Chess is indeed a sport!

by ChessBase
6/2/2020 – It has been debated for ages. But now the University of Physical Education in Budapest has awarded a Honorary Doctorate to a chess player – to the richly deserving Judit Polgár, for a stellar career in the board game, effectively recognizing chess as a sport. Only 44 such doctorates have been conferred in four decades, mainly to Olympic Committee (Samaranch, Rogge) or FIFA Presidents (João Havelange). "A milestone for the chess universe," said Judit in her acceptance message.
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Judit Polgár to Receive Honorary Doctorate from the Budapest University of Physical Education

Based on a recommendation of the University’s Doctoral Council, Caissa award-winning Judit Polgár, the best female chess player in the history of chess, was awarded the title of "Doctor Honoris Causa" by the Senate of the Budapest University of Physical Education.

Operating as an independent entity since 2014, the educational establishment has been awarding honorary doctorates to outstanding professionals since 1981 (but not every year!) in the field of sports sciences and sports diplomacy: to professors, researchers, teachers, sports directors.

Just 44 honorary doctorates have been conferred over the last four decades. Among them we find: sports diplomats Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spain, and Jacques Rogge, Belgian, the 7th and 8th President of the International Olympic Committee; Gertrud Pfister, German sports sociologist and sports historian; João Havelange, Brazilian sports director, former President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and John O. Holloszy, Doctor of Medicine, former professor at the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, US, as well as Higuchi Mitsuru, professor at Waseda University (Japan), former director of the Japanese National Institute for Health and Nutrition and current director of Advanced Aging Research.

Judit Polgar: "The honorary doctorate is a great distinction for me and a milestone for the chess universe. This recognition is significant and special because it provides further proof of what I have always believed and emphasized: that chess is a sport. According to the resolution of the International Olympic Committee, in my country, Hungary and many other countries, chess is a sport, a fact which is still questioned by many. This recognition is an important step towards keeping the discussion on chess alive and gently convincing sceptics: chess is a sport. This only further strengthens its existing and living relationship with play, education, arts and science."

You can read the official statement of the University of Physical Education here

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JNorri JNorri 6/7/2020 02:07
It's sad that such a great player backs the degradation of chess to sport status. However, I'm confident chess will survive.
anthonyy anthonyy 6/4/2020 02:09
there is an Olympic sport that is practiced while lying on one's stomach (like Tony Miles) :
rifle shooting ! It is both physical and extremely mental, like chess ...
genem genem 6/3/2020 10:19
As I argued in my chess960 book, chess is a 'digital' sport, whereas tennis is an 'analog' sport. Racing a car in a video game, by moving a joystick controller with your hand, is also analog sport (manual dexterity is a competitive advantage).

Digital sports have advantages and disadvantages compared to analog sports. One gigantic digital advantage that chess thrives on is that a few lines of text enable us today to see a *digitally exact* copy of the chessboard that Spassky and Fischer saw at any moment we care to choose from their 1972 title match.
In contrast, even a high definition color TV cannot enable us to see what Roger Federer saw during his crucial rallies against Nadal.

And another gigantic advantage that chess enjoys by being digital is that we can play real chess over the web, whereas real tennis over the web is a nonsense concept.
Ravandechessclub Ravandechessclub 6/2/2020 07:33
Chess is mainly a mental sport making the brain work and stay sharp, and partly physical.we, chess fans should not restrict oursrlves to stick to other sports.chess has so many advantages and in the future will dominate other sports...
Frits Fritschy Frits Fritschy 6/2/2020 02:52
Congratulations for Judit, but the prove for chess being a sport is rather meagre (and also very local).
I would say chess is more comparable to bridge than to, let's say, football. See the verdict of the European court on bridge (Judgment of the Court, Fourth Chamber, of 26 October 2017) in a VAT dispute, for more weighty arguments that chess is not a sport. It is a game, and that may be related to sport, but it is not the same.
Chess being recognized as a sport is of course very handy, for financial reasons.
Frits Fritschy Frits Fritschy 6/2/2020 02:38
Here in France, from today restaurants are open if there are no more than 10 people per table and tables are more than a meter apart. However, chess clubs can't reopen because chess is considered a sport...
Gerald C Gerald C 6/2/2020 12:21
Judit, such a marvelous player ! The unique queen of chess !
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