For a long time people have been debating whether chess is a sport or not. Find out if it is worth or to practice chess. You probably know that chess is an ancient game that originated in India. However, chess as a sport was recognized by the IOC only 13 years ago. However, this is not the most interesting fact, because in the UK this ancient game was recognized as a sports discipline only in 2006. According to the information announced by the President of the International Chess Organization (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, in 2018, chess as a sport will debut at the Olympic Games.
He had a conversation on this issue with the head of the committee for the preparation of the 2018 Olympics, and an agreement was reached between the parties. However, for now, chess will act as an exhibition sports discipline. The number of teams that will be able to take part in this undoubtedly historic event is still under discussion. The situation is similar with the regulations of the first Olympic chess tournament.
Is chess a sport or not?
It should be noted that from an etymological point of view, the word "sport" is not exactly what most of the ns suggest. This concept is an abbreviation for the English word "disport", which can be translated as "fun" or "fun". As you can see, there is not even a hint of physical education here. Agree that board games are also entertainment.
In our concept, sport is a specific kind of physical or intellectual activity that is performed in order to compete with other people. It is quite obvious that to win, you need to work hard in training. Most people believe that sport primarily involves the ability of a person to overcome himself.
Sport is a competition and, to a certain extent, even aggression, because otherwise it is difficult to become a winner. All of the above can be fully attributed to chess. In this regard, it is not entirely clear why many people do not view chess as a sport. In the concept of most of us, sport is associated with strength and agility, not intellectual activity.
Recognition of chess as a sport
Note that today chess is recognized as a sport in one hundred states of the planet. We have already noted that in 2018 chess as a sport will debut at the Winter Olympics. This is a significant breakthrough, even if the status of chess is still an exhibition one. For many years FIDE has been holding its own chess Olympiads, but now a fundamentally new level of development of this sport has been reached.
It is interesting to note that it is not only chess among intellectual sports that has not been represented at the Olympics for a long time. If the issue with chess has been resolved, then checkers, go, bridge and Chinese chess are still waiting in the wings. However, today the world mind games in these sports are held under the auspices of the IMSA (International Mind Games Association). The leadership of this organization plans to achieve the same status for the Mind Games that the Paralympic Games now have.
It is not entirely clear why many people have the opinion that sport is associated exclusively with the physical qualities of a person. Surely you know the saying about a father who had three sons. Two of them were smart and the third became an athlete. However, if we analyze the history of sports over the past 10 or 15 years, then the best results are shown by athletes who are well developed not only physically, but also intellectually.
Today there are many sports disciplines in which physical indicators are far from the first place. An example would be shooting. At the same time, even in those sports where it would seem that only reaction speed or strength is important, the intelligence of athletes is also important. The Russian Chess Academy conducted a survey on the impact of chess on various sports. For example, the winners of arm wrestling tournaments stated that they actively play chess in their free time and this helps them to win in their sport.
We would like to offer you a comparison of chess as a sport with tennis. You can often hear the opinion that tennis is chess in motion. Let's see how fair this is.
Intellectual component
- Chess - contribute to the development of intelligence and creative thinking. This sport has also been shown to have a positive effect on memory. To win, you need excellent strategic thinking, and in some situations, the ability to quickly make competent decisions.
- Tennis - the strategy of the match is planned even before it starts, and each combination must be calculated several steps ahead. Tennis players must be able to quickly analyze the situation on the court and make appropriate changes to their plans.
Physical training
- Chess - without maintaining excellent physical shape, athletes simply cannot conduct high-quality long-term training.
- Tennis - it is simply impossible to win without good physical fitness. Coordination of movements is also of great importance in this sports discipline.
Psychology
- Chess - athletes prepare for tournaments individually, and in such a situation psychology takes one of the key positions. During the match, it is also necessary to remain calm, because excessive emotions can lead to defeat.
- Tennis - the situation is similar in this sport discipline.
You can independently conduct a similar analysis of any sport and make sure that it is these three components that are decisive for achieving victory.
Chess as a professional sport
To achieve good results in chess, you need to start playing this sport from an early age. This is fully true for any sports discipline. Now, to achieve good results in professional sports, you need to invest a lot of money. Those parents who dream of seeing their child on the Olympic podium in the future are forced to suffer serious financial losses. Chess is no exception to this rule.
In such a situation, it is very difficult to do without state support for sports. Just look at the results of the Chinese athletes. In this country, the government spends a big day on the development of children's sports and the results are already visible. Here it should be said that in some European countries, chess is included in the school curriculum. Actually, you don't need to go far, because in Kalmykia for more than a dozen years, chess has been taught in every school as an elective. As a result, many international grandmasters have appeared in this republic.
Perhaps we have not convinced someone that chess can be fully considered a sport. However, no one will argue that at the moment they are the main intellectual sports discipline. Thanks to chess, you can significantly improve your memory and logic. As an argument against, the lack of sufficient physical training among grandmasters is often cited. However, you must agree that not everyone can even just sit at the board for several hours. In addition, it is known that many chess players use physical activity to relieve stress after matches and training.
Psychology is extremely important in any sport. Remember 1994 and the final of the FIFA World Cup, when Dino Baggio failed to score a penalty kick. In training, he could easily do it 9 times out of 10, but at such an important moment he could not cope with his own emotions. In chess, the situation is similar, and if there are equal opponents at the board, then the one with the best psychological preparation wins. You can debate this topic indefinitely, but we are sure that our today's article will allow you to reconsider your point of view, and will help you start treating chess as a sport.
Chessboxing: a combination of chess and boxing
Today we are talking about chess as a sport, and in this situation information about chess boxing can be interesting. This sport appeared on the territory of Germany and is now very popular in some European countries. This discipline is a combination of chess and boxing, which at first glance seems simply impossible.
In chess boxing, eleven rounds are held, of which six are chess and last 4 minutes each. The remaining five rounds are boxing rounds, and their duration is two minutes. The pause between each round is one minute. To win, you need to win a chess game or boxing match. Note that the total duration of a chess game is 24 minutes. If, as a result, a draw was fixed, then the athlete who played with black pieces is considered the winner.
Today, more than four dozen clubs already exist in this new and unfamiliar sport for our compatriots, and various tournaments are actively being held. Agree that after reading the rules of the chessboxing match, one immediately wonders what chances of winning a chess player can have against a boxer?
A more detailed study of this sport revealed that not only boxers, but also grandmasters take part in chess boxing. Each boxing round lasts two minutes and it is quite difficult for chess players to resist boxers, but it is no less difficult to suppress adrenaline and restore a normal emotional state after chess rounds.
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