Can chess be considered a sport?

Whether chess should be considered a sport has been a question I’ve been discussing with my colleagues, acquaintances and friends lately.And yes, chess is a sport.

Many people believe that sport is only what involves physical activity, sportsmanship and all the other non-sense argument.

Let’s broaden that concept: Sports also involve mental, motor and recreational activities.

As in other sports, chess requires the same mental and physical disciplines. It requires mental toughness, elevated self-confidence and endurance.

Without doubt, players must have mental toughness and elevated self-confidence in order to compete.

But, how about the endurance?

A great example of endurance in chess occurred in 1989 in Belgrade, then capital of Yugoslavia, where Ivan Nikolic drew (tied) with Goran Arsovic in the longest match in the history – 20 hours and 15 minutes, making 269 moves.

Nikolic opened in white with a King’s Indian Defense, which starts with two pawns (d2 and c2) moving towards d4 and c4. In other words, it means to move the pawns from the queen and the left-bishop two steps to the front.

Meanwhile, Arsovic opened with a King’s Indian Defense as well, protecting the king with an early castling accompanied with the support of a knight and a bishop.

The King’s Indian Defense is a popular defense that has been used by former World Champions such as Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer.

Now, isn’t chess a sport? It involves strategies, mental and physical endurance also needed in football or fútbol.

In the U.S. chess seems to be just another board game. In other countries, such as Russia, Ukraine or Hungary, chess is one of the main sports. Maybe that explains why there are six Russians in the top 20 players, according to the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE or World Chess Federation).

I also have to give props to Indian Viswanathan Anand, who is now ranked No.1 after 10 years being behind former and longest No.1 rank Kasparov.

Sports is broad. It doesn’t have a limit line. The limit line starts with the narrow minds of ignorance.