2008 Olympics begins… where’s chess?
The “Bird’s Nest” in Beijing hosted the Opening Ceremonies.
Photo by EPA.
The quadrennial sports festival known as the Olympic Games has begun with the opening ceremony. The highly-anticipated and widely-watched event will command the attention of billions of viewers over the next 17 days and will result in billions of revenue for the world economy. I traveled to China in March. The euphoria was in the air and images of Olympic rings were commonplace in Beijing… especially the airport.
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
Popular website chessvibes.com has run an interesting thread on whether chess should be an Olympic sport. There was the issue of Olympic drug testing and chess did not escape scrutiny. In 1999, chess was admitted as a member of the International Olympic committee, but has never been featured as an Olympic sport.
Most would scoff at the change that chess would be considered as an Olympic sport although sports like equestrian, archery and shooting are on the board. There seem to be a misunderstanding about what chess is… or maybe what the Olympics are. Should the Olympics include “brain” sports as well? Should the Olympiad be incorporated in the summer Olympics? What would be the argument for/against having chess as an Olympic sport? Time magazine just ran a piece titled, “Should Chess Be an Olympic Sport?”
Peter Rajcsanyi, public-relations director of FIDE made the argument made that “In the Olympic Games, until the Second World War, there were competitions that rewarded the mental efforts of people in the same manner they rewarded physical efforts.”
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2006 Olympiad: Russia vs. China
(GM Vladimir Kramnik vs. GM Bu Xiangzhi)
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
However one feels about the chess/sport/Olympic debate, everyone can appreciate what the Olympics means as a stage for the highest levels of patriotism. The chess version of the Olympics will take place in Dresden in late November and it remains the marquee team event. Until then we will have to settle for the entertaining spectacle that the Beijing Olympics offers.
Note: While this is a blog on chess, we will use this opportunity (once every four years) to air all views, comments and predictions about the 2008 Olympic Games. Enjoy the festivities!
Chess is a recognized sport by the International Olympic Committee. Today more than 285 million people play chess with other chess players from all over the world, via the internet. It is estimated 605 million people worldwide know how to play chess. Of these 7.5 million are registered players, covering 160 countries worldwide. Making chess one of the most popular sports around the world.
And then we have poor stuff like horse jumping! I think chess should easily be an Olympic sport, it has great international Potential.
I think the Olympic Committee for London’s 2012 games should have (blitz or rapid) chess on.
Maybe the new (Chess boxing sport) could attract the Olympic Committee its a real sport im not joking look it up on the internet.
Many viewers would love to see a blitz chess game by the greatest mind’s in the world. Chess is a mental challenge on the brain enough to exhaust it and cause fatal errors on the board
Chess is a sport, but not an athletic one, and many will say that is why it shouldn’t be in the Olympics. Yet, ironically, there are athletic performances in the Olympics, which are not really sports – like gymnastics & synchronized swimming. Ask yourself, if gymnastics is a sport, shouldn’t trapeze be one also? Or ballet? Both are extremely athletic, and both can be judged, like gymnastics. But neither involves the direct interaction of competitors, like track & field, swimming, boxing, volleyball, and of course – chess.
The scary thing about Usain is that he let up at the end of the race — that is unbelievable, to actually be so far ahead in the Olympic 100 meter sprint final, against the fastest humans in the world, that you could let up and start your celebration, while still breaking the world record. Unreal!
Bolt has done it, nothing wrong with the stop watch, more than one stop watch was used, are you telling me that the other 7 stop watches had problems also? Obviously the gap has been accounted for by the record breaking speed. The man we have been waiting for has arrived, Powell has failed many times where it matters most, but the Bolt is there to do it for Jamaica. Strolling to the finishing line is a way of giving himself an allowance to break it once more in the near future. Michael Johnson’s 200m record is under threat also.
Bolt is amazing, I still cant believe what I saw, the effortless ease at which he was strolling to the line while others where struggling to find a medal postion, sheer pace at its best, the olympic finals reduced to a school club competition, thats where one can find such a gap not in the 100m finals. Surely he belong to a different species, not human beings.
