Chess is an ancient intellectual game. It was invented more than one and a half thousand years ago in India. The rules of the game of chess have not changed since its creation. Currently, the game is very popular among different sections of the population around the world. So let’s figure out whether chess is a sport or not, since many people are very concerned about this issue and many have different attitudes to this formulation.

Controversies surrounding chess

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, there have been ongoing debates and discussions both among chess players themselves and among scientists on the topic of whether chess is considered a sport or not. In order to somehow understand this. First, let’s define the concept of “sport” itself.

So, sport is an activity of people organized according to certain rules, consisting of a comparison of their physical and/or intellectual abilities, as well as preparation for this activity and interpersonal relationships that arise in its process.

What about chess, do they meet these criteria or not:

• Chess certainly compares the intellectual abilities of the players;
• Preparation takes a long time and consists of grueling training and work;
• As for interpersonal relationships, a lot of scientific papers and works have been written recently on the psychology of chess, on training methods, behavior during the game and many other aspects.

As you can see, chess fully satisfies the criteria and meets all definitions of a sport. So why is the controversy still not subsiding? Chess has not yet been included in the list; a separate Chess Olympiad is held for it.

There are two aspects that prevent this game from being perceived as a full-fledged sport:

• Low entertainment value compared to other active species;
• No visible physical activity.

It’s clear about entertainment, because for those who do not know how to play themselves and are not familiar with the rules of the game, all the beauties and masterpieces played out by the players will remain unnoticed. As for the second aspect, the key word here is “visible”. Indeed, if earlier people thought that chess players did not exert themselves physically, then with the development of science and technology, scientists were able to measure the number of calories spent by players when playing. The result exceeded all expectations and exceeded the performance of many active sports.

So, despite the external passivity and low entertainment value, chess can certainly be called a full-fledged sport. And when real masters play, it’s truly mesmerizing.

Well, now you can decide for yourself whether chess is a sport or not. And by the way, tell me what you think. I would really like to know your opinion.

In the meantime, you can look at other articles about sports

MBOU gymnasium No. 11

Physical Culture

Report

On the topic of:

"Chess"

Completed:

Bogatyrev Dmitry Vladimirovich

Student 9 "B" class of gymnasium No. 11

Teacher:

Sintsov V Yu

Samara 2018

Introduction

Chess- a logical game with special pieces on a 64-cell board for two opponents, combining elements (in part), and.

Chess can also be played by groups of players, against each other or against one player; Such games are usually called consulting games. There is also the practice of simultaneous play sessions, where one strong player plays several opponents, each on a separate board. The game follows certain rules; In official tournaments, rules are applied that regulate not only the movement of pieces, but also the rights of the judge and the rules of behavior of players. Playing by, by, and has special rules. There are many with non-standard rules, figures, board sizes. Various aspects of the chess game are studied (for example, classic “” and “”), including with the help.

Story

It is believed that the history of chess goes back at least one and a half thousand years. There are many versions that explain the development of chess and its spread throughout the world - “Indian”, “Byzantine”, etc. According to the most common of them, the first known progenitor game, chaturanga, appeared in India no later than the 6th century AD, since it was then the Persian Shah Khosrow received its rules from thereIAnushirvan (531-579). Once in the countries neighboring India, chaturanga underwent a number of changes. Its descendant in the Arab East was shatranj, and in Southeast Asia - xiangqi (China), makruk (Thailand) and shogi (Japan). Shatranj came to Europe and Africa from the Arabs in the 9th-10th centuries. European players continued to modify the game, resulting in the rules that are today known as the “classical” rules by the 15th century. The rules were finally standardized in the 19th century, when international tournaments began to be systematically held. Since 1886, the title of world chess champion has been played out. Since 1924, there has been an International Chess Federation - FIDE, under whose auspices, since the mid-20th century, most international competitions have been held.

Rules

Board and starting position

Initial position of the figures

The game takes place on a board divided into equal square cells, orfields. The board size is 8x8 cells. Vertical rows of fields (verticals) are designated by Latin letters fromAbeforehfrom left to right, horizontal rows (horizontals) - numbers from 1 to 8 from bottom to top; Each field is identified by a combination of the appropriate letter and number. The fields are painted in dark and light colors (and are called black and white, respectively) so that vertically and horizontally adjacent fields are painted in different colors. The board is positioned so that the nearest corner square to the right of the player is white (for white this is the h1 square, for black it is the a8 square).

