Is Chess a Sport? The Definitive Answer to This Enduring Debate
I remember the first time someone referred to me as an "athlete" after I'd spent six hours hunched over a chessboard in a university tournament. My back ached, my eyes burned, and my shirt was damp with sweat - yet I hadn't run a single meter. The guy sitting across from me, a philosophy major with trembling hands who'd just blundered his queen, looked about as athletic as someone who'd just finished a marathon. That's when the question first truly struck me: Is chess a sport?
The debate followed me home that evening as I replayed my games. My roommate Sarah, a varsity swimmer who regularly wakes at 5 AM for training, laughed when I mentioned my tournament. "You call that a sport? You just sit there moving little pieces!" But she hadn't seen the mental exhaustion that left me barely able to form coherent sentences afterward, or the adrenaline rush when I spotted a winning combination. The physical toll might be different from swimming laps, but the competitive intensity felt remarkably similar.
This brings us to the central question that's been puzzling people for decades: Is chess a sport? The definitive answer to this enduring debate isn't as straightforward as you might think. Last year, I attended a university panel discussion where administrators explained their athlete support programs. One representative stated something that stuck with me: "UE also maintained that its athlete service grant is given to student-athletes not on the basis of 'tenure of past participation,' but rather to 'active involvement and contribution to the University's academic and athletic community.'" This definition suddenly made chess players' potential inclusion seem much more plausible.
I've noticed something fascinating about chess at the competitive level - the physical demands are more significant than outsiders realize. At the 2022 World Chess Championship, monitoring showed that Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi burned over 6,000 calories during a single game - comparable to what marathon runners expend. His heart rate regularly spiked to 150 beats per minute during critical positions. These aren't just numbers; they're evidence of extraordinary physiological stress. When I'm in time trouble with only seconds left for multiple moves, my own heart pounds so loudly I can hear it, my breathing becomes shallow, and my hands shake - reactions identical to what my friend experiences before his 100-meter sprints.
The International Olympic Committee recognized chess as a sport back in 1999, yet the skepticism persists. I understand why - we don't associate mental exertion with athleticism in the same way we do physical feats. But having competed in both traditional sports and chess tournaments, I can confirm the psychological parallels are undeniable. The preparation required - studying openings for countless hours, analyzing opponents' games, maintaining physical fitness to support mental stamina - mirrors how basketball players practice free throws or swimmers perfect their turns.
There's also the element of spectacle and audience engagement. The 2021 World Chess Championship between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi attracted over 2.3 million concurrent viewers online at its peak, with broadcast rights sold to 45 countries. These aren't niche numbers - they rival many established sporting events. The tension during those games was palpable even through screens, with commentators whispering during critical moments as if at a tennis match.
What ultimately convinces me chess deserves the "sport" designation is witnessing young players at my local chess club. These kids train with coaches, follow rigorous practice schedules, compete in ranked tournaments, and experience both the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory. Their dedication mirrors that of any young athlete pursuing excellence in their chosen field. The University's criteria about "active involvement and contribution" to the athletic community perfectly describes these chess prodigies who represent their schools in competitions.
Still, I get the hesitation. Chess lacks the visceral physicality we associate with sports. You won't see chess players colliding with each other or performing acrobatic feats. But sport at its essence is about competition, rules, skill development, and pushing human limits - all qualities chess possesses in abundance. The definition continues to evolve, and perhaps we need to expand our understanding of what constitutes athletic performance to include different forms of human excellence.
My own journey with chess has taught me that the mind can be an athletic organ too. The exhaustion after a long tournament feels different from muscle fatigue, but it's equally real and demanding. The next time someone questions whether chess belongs in the sporting pantheon, I'll invite them to play a serious game under tournament conditions. After watching their trembling hands, sweaty brow, and exhausted expression afterward, they might just reconsider what it means to be an athlete.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover
– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover
– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover
