Chess union’s new dress code checkmates plunging necklines

[madinmaryland]

As many of you surely know by now, the European Chess Union has established a dress code for chess players.

(Okay, some of you don’t know — you don’t follow chess and you don’t think it’s a sport. Well, friends, at a minimum, it’s “mental sport.” And, as far as I’m concerned, Bobby Fischer was every bit the athlete that Michael Jordan was; both were hyper-competitive and ruthless in their pursuits, plus Fischer was a better trash talker.)

Before we detail the dress code — apparently, the bust line has become a problem — as a former non-grandmaster, let me emphatically state my opinion in this sartorial area:

Chess needs a dress code like Switzerland needs a navy.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/blogsandcolumns/chess-unions-new-dress-code-checkmates-plunging-necklines/2012/05/06/gIQAtdPP6T_story.html

[Scuba]

1. Ha, Norman's pretty funny. Go Terrapins!

[trotsky]

2. Finally, sports news I can use! n/t

[Auggie]

3. This thread is worthless without pictures

[bluedigger]

4. (This likely will thwart Spike TV’s upcoming plans for “Strip Chess.”)

[Yavin4]

5. Ah, Sorry, but Bobby Fischer Was Not An Athlete. Chess is a game that requires no athletic skills.

Definition:

ath·let·ic (th-ltk)
adj.
1. Of or befitting athletics or athletes.
2. Characterized by or involving physical activity or exertion; active: an athletic lifestyle; an athletic child.
3. Physically strong and well-developed; muscular: an actor with an athletic build. See Synonyms at muscular.



http://www.thefreedictionary.com/athleticism

[Jack Rabbit]

7. Hey, Yavin, look what I found on the UK Guardian's sports page

Please click here.

[Yavin4]

8. And?

Because a newspaper mis-identifies a board game as a sport, that's supposed to mean something?

You can play chess without ANY physical exertion. None. Zero. That means that it aint a sport.

[JonLP24]

9. It is a recognized sport from the International Olympic Committee

I guess they mis-identified too? Anyways, it falls under "mind sport" which is defined in the same dictionary you quoted above.

[Yavin4]

10. So, Are Video Games Sports As Well?

How about Monopoly? Scrabble? Pictionary? Checkers? Are these all sports as well?

Sports require high level of physical exertion.

[JonLP24]

11. Sure

If they are well organized in a competitive format.

Though I'm sure you could find something that doesn't require a high level of physical exertion that is also a recognized sport. Curling comes to mind but the guys scrubbing furiously is certainly a high level of physical exertion, I'm speaking more of the player that releases the circle thing.

It all comes down to how someone personally defines "sports" but the definitions are usually not as narrow as the way people define them. This is where "mind sport" comes in.

[Yavin4]

12. Sports Require A Certain Level of Physical Exertion

Sports, as defined by Webster, require a certain level of physical exertion. Anything that you can play without moving cannot be considered a sport. You can play chess, and other board games, without lifting a finger.

I think that it's wrong to teach our kids that activities like chess, or video games, or anything else that's primarily a stationary activity is a sport. We're demeaning physical activity and we're promoting unhealthy lifestyles.

[bluedigger]

13. "3. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime."

As defined by dictionary.com

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sport

[Yavin4]

14. 1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature

You conveniently left this out which is the first definition:


1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sport

[bluedigger]

15. You already covered that.

I was pointing out that there were other definitions as well, that you left out.

[Yavin4]

16. The 1st Definition of the Word Is Usuually The Best Definition

The third definition:

"3. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime."

is extremely vague. That could apply to any activity. Watching a movie is a "diversion, recreation, and a pleasant pastime" as well. So, I guess movie watching is a sport.

For that matter, jerking off should be a sport as well

[JonLP24]

17. That definition says "or"

skill or physical prowess.

You can't argue chess doesn't require skill.

[Yavin4]

18. So, Everything That Requires A Skill Is A Sport?

Hairdressing is a sport? Cooking BBQ outdoors is a sport? Baking a cake is a sport?

[JonLP24]

19. I didn't say that

but I would consider those if it was organized in a competitive format like a spelling bee.

I could ask similar questions with what you specifically define, physical exertion. Is jacking off a sport since there is physical exertion involved?

[madinmaryland]

20. ...

Isn't that called a circle jerk??

[Yavin4]

21. Well, If You Get Two Or More Circles

And the first circle where everyone finishes is the winner. Well, yeah, that's a sport.

Just make sure that you're wearing gloves when you award the trophy.

[Jack Rabbit]

22. We interrupt this subthread for the latest sports news and commentary

Last edited Tue May 8, 2012, 09:03 PM - Edit history (1)

The US Championships have begun in St. Louis, Missouri. In first round play:

General Group:
[font face="couriernew"]
Alex Stripunsky . . . . . . . 0-1 . . . . . . . . Alex Onischuk
Hikaru Nakamura . . . . . . 1-0 . . . . . . . . . .Robert Hess
Gata Kamsky . . . . . . . . 1-0 . . . . . . Alejandro Ramírez
Alex Linderman . . . . . . . 1-0 . . . . . . . . . . Ray Robson
Varuzhan Akobian . . . . . 1-0 . . . . . . . Yasser Seirawan
Yuri Shulman . . . . . . . . ½-½ . . . . . . . .Greg Kaidanov
[/font]

Women's Group:
[font face="couriernew"]
Anna Zatonskih . . . . . . . 1-0 . . . . . . . . . . Alena Kats
Irina Krush . . . . . . . . . . 1-0 . . . . . . . . .Sabina Foisor
Rusa Goletiani . . . . . . . . 1-0 . . . . . Camilla Baginskaite
Iryna Zenyuk . . . . . . . . ½-½ . . . . . . . Alisa Melekhina
Viktorija Ni. . . . . . . . . . ½-½ . . . . . Tatev Abrahamyan
[/font]

Commentary

Since I do not feel duty bound to accept a poor definition of an online dictionary, I will offer my own definition of sport: Sport is organized human competition in which a game is played to determine which player or team of players is more skilled. This definition encompasses baseball, football, American football, basketball, bowling, golf, chess, checkers, poker, track and field events, swim races, boxing and wrestling. It includes Monopoly, but not hairdressing unless the results are scored by qualified judges, like figure skating and Olympic gymnastic events. Yes, pie eating is a sport. Even baseball with the designated hitter is sport. If you deny that chess is a sport because it only entails the ability of the player to lift a piece of wood, then we must also deny the designated hitter the right to call himself a sportsman.

So why should chess not be a sport? It celebrates that one human trait that, more than any other, sets us apart as a species and is responsible for our survival and success over the beasts of the fields and forests, the birds of the air and the fish of the rivers, lakes and seas: our ability to think quickly in order to solve strategic and tactical problems set immediately before us.

That is what makes us human. If we had to depend on our ability run short distances at about 20 miles per hour, which is very slow compared to other species that evolved in savannahs, or on our awkward ability to climb a tree, we would have become extinct long before now. But with that magnificent mind, we find ourselves with no enemy but other member of our species.

So, yes, chess is a sport. And Bobby Fischer could trash talk his opposition as well as the legends of other sports.

[Yavin4]

23. So. Playing Video Games Is A Sport

Yahtzee is a sport. Battleship is a sport. Online video poker is a sport. Playing slot machines while chain smoking is a sport. Playing blackjack while drinking hard liquor is also a sport.

I think that we demean the meaning of sports when we omit the need for some kind of physical exertion. We tell our kids that they can be couch potatoes and play video games and that qualifies as being an athlete. Yes, because you get the high score in Call of Duty 4, you're on the same athletic plane as Michael Phelps. Should we award gold medals?

I respect the mental dexterity needed to be successful in chess, and it's a challenging game, but it's not a sport.

[Jack Rabbit]

24. It's a little harder to stretch online video games into a sport

But if you could stretch it in to some kind of competition, and organize it so there are uniform and enforceable rules, then it would a sport. Personally, I wouldn't pay to see it.

However, your point about what we tell the kids is well taken. Tell them, "Go out doos and get some exercise." That should cover it.

Chess players take seriously the old Greek adage about a sound mind and a sound body. Most of them have some kind of physical activity they take up regularly, like several times a week, to keep the blood flowing and the grey matter sparking. It's part of their training. Magnus Carlsen plays soccer with his friends and one of his early mentors, grandmaster Simen Agdestein, was also a member of the Nowegian national soccer team. Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky both played tennis. Robert Hess, a young US grandmaster, played football in high school. Vishy Anand, the reigning world champion, rides a bycycle.

[Jack Rabbit]

6. The new president of the ECU is Silvio Danialov of Bulgaria

Danailov is the man responsible for the dress code. He says it's about professionalism.

He is also the author of the infamous toiletgate scandal at the World Championship match of 2006. He is one of the last people on earth who should lecture anyone else about professional behavior.