Sure I agree he should stop patting his heart before the finishing line. Surely he was overwhelmed by excitement.
I’d love to see chess in the Olympics. It would be a great advertisement for what is truly the perfect sport for the information age. But one big concern, however, is that elite chess often lacks the full fire of competitive excellence that we have seen so many examples of during the Beijing Olympics.
Take for example the last round of the 2006 Chess Olympiad in Turin Italy. Hungary had a legitimate shot at a medal, but they were paired against the leading Armenian team. Hungary acquiesced to 4 really quick “GM draws”, which was great for Armenia, since it clinched them the Gold medal. Where did Hungary finish? Only half a point out of a tie with Israel and the US for the Bronze, which the US took on tie break.
What kind of fighting spirit is that?? Why not go for it?? Try for the upset, or at least make ’em work for it. Hungary had a chance to make something special happen for themselves. But they didn’t even try. Who cares if you “tied” Armenia in the match. It’s a sham result. No one will remember that they finished fifth. I would be embarrassed to have chess represented in such a fashion, along side true competitors, who have the real Olympic spirit.
Daaim – Yes, its the same old story. Since agreed draws are allowed, even short ones, players leverage them to achieve whatever goals are important to them. I can’t blame players for using the rules as allowed.
But we need to step back and recognize that chess suffers by comparison against almost all other serious sports. How do you explain a 12 move draw that had nothing to do with the position on the board? The players just decided to make “peace”. Could you imagine if midway through game 3 of the NBA playoffs, Kobe said to Paul Pierce ..”Hey man, do you want to call it a tie?” And Paul said, sure, and the two teams shook hands and left the arena. I bet you would see those billion dollar TV contracts, and the resultant lucrative player salaries and endorsement deals dry up pretty quickly.
What is wrong with the Chinese age? is there an age restriction in the olympic? Im not quite aware of age limits, do you have an idea Daam?
Usain Bolt is there to crush history and rewrite it. MJ said Bolt was not yet ready to erase his record but the lanky sprinter was out there to wipe it. But the lanky sprinter was very serious in the 200m unlike the 100m.
The super eagles ( Nigeria) will face the sttuborn Argentina, but should the eagles fly high Argentina will be trouble. It can go either way.
It’s been exciting to see Jamaica become to sprinting what Armenia is to chess .. a small population country that roars with a big voice at the elite world class level. Usain Bolt might have unique physical gifts that help him as a sprinter, but we all know that without hard work, the right motivation, and an excellent coaching and support system, great potential might never be realized. Add to his performance the dominating achievements of his compatriots and you have a fascinating example of what belief backed by focus can accomplish.
Daaim – As we have discussed, I think that chess can be presented more successfully to the general public, but I have to agree with you that it would be a difficult fit for the Olympics. On the plus side, having chess as part of the Olympics would at least expose a lot of people to the fact that competitive chess even exists, and that a diversity of people and countries the world over play the game at a serious level.
But clearly the Olympics is an in-person spectator event … and that is just not chess! How often do even ardent chess enthusiasts like ourselves actually go to spectate in person at a tournament that we are not playing in? An I mean really spectate, not just to say hello to our chess buddies. Plus, if you wanted to incorporate into the main Olympic Games a full size chess Olympiad like we have now, it is likely that a chess venue would not even be in the main city/locale where the Games are being held. For example, consider the site of the 2006 chess Olympiad, Turin Italy. Would chess have still been given the Oval if it was part of the Winter Games? Of course not, that venue was created for skating. The alternative would be to have a limited participation chess competition, like they do for some of the team Olympic sports, so that chess could fit into a small venue. As in sports like basketball, there would be a pre-Olympic qualifying process, and only a select number of countries would get to send a chess team to the Olympics. In my opinion, that would actually be a step backwards for chess.
Youtube video presents good case for actual age of the gymnasts:
i see the world has finally sees the wonder that jamaica can do for years the US runners have been abusing the drug testing system but in this year of the champions they were out done by far. No matter waht the excuse is the Jamaicans are the best in the world.
Anybody after watching the games who is not proud to be a Jamaican something wrong wid dem. All i can say big up jamaica we are the best