Chess needs to be in the olympics

[shockedcanadian]

Agree?

That is all.

 

[crossbody]

I'm glad breakdancing is in the Olympics now. It's similar to skateboarding in that you use your body in all kinds of contortions. It starts August 9. Can't wait for track and field that part is so exciting.

I'm wondering when rock climbing will become part of the Olympics, but chess should be apart of it as well.

 

[shockedcanadian]

I'm glad breakdancing is in the Olympics now. It's similar to skateboarding in that you use your body in all kinds of contortions. It starts August 9. Can't wait for track and field that part is so exciting.

I'm wondering when rock climbing will become part of the Olympics, but chess should be apart of it as well.

Breakdancing is in the olympics?

Yeah, than chess definitely must be in the olympics.

When Bobby Fischer came on the scene it significantly increased the interest in chess in the U.S. We need a another renassaince. Maybe the American Nakamura winning some medals would help.

No one currently would beat Magnusen in classical chess with long time, but he could very well beat him in bullet chess, if they would play it over the board. Nakamura is the fastest chess calculator on the planet.

 

[Polishprince]

I don't know about chess, its sort of complicated for the hoi polloi to get into. I can't see a stadium full of people losing their minds over NxR !!! Maybe there should be craps in the Olympics? Sport that people understand a lot better.

 

[Vastator]

Agree?

That is all.

No.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Agree?

That is all.

it aint a sport....

 

[shockedcanadian]

it aint a sport....

It's a sport of the mind and deserves the respect of the broader population no longer relegated to a smaller core of fans.

It would be great to have a new generation develop their brains through chess as well, it may help to produce more logical problem solvers than video games help to improve hand eye coordination. I indulged in both as a child. Video games excessively unfortunately.

 

[leftwinger]

Skateboarding? Breakdancing? Running on a mat with a streamer in a swim suit?

You’ve all gone mad. I never watch watch anything on MSM willingly, unless it is bettable.

 

[shockedcanadian]

I don't know about chess, its sort of complicated for the hoi polloi to get into. I can't see a stadium full of people losing their minds over NxR !!! Maybe there should be craps in the Olympics? Sport that people understand a lot better.

This is the irony. If you went back to the 60s and 70s, they would have crowds watching the FIDE championships and the moves would be shown on the jumbotron screens. They still may for all I know. It would be a spectators sport for those who enjoy chess and the GM announcers do an excellent job of analyzing the game well beyond what you or I could see or appreciate.

Back then people would run down the hallways of the arena "did you see Mikhail Tal sacrifice his rook?". It was akin to war of nations without gun fire and it was a source of immense pride for fans, but, also a place of great respect among the GMs.

When Fischer came onto the scene, America and the West started to appreciate what all of the great Russians did for centuries. He was a typical American for that time, brash and extremely driven, perhaps not as diplomatic as his opponents. He wanted to win, that was all that excited him. He studied chess probably to the point that it impacted his mind over time, as such pursuits are apt to do when all you see is patterns and re-enactments of classic matches in your mind.

He was also the first chess GM that I am aware of who placed great value on physical conditioning. As any pro poker player will tell you, when you get deep into a situation that requires mental endurance, being in good shape is a major asset.

Now, computers today have largely ruined the beauty of chess. I've purposely avoided studying with them as I want to keep the mind malleable rather than just extracting route learning of others moves. I'd love to see the battles, that already take place by the way; now on the world stage where it can be celebrated.

 

[MarcATL]

It's not physical though.

That said, what sites do you play on OP?

 

[shockedcanadian]

It's not physical though.

That said, what sites do you play on OP?

Chess.com, lichess from time to time.

 

[surada]

Agree?

That is all.

Chess is a sport?

 

[shockedcanadian]

Chess is a sport?

To be a sport or not a sport. That is the question.

 

[leftwinger]

Chess is a sport?

Huge mental Gymnastics with added stress from a Clock.

