No chess at the Olympics anytime soon

Olympic dream remains elusive

When planning the Olympic Games, the organizers make suggestions for new sports. The International Olympic Committee wants the games to be younger, more urban, and more gender-balanced.

The World Chess Federation has been struggling for many years for inclusion in the elite circle of Olympic sports. One reason is financial — such sports tend to receive much more funding at home than non-Olympic sports. For instance, in Germany they are financially supported by the Ministry of the Interior, and Olympic qualification is a primary criteria. No doubt the politicians want to see athletes from the respective sports holding medals in major events such as World Championships or Olympic Games — preferably in front of television cameras. The ratio of financial support between Olympic and non-Olympic sports is approximately 10:1. This is similar or even more pronounced in other countries. 

To keep the dream alive, FIDE and the chess players have put up with a lot of nonsense like doping tests are carried out all official championships, despite the fact nobody knows an effective means of doping in chess — all listed and doping agents are generally considered ineffective. 

FIDE was founded a few years after the end of the First World War, in the spirit of reconciliation, on the margins of the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. That is, of course, what gives the World Chess Federation its French acronym (Fédération Internationale des Échecs). 2024 marks FIDE's centennial. Wouldn't it have been nice to celebrate during the Olympic Games. But such efforts appear once again to be in vain.

The application for chess was simply not considered. This could be due in part to the fact that the chess is not universally recognized as a sport, due to its lack of overt athleticism. In Germany, the game's position as a recognized sport has at time been precarious, even though chess was a founding member of the German Sports Association. It's also not the sort of sport that fills big grandstands. Sure there are many fans widely distributed online, but they are largely invisible. And that's not what the IOC wants.

The sports on the shortlist for 2024 correspond more to the zeitgeist, such as competitive breakdancing. In fact, in Tokyo 2020, you will already see new competitions in sport climbing, skateboarding, karate, baseball / softball and surfing.

Maybe it's time FIDE put this particular dream of inclusion in the Olympics to bed permanently. And drop the doping test.

Translation from German: Macauley Peterson

Links

• The Olympic Dream
• FIDE press release
• Paris 2024 official site