At the beginning of the game, players each have the same set of pieces. The pieces of one of the players are conventionally called “white”, the other - “black”. White figures are painted in a light color, black ones in a dark color. The players themselves are called “white” and “black” according to the color of their pieces.

Each set of pieces includes: a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns.

White occupies the first and second ranks, black - the seventh and eighth. Pawns are located on the second and seventh ranks, respectively

Moves

The game consists of players taking turns making moves. White makes the first move. With the exception of en passant capture and castling, described below, a move consists of a player moving one of his pieces to another square according to the following rules:

During a move, pieces other than the knight are considered to move in a straight line in the plane of the board, that is, to “pass” all the squares between the start and end, so all these squares must be free. If there is another piece in the path of a piece, then it is impossible to move the piece to the field behind it. The exception is the move (see below).

A move to a square occupied by one's own piece is impossible.

When moving to a square occupied by someone else's piece, it is removed from the board (take).

The king moves a distance of 1 vertically, horizontally or diagonally.

The queen moves any distance vertically, horizontally or diagonally.

The rook moves any distance vertically or horizontally.

The bishop moves any distance diagonally.

The knight moves to a square located at a distance of 2 vertically and 1 horizontally or 1 vertically and 2 horizontally from the current position. Unlike all other chess pieces, the knight's move is made outside the plane of the board, that is, the knight directly moves (“jumps”) from the initial square to the final one and no pieces standing on other squares can interfere with the knight’s move. In particular, a knight can move onto a square even if it is completely surrounded by its own or other people's pieces.

A pawn moves with a capture diagonally one square forward-right or forward-left, and without capturing it moves vertically one square forward. If a pawn has not yet made a move in a given game, it can make a move without taking two squares forward. The direction “forward” is the direction towards the eighth rank for white or the first for black. When a pawn moves to the last rank (for white - to the eighth, for black - to the first), the walker must replace it with any other piece of the same color, except the king (promoting a pawn). The promotion of a pawn is part of the move by which it moves to the last rank. Thus, if, for example, a piece promoted from a pawn threatens the opponent’s king, then this king, as a result of the pawn’s move to the last rank, immediately finds itself in check.

The field is calledunder attackfigures orbroken, if during its move the piece could take the enemy piece located on this field (regardless of whether there is such a piece on this field). The square is considered broken, even if it is actually impossible to move the piece there, since it puts its own king under attack.

In addition, there are two special moves:

Castling- if the king and one of the rooks of the same color have not moved since the beginning of the game, then the king and this rook can simultaneously change position (castling) in one move. When castling, the king is moved 2 squares towards the rook, and the rook is placed on the square between the starting and final position of the king. Castling is not possible if the king or the corresponding rook has already moved. Castling is temporarily impossible if the square on which the king stands, or the square which he must cross, or the square which he must occupy, is under attack by one of the opponent's pieces, or if there is any piece between the castled king and the rook. Castling is considered to be the move of the king, not the rook, so castling should begin by moving the king, not the rook.

Taking on the pass- when a pawn makes a move two squares across a broken square that is under attack by an enemy pawn, then with a return move it can be captured by this enemy pawn. In this case, the opponent's pawn is moved to the captured square, and the captured pawn is removed from the board (for an example, see the diagram). Capturing en passant is only possible directly in response to a pawn's move across a captured square; on subsequent moves it is no longer allowed.

Checkmate, checkmate and stalemate

The king on the beaten square is called "under". Making a move that puts the opponent's king in check means “declaring check.” Moves after which the king of the mover remains or is in check are prohibited; the player whose king is in check must immediately eliminate it.

If a player's king is in check and the player has no move to clear that check, that player is said to be "checkmate". The goal of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king.

If a player, during his turn to move, does not have the opportunity to make a single move according to the rules, but the player’s king is not in check, this situation is called a stalemate.

Game summary

The game ends with a win for one of the parties or a draw.

Winnings are recorded in the following cases:

Mat.The player who checkmates wins.

One of the players gave up.A player who decides that further resistance is pointless can surrender at any time; to do this, he just needs to announce out loud “I surrender.” Stopping the chess clock does not mean admitting defeat because it can be used to call the judge. The opponent of the one who surrenders is declared the winner.

One of the players ran out of time.His opponent is declared the winner, with some exceptions described in the Time Control section.