Some great recent movies were about Chess. One about a lady chessmaster and she we was kinda hot. Forget the name.

 

[MarcATL]

Chess.com, lichess from time to time.

I'm on there only via the mobile app.

On the desktop I use gameknot.com and redhotpawn.com

 

[shockedcanadian]

Huge mental Gymnastics with added stress from a Clock.

Some great recent movies were about Chess. One about a lady chessmaster and she we was kinda hot. Forget the name.

The Queens Gambit? A true story about a British female chess player in the 1950s or something.

There are a few female chess streamers who have a following. I was going to make negative assumptions about the men who follow these streamers but that could potentially take away from their skill level. Most are well below grandmaster status and there are many male GMs who stream (I dont follow any of them personally).

We need more female GMs. We definitely need more Canadians GMs too.

 

[candycorn]

Absolutely!

Its not widely known but the Olympic Games were once largely cultural. Medals were given for works of art.

Art competitions at the Summer Olympics - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I would like to see it get back into that area except perhaps to maybe include other things. Let me explain. For example, someone recently endowed, designed, and built this Lakota monument:

If they were to return the cultural events to the Olympics,art like this could and should be considered in the following Olympics if the designers wanted to enter it. Not only artistic creations like this. But style incorporated into public works. Like the Bixby Bridge on the pacific coast highway. The Natchez Trace parkway had a bridge completed in 1995 that won quite a few design awards.

For what it is worth, perhaps it would spur some more interest in STEM if those who are getting into engineering realize that they can win an olympic medal at it.

Anyway, back to Chess. Absolutely. If there is an event for race walking, why not Chess? I’m horrible at it (I used to think I was pretty good until the internet came along). I’d love to hear a move-by-move break down of a top match.

What I’ve thought for a long time is that first, the Olympics need to transfer some Summer events to the Winter Games. Sports like Basketball, Table Tennis, Judo, Taekwando, Boxing, Fencing, and some others could be sent over to the Winter Games. I don’t know if it is still true since they’ve added so many boarding events to the roster but it was the case in the 1980s--there are more Track and Field events in the Summer Olympics than sports in the Winter Olympics. The costs would be relatively low since these are indoor events that could be conducted in an auditorium or indoor arena which is likely available in the hosting city anyway. The extended Housing costs could be factored into the budget at the outset.

The second thing is that once you balance out the number of core sports is that you add sports for the local flavor. For example, I would never have it myself but if you’re having the Olympics in Dallas....have some rodeo events. Why not? I wouldn’t have the steer wrestling but roping, barrel racing, bronco busting, yep. If the Olympics is being held in Miami, you probably don’t have Rodeo but you do include Jai alai.

When it rotates from North America to Asia, you don’t have rodeo, you have, perhaps, Cricket.

At any rate, softball should be a core sport. Its crazy that it isn’t.


You also expand the sports for the area where appropriate. Nobody wants to see a senior section for boxing or gymnastics. But table tennis? Swimming? Badminton, etc... You could expand the number of entrants by age range. Dara Torres would have ended up with so many medals she couldn’t stand up straight any longer.

Lastly, the events like Chess; many others could be added.

Poker isn’t a "sport" for the squeamish. The hard thing about poker is that unless you have a pain factor of losing money...you don’t behave the same way that you do when you have your own skin in the game. You behave differently when your next month’s car payment is on the line. You don’t make the same bet you do when you get $15M for just logging into an online game. I think the Olympics would put that pressure onto the players to where they don’t play recklessly. Its played worldwide by both sexes. Add it in.

Scrbble would be fun....LOL...300 languages, can you imagine what the tiles would look like?

 

[Couchpotato]

it aint a sport....

Neither is break dancing.

 

[Roy C]

I agree. We need more chest in the Olympics.

 

[JohnDB]

Agree?

That is all.

Nope....it's not an athletic competition. There are international chess matches.

And besides, we don't need the Olympic community mess this up too.