Popular arguments against having chess in the Olympics don’t hold up

By Errol Tiwari On In Chess with Errol |
Guyana’s national chess player Anthony Drayton (left) opposes a Jamaican colleague during the 2014 FIDE-sponsored Umada Cup which was held here. Drayton had just returned from the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway, where he achieved the coveted Candidate Master title. He is representing Guyana at the 2016 Chess Olympiad in September in Baku, Azerbaijan where he will seek additional honours on behalf of himself and his country and himself.
Guyana’s national chess player Anthony Drayton (left) opposes a Jamaican colleague during the 2014 FIDE-sponsored Umada Cup which was held here. Drayton had just returned from the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway, where he achieved the coveted Candidate Master title. He is representing Guyana at the 2016 Chess Olympiad in September in Baku, Azerbaijan where he will seek additional honours on behalf of himself and his country and himself.

ChessLogoThe mind game of chess was among 26 sport disciplines which had applied for recognition as an Olympic Sport at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. The request was denied. Chess was not included on the shortlist of new sports being considered for the 2020 Olympics, being eliminated along with 17 other pastimes. Many previous attempts were made by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) to have chess included as an Olympic sport, but these were also unsuccessful.

There are some popular arguments against having chess in the Olympics, either Summer or Winter, since the game could conceivably be a part of either festival. Chiefly, there is the common argument that chess is not a sport, at least not in the sense of Olympic athletic competition, though it isn’t clear this is the case.