Technical victory- awarded in an official tournament to a player if his opponent:

• did not show up for the game within the time specified by the tournament rules (currently zero lateness is accepted, unless the competition organizers decide otherwise);

  interrupted the game (started the game, but refused to continue);

  grossly violated the rules or disobeyed the judge;

When playing blitz or rapid chess (less than 60 minutes for the entire game), he made a move prohibited by the rules, and the opponent noticed the mistake before his counter move.

Also, a technical victory can be awarded for an unplayed game if the player in this round for some reason does not have an opponent and the tournament rules specifically stipulate this case (for example, if the opponent with whom the game was supposed to be played dropped out of the tournament , or if there is an odd number of players in a tournament using the Swiss system.

A draw is recorded in the following cases:

Pat.

A mating position cannot be achieved by any sequence of moves.(for example, there are not enough pieces left on the board for any player to checkmate - say, a king and one bishop against a king).

Repeating a position three times(not necessarily for three moves in a row), and the concept of position here includes the location of the pieces, the order of moves and possible moves (including the right to castling and capturing on the pass for each side). To fix a draw, a player who notices a three-time repetition of a position must contact the judge; otherwise the game continues. Since July 2014, a game is also considered to end in a draw iffivefold repetitionthe same position for five consecutive moves of both players, and the players’ declaration is not required for this.

50 moves rule.Both sides made the last 50 moves without capturing or moving a pawn. As in the case of repeating a position three times, a draw is recorded only at the request of one of the players. In the 20th century, this rule was changed many times, with various exceptions added. Now all exceptions have been abolished, and the 50-move rule applies in all positions. Since July 2014, a game is also considered to have ended in a draw (without a player's declaration) if both sides have made 75 moves without a capture or a pawn move.

The players agreed to a draw, that is, one of the players proposed a draw, the other accepted it. To suggest a draw, just say “draw”. If the opponent makes a move without responding to a draw offer, it is considered rejected. Recently, at some tournaments, the so-called “Sofia rules” have been applied, limiting the possibility of players agreeing to a draw.

One of the players was overdue. In some cases, described in the Time Control section, a draw is considered.

The player has less than two minutes left, but his opponent did not try to win by “normal means”, or such a win is impossible. At the request of a player who has less than two minutes left, the judge in this case can count a draw. For more information, see the Time Control section.

Scoring

Depending on the result, the player receives the following number of points:

Winning - 1 point;

Draw - ½ point (introduced at Dundee in 1867);

Losing - 0 points.

In some competitions, points are awarded using a different system, such as the “football” system: 3 for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss.

In tournaments where all players (teams) play an equal number of games, the winner is determined by the number of points scored in games or micro-matches (in case of equality, different coefficients are applied).

Tournament rules

Professional requirements for holding competitions led to the creation of tournament rules that were the same for all players. Their adoption influenced the basic rules of the game (touch-move, capture on the pass, etc.).

Error correction

If during the game it is discovered that the board is positioned incorrectly, the error must be corrected outside of playing time: the board, maintaining the position, is placed so that the corner white square h1 is to the right of the player playing white.

If it is discovered that the initial placement of the pieces was incorrect, the pieces are placed in the correct order only if no more than three moves were made (3-move rule).

A player who makes an erroneous (not allowed by the rules) move must move, if possible, with the same piece. If the erroneous move is not noticed immediately, the game must be replayed from that point.

Exception: in a blitz game, if a player makes an erroneous move and the opponent notices this without making a response move, the player is considered a loss. However, if the opponent makes a move or captures any piece, the game continues.

If it is impossible to restore the position at the moment when the erroneous move was made, the game is replayed from the last known position before the erroneous move.

For the first wrong move, the player is punished by adding 2 minutes to his opponent if he has less than 5 minutes. For the second wrong move, the player is considered defeated.

If a player, intending to castle, mistakenly moves the rook first, he must move the rook. If a player has made an illegal castling (for example, through a broken square), he must move the king instead, if such a move is possible.

If, after the start of a tournament game, it is discovered that the opponents are playing with pieces of the wrong color, which should be according to the tournament schedule, then the game is replayed.

Prohibition of refusal

An offer of a draw made to a partner cannot be taken back.

A statement made by a player about giving up (losing) the game cannot be taken back.

A move cannot be retracted (changed) if it was made and the hand was removed from the piece, except in the case where the move is impossible.

Rules “touch - move” and “remove your hand - move is made”

The following rules apply only todeliberatetouching the figureduring its course.

The player who touches his piece is obliged to move this piece with this move.

A player who touches someone else's piece must capture it on this move.

Touching your own piece, which does not have a move according to the rules, or touching someone else’s piece, which cannot be captured on this move, does not entail any consequences.

