Defining Sport

Thanks to Sportsfreak, I find out that hoary old chestnut - Is Chess a Sport? - is alive and well, this time in the UK as this article shows.

So the United Kingdom joins 124 other countries around the world in recognising chess as a sport. I'm pretty sure NZ has yet to do so but we're 20 years behind the motherland in everything anyway so that's no surprise.

In some ways it's a shame that Chess has campaigned long and hard for recognition as a sport. They do so primarily for financial reasons - to access government and grant funding - and you can't blame them - but chess has and never will fit the dictionary definition of "sport". Their campaign, and success, will invite other recreational pursuits e.g. poker, to try likewise.

It's a shame because we live in an age where we have trouble getting kids outside and away from their Xbox. Now thousands of geeky children when extolled by their parents to undergo a modicum of physical exertion can now turn around and say "But Dad, I play chess."

You might think it far-fetched, but in 50 or 100 years time when we're six foot under, computer wargaming will probably be admitted to the 2120 Olympics.

P.S. The article stated "The English Chess Federation says it will push for chess to be recognised as an Olympic sport" - can someone tell those duffheads that chess has been recognised as an Olympic sport already - for quite some time.