The International Olympic Committee (IOC) considers chess as a sport and recognises the International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation (FIDE) as an official federation. Yet, chess is not yet an Olympic sport. However, one cannot say that chess does not require the effort that a regular sport requires.
Chess is a difficult game. You need to know opening strategy, end-game moves, and whatnot to be a master at chess. Just ask D Gukesh. The Indian chess prodigy defeated Ding Liren to become the World Chess Champion. This victory marks the second Indian to achieve this feat after Vishwanathan Anand.
Even Elon Musk congratulated D Gukesh on his stupendous victory. His achievement brings the World Champion crown back to India after a long gap of eleven years. With all the clutter around cricket and football, Chess in India has been flying under the radar despite India becoming a powerhouse in the discipline in the past decade.
It is probably because Indians don’t see chess as a sport, at least not yet. Since it requires no running after a ball or anything, it is hard to call it a sport. At the same time, it requires immense practice, skills, competitiveness, and a hell of a lot of resilience. So essentially, it might be a sport after all. So which argument is true? That’s what we’d talk about today! Does chess qualify as a sport?