Castling is considered the king's move. That's whywhen castling, you must first move the king, then the rook. If a player, wanting to castling, mistakenly touches the rook first, he must move with this rook instead of castling.

If a player touches several pieces that can be moved or captured, he must move or capture the piece that he touched first. Exceptions:

If a player touches his king and is obliged to move with it, then to his rook, and castling towards this rook is possible, he must make this castling.

If a player touches his own piece and is obliged to move it, then to the opponent’s piece, which can be captured with this piece, he must make this capture.

If a player touches an opponent’s piece and must capture it, then touches his own piece, which can be used to capture this opponent’s piece, he must capture it.

If a player, by virtue of what is described above, is obliged to make a certain move, subsequent touches to the pieces on this move do not entail any consequences.

If it cannot be determined which piece was touched first, it is considered that it is the piece of the player whose turn it is to move, and not his partner. (FIDE Rule 4.3)

If a player wants to correct a piece that is standing sloppily, he must say “I’m correcting” and only then correct the piece. In this case, touching the figure does not entail any consequences.

Accidentally touching a piece, for example if a player touches a piece with his hand while making another move, does not entail any consequences.

Touching pieces during someone else's move is prohibited.

When a player has removed his hand from a piece and moved it to another square, the move is considered completed and cannot be taken back (if it complies with the rules). Before the hand is removed, the player can return the piece to its original square and, if he wishes, make some other move for it. This rule is known as "removed hand - move done." Exceptions and features:

Castling cannot be taken back from the moment the player takes his hand away from the king.

Advancing a Pawn: Once a player has removed his hand from a pawn, he cannot move it. The choice of a figure cannot be changed from the moment the figure touches the transformation field.

A move is completed when all of the following conditions are met:

The player released his hand from the piece he made a move with.

If captured, the player removes the piece he captured from the board.

In case of castling, the player rearranged the king and rook and released his hand from the rook.

If a pawn is advanced, the player releases his hand from the new piece he placed on the promotion field.

Only after thatwith the same handThe chess clock switches.

The player loses the right to declare his opponent’s violation of these rules after he himself touches the piece to make his next move.

Time control

Chess clock

Time control has been used since the 19th century. Initially it was carried out using an hourglass, later, in 1883, the Englishman Thomas Bright Wilson (ThomasBrightWilson) designed a mechanical chess clock. The game introduced the concepts of time pressure, time loss, or a draw in the best game situation, but with the worst time, blitz. Electronic chess clocks are increasingly being used these days.

All official parties must use time control. For this purpose, special chess clocks are used. The player who made the move presses a button on the clock that stops his clock and starts the opponent's clock.

At the moment of the start of the game, determined by the rules of the tournament, the judge starts the clock of the player playing with white pieces, regardless of whether he arrived or is late. In addition, tournament rules may specify an additional penalty for a late player. It is common practice to double the late time; If a player does not start a game within half of the main time limit, he is given a forfeit for failure to appear.

A player's time is considered expired if the flag on his watch falls and this fact is noticed by the referee, or one of the players notices it and draws the referee's attention. In this case, the player whose flag fell is considered a loss, except in the following cases:

If there is a checkmate on the board, the one who placed it wins, regardless of whose flag fell.

If the board is stalemate or a draw in accordance with the three-time repetition rule or the 50-move rule, it is considered a draw.

If the game was not completed, but it was discovered that both players’ flags had fallen (this can happen when playing with a mechanical clock, if the opponent of the player who was the first to overdue the time did not notice the opponent’s flag falling and did not stop the clock, but played until his own flag fell) , regardless of who runs out of time first, it is considered a draw.

If one of the players whose flag has not fallen cannot checkmate in principle, even with the worst game of the opponent, a draw is counted.

If the time limit is less than 60 minutes for the entire game, the referee has no right to pay attention to the fallen flag. A victory or a draw based on a fallen flag is counted only at the request of the players.

Draw under time pressure

If a player has less than 2 minutes left in the game and believes “that the opponent is not trying to win the game by normal means, or that it is impossible to win by normal means,” the player can stop the clock and ask the referee to declare a draw. The judge has the right:

agree with the player's opinion and declare a draw immediately

postpone the decision. In this case, 2 minutes may be added to the opponent, the referee, if possible, personally observes the game and makes a decision before or after the fall of the flag. If the judge agrees with the player's opinion, he must declare a draw.

immediately reject the request, in this case the opponent will be given 2 minutes of time

(FIDE Rules, Article 10)

These rules, however, do not apply in blitz (less than 10 minutes for the entire game against each opponent).

