allows (and often encourages) a participant to drink, smoke or eat while doing it, it's not a sport.  It may still require skill, but it does not make golf, bowling, darts, poker (why the hell is this on ESPN constantly), etc a sport.

[Zathras]

I tend to think of racing in any form as a sport.  I freely admit that the race might be between machines rather than men.  I dont see enough of a difference between car racing and horse racing to call one a sport and then other not.  The competitive element is sufficient for me.

Living in small town America full of NASCAR rubes, I hear the argument all the time that not only is auto racing a sport but auto racing drivers are the best athletes in the world.  This is based on their argument that it takes incredible strength and stamina to drive a car for many miles at high speeds.  No doubt it takes a lot to sit and drive a car for that long but I don't think of these drivers as great athletes.     

[BrandtPileggi]

Sex.

sweat,
stamina,
coordination.

[Russell Nash]

Sex.

sweat,
stamina,
coordination.

Needs to be group sex for the whole competition thing and the scoring would mostly be left up to judges.  That ends up leading to many parallels with ice dancing.

[Leon Kensington]

Sex.

sweat,
stamina,
coordination.

Needs to be group sex for the whole competition thing and the scoring would mostly be left up to judges.  That ends up leading to many parallels with ice dancing.

Or porn.

[FNH]

Sex.

sweat,
stamina,
coordination.

Needs to be group sex for the whole competition thing and the scoring would mostly be left up to judges.  That ends up leading to many parallels with ice dancing.

Or porn.

Get out of the gutter!

[Russell Nash]

Sex.

sweat,
stamina,
coordination.

Needs to be group sex for the whole competition thing and the scoring would mostly be left up to judges.  That ends up leading to many parallels with ice dancing.

Or porn.

Get out of the gutter!

Yeah, and bring the blonde with you.

[FNH]

Sex.

sweat,
stamina,
coordination.

Needs to be group sex for the whole competition thing and the scoring would mostly be left up to judges.  That ends up leading to many parallels with ice dancing.

Or porn.

Get out of the gutter!

Yeah, and bring the blonde with you.

... oh ... for goodness sake.

[Leon Kensington]

And she's not a blonde.  She's a brunette.  Specifically Gina (the other 6 in BSG).

[FNH]

And she's not a blonde.  She's a brunette.  Specifically Gina (the other 6 in BSG).

Wheres my scrubbing brush and the soap...

[Russell Nash]

And she's not a blonde.  She's a brunette.  Specifically Gina (the other 6 in BSG).

Wheres my scrubbing brush and the soap...

The blonde is sitting on them.

[FNH]

And she's not a blonde.  She's a brunette.  Specifically Gina (the other 6 in BSG).

Wheres my scrubbing brush and the soap...

The blonde is sitting on them.

I'm upgrading from soap to bleach.

[Russell Nash]

And she's not a blonde.  She's a brunette.  Specifically Gina (the other 6 in BSG).

Wheres my scrubbing brush and the soap...

The blonde is sitting on them.

I'm upgrading from soap to bleach.

How do you think she became a blonde?

[FNH]

And she's not a blonde.  She's a brunette.  Specifically Gina (the other 6 in BSG).

Wheres my scrubbing brush and the soap...

The blonde is sitting on them.

I'm upgrading from soap to bleach.

How do you think she became a blonde?

... no bleach.  Sandpaper?