The Sport of Chess

March 7, 2008

Story by Dawn Yip

Some days back, Red Sports received an interesting email asking us to cover chess.

Chess? Sport?

We weren't so sure. But after an afternoon of research, here is what we've learnt:

Chess is recognised as a sport by 124 governments around the world. Yes folks, that’s one hundred and twenty-four. It was included as a sport for the 2003 SEA Games in Vietnam, the 2005 SEA Games in the Philippines, and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. And the Singapore Chess Federation is recognised as a National Sports Association under the umbrella of the Singapore Sports Council, as well as a member of the Singapore National Olympic Council.

It seems our idea of sport as sweaty physical exertion needed some updating.

There's at least one English dictionary that does not define sport in terms of physical activity, only as "competition between two opponents," said Ignatius Leong, President of the Singapore Chess Federation. This came in useful when the Federation lobbied the authorities for greater recognition. The Federation also argued that there were other sports that did not require great physical exertion, such as archery, shooting, billiards.

The 1990s was a breakthrough decade for chess worldwide. The World Chess Federation was recognised as an international sports federation by the International Olympic Council. "To be recognised as an international sport, you need to be played in at least 4 continents. You must have world championships. Then you obtain B-class citizenship," explained Mr Leong, who is also Secretary-General of the World Chess Federation. This paved the way for chess to be included in major multi-discipline games like the SEA Games, All-Africa Games, Pan-American Games, Arab Games and Asian Games. However, chess is still not an official sport of the Commonwealth Games nor Olympic Games.

Well, if it’s good enough for SSC, SNOC and the SEA Games, who are we to object? But in case you’re still not convinced, here's an opportunity to see the sport in action for yourself this March holidays. The Singapore Chess Federation and Teck Ghee Community Club will be organising the 60th National Schools Individual Chess Championships. This is one of Singapore's oldest inter-school competitions, and over 1000 students from 140 schools (including even kindergartens) will be competing. The schedule for the event is as follows:

Dates, Time & Categories

Monday 10 March 2008 0900 - 1830 hrs Open
Tuesday 11 March 2008 0900 - 1830 hrs Open & Girls Under 15
Wednesday 12 March 2008 0900 - 1830 hrs Open & Girls Under 13
Thursday 13 March 2008 0900 - 1830 hrs Open & Girls Under 11
Friday 14 March 2008 0900 - 1830 hrs Open & Girls Under 9
Saturday 15 March 2008 0900 - 1830 hrs Open & Girls Under 7

Venue
Teck Ghee Community Club Multiple Purpose Hall, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10

And if you see the occasional chess article on Red Sports, don’t say we didn’t tell you!

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1,177 views | Written by Dawn | Filed under: Youth in Motion, chess

Comments

20 Responses to “The Sport of Chess”

Pages: [2] 1 » Show All

20
harsha Says:
February 4th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
i like to get membership in chess assosation.how?im study here,can i?
19
mysm Says:
December 19th, 2009 at 11:49 am
chess is definitely a sport!
18
Anonymous Says:
April 18th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
With a host of evidence backing up chess as a sport, I believe that it should be upgraded into a colours award worthy CCA. The status quo of disallowing this is far too discriminating against chess, and has led to it having a constant low profile, despite widely recognised reports that sport has the second largest number of players after football worldwide
17
mel Says:
February 10th, 2009 at 2:56 am
one of the challenges which takes place mentally. i wouldnt say that archery isnt challenging but each sport will have their push and pull factors. its like comparing a pear with an apple.
16
archer Says:
February 9th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
“The Federation also argued that there were other sports that did not require great physical exertion, such as archery…”

anyone who can say that has obviously not tried competitive archery…
15
60th National School Individuals Chess Championships - Singaporeâ€™s new sport forte? Says:
March 26th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
[...] began Red Sports’ hotly debated article â€œThe Sport of Chess". Indeed, chess barely fits the attributes of a sport. As the article points out, the mental picture [...]
14
chessplayer Says:
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:27 pm
My point is that players constantly play chess and have to keep themselves physically (and mentally) fit as well. Also, standard chess may take up to seven or eight hours at one go, definitely much longer than taking an exam, writing reports or playing computer games (though we have heard of computer game fanatics playing up to twelve hours!).
13
Dawn Says:
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I wholly agree that mental fitness is linked to physical fitness. But surely it stretches logic to then say anything that requires mental fitness is a sport. Taking an exam, playing a computer game, writing a report?

Incidentally, I’d love to hear what you all think of chessboxing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing
12
chessplayer Says:
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Oh yes, to play chess you have to have physical skill as well. It takes lots of practice to move a piece extremely fast without knocking over any other pieces and then slamming the clock with exactly the right amount of force-when playing blitz, that is.
11
chessplayer Says:
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I think that mental fitness is closely linked to physical fitness. If you think too hard and too long during the game you will fall sick, just as if you play any other (more recognised) sport too hard you will also fall sick. The strain can be tremendous when you are sitting opposite a guy (for a couple of hours) who is determined to thrash the hell out of you (on the board, not physically). I just played a game today and my knees were all rubbery after it finished. This is what makes chess a sport.