Technical rules for handling game clocks

The game clock button must be pressed with the same hand used to make the move. Without this, it is difficult to unambiguously determine what happened first - the movement or switching of the clock.

During someone else's move, the player is prohibited from touching the clock button or hovering his finger over the button.

A player who needs the intervention of a referee (for example, registering a draw due to a triple repetition of a position) has the right to stop the clock (mechanical clocks are stopped by bringing both buttons to a “half-pressed” state, which is usually done with one hand, electronic ones - by pressing a special button). If the referee finds that a player's claim is clearly unfounded, he may penalize the player by reducing his time or adding time to his opponent.

Postponing the batch

The rules of the tournament may provide for the start of the game on one day, and continuation (finishing the game) on one of the subsequent ones. In this case, the end time of the game on the playing day is determined, and upon reaching this time, the player whose turn it is to move must postpone the game, which is then played out on the day determined by the tournament rules. The game is adjourned as follows: the player whose turn it is to move at the moment the game is adjourned, considers the next move with the clock on, after which, instead of making a move on the board, he writes it down on a special form and gives it to the judge in a sealed envelope; no one except this player should know what move was made. The judge then stops the clock, recording their testimony. Before the end of the game, the position at the time of the adjournment is restored, the game clock is played, after which the referee opens the envelope, makes a written move on the board and starts the second player's clock.

Outdated and no longer applicable rules

Until now, among amateurs there are sometimes attempts to follow old rules that have long been abolished or have never been used in official practice. Some of them are listed below:

If the king has reached the last rank, then a new pawn of the same color is placed on the original square of the corresponding rank. Variants of the rule: the pawn is placed on the same move; on the next; on any cell second from the player on the horizontal line; on any except broken fields. The rule is completely inconsistent with modern ones.

If the king has been in check at least once, castling becomes impossible for him.

The requirement to pronounce out loud “Check!”, “Checkmate!”, “Path!”, “Garde!” (the latter - when attacking the queen). Currently, there is no requirement to verbally indicate the appearance of a particular position. An attempt to make a move contrary to checkmate or checkmate is considered an error and is corrected.

If the piece touched by the player does not have a legal move, or if the touched piece or pawn cannot be captured, the player must make a “penalty move” with the king. According to modern rules, touching your own piece, which has no move, or someone else’s, which cannot be captured, does not entail any consequences.

When a pawn reaches the last rank, it can only transform into a piece that was previously removed from the board. Due to the limited set of figures in the standard set, therefore it is used almost everywhere in the amateur environment.

Stalemate means the stalemate loses.

Chess Variations

In addition to the well-known classical chess described in this article, there are a large number of other variants of the chess game. There are national variants of chess, for example, common in South Asia: Xiangqi, Shogi, Changi, Makruk. Some variants use additional pieces and/or unusual boards, for example, variants are known on large boards, on round boards, with pieces combining the moves of a knight and a rook and/or a knight and a bishop, with a maharajah (a piece combining the moves of a queen and a knight ) instead of a queen, courier chess, hexagonal chess (played on a hexagonal board consisting of hexagonal fields).

There are chess for more than two players: three- and four-sided chess, in which three or four players (pair for a pair or each for themselves) play on the same board, each controlling their own set of pieces, as well as “team” versions of chess, where the game It is played team to team on one or more boards, and the course of the game on one board is influenced by the actions of more than one player from each team.

Many chess composers, as well as scientists, amateur and professional chess players, were interested in the invention of new variations of chess. For example, Capablanca's chess is known - on a 10x8 board, with two new pieces. Recently, Fischer chess has become increasingly popular - a game according to classical rules, but with a random initial arrangement of pieces on the last horizontal lines, as well as freestyle chess (chess-5039), where one of 5039 possible arrangements on the 1st horizontal line (any, except classical) White chooses, while Black arranges his pieces symmetrically. In some of the variants, the rules remained unchanged (or minimally changed), and only the initial arrangement of the pieces was changed. In addition to the already mentioned Fischer chess and free chess, these are kingchess and battle chess.

Chess as a sport

Chess is an organized sport with a hierarchy of titles, a developed system of regular tournaments, national and international leagues, and chess congresses. The emergence of professional sports led to the emergence of professional athletes, coaches, journalists, and functionaries, relying on an army of fans of the game.

International Chess Federation

The main body involved in organizing international chess competitions is, organized in. There are also national chess organizations in many countries around the world.

FIDE is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but chess as such has never belonged to the Olympic sports. However, sometimes chess is included in the program of multi-sport competitions: for example, chess tournaments among men, women and mixed teams were held as part of the 2011 Summer Universiade, the 2013 Summer Universiade, and chess is also included in the Asian Games program.

There is a separate Chess Olympiad for chess, which takes place every two years and is a team competition. In addition, chess is one of the five main types of World Mind Games.

Professional Chess Association

In 1993, on the initiative of Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short, the Professional Chess Association (PSA) was organized. It included a number of grandmasters who did not agree with the policies pursued by FIDE. The PCA held its own world chess championship. Having existed until 1996, the PCA ceased to exist, having lost its sponsors, after which the world champions according to the PCA began to be called “classical chess champions.”

International Correspondence Chess Federation

In 1928, the International Correspondence Chess Union was created (since 1951, the International Correspondence Chess Federation, ICCF). Officially recognized world championships and national championships are held, there are rankings, international and national sports titles (ICChF Grandmaster, Master of Sports of Russia by correspondence, etc.). Currently, moves are sent not only by regular mail, but also by email.

Olympic Games

In 2018, for the first time in history, chess was included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games, which were held in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang as an exhibition sport.

The movement of chess pieces across the field is subject to strict rules, developing thought and intelligence, endurance and respect for the opponent. Happy is the one who has learned the pattern of playing chess: analytical work, a psychological attitude towards the internal state of the enemy, a painful search for a way out and insight leading to victory. A player at a chess table experiences an emotional uplift comparable to the impact of music. At the same time, he spends a lot of physical strength to withstand enormous loads during the game: intellectual stress is perceived by an untrained body more difficult than physical effort. The duration of the game - one and a half to six hours - requires stress tolerance and physical endurance from an intelligent player.

Where did chess come from?

The history of the exciting game goes back one and a half to two thousand years, but the recognition of chess as a sports discipline occurred in 1999. Scientists have found the first mention of the game “chaturanga” in manuscripts of ancient India dating back to the 6th century. The name reflected the movement of all types of weapons on the battlefield: infantry, cavalry, chariots, war elephants. The formation of the figures on the field accurately reflected the disposition and composition of the troops of the Indian army. When the game entered the Arab world, it was given a new name: “Shatranj”. The Iranians changed the order of formation of the “troops” and the rules of the game, turning it into gambling - they put money on the line. The church hastened to classify the game as forbidden, slowing down the development of the “warriors” game for a decade. Once in Europe, the battle on black and white cells received a new name - chess and spread throughout the world. The end of the 19th century in the world of chess was marked by the first tournaments, competitions and championships. This was the time when the game received unshakable – classic – rules. The last century was marked by the introduction of the title “grandmaster”, which was awarded to the winners of world championships.

Why chess is a sport

The purpose of the intellectual game is the expression of a person’s own “I” at the chessboard, his desire to defeat his opponent, strengthen his position, and achieve the highest results in this discipline. Here chess is no different from strength sports and team games. There are other signs by which the game is classified as a sports discipline:

1. Chess players “fight” according to certain rules.
2. The outcome of the game is decided by the referee.
3. Spectators and fans are present at the tournament.
4. The winner is determined in the individual and team competitions.
5. Trainers create individual training programs, where there is a place for various sports.
6. For adherents of intellectual exercises, the principles of sports nutrition have been developed, which are aimed at stimulating mental processes and physical endurance.
7. Compliance with a sports regime, achieving better physical, emotional and intellectual shape.

Intelligence and strength

Every year thousands of chess tournaments and sports competitions are held around the world. In 1970, world-famous figures went into space. Vitaly Sevostyanov and Andriyan Nikolaev played a game for “Cosmos”, “Earth” answered them in the person of the head of the training of the cosmonaut detachment Nikolai Kamanin and cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko. The game lasted about 6 hours, and the spacecraft managed to orbit the Earth four times during the Space-Earth tournament.

Outstanding grandmasters combine several sports. For example, a person likes strength sports, team games, and is used to working intellectually. In the sports world, there are a number of techniques for combining interests during training and tournaments. Leave complex groups of strength exercises for simple chess moves. When you solve a complex intellectual problem, accompany the search with easy exercises. During a “home game,” a chess player can be distracted by walking or playing table tennis. You can do several yoga exercises.

Alternate strength and mental training, using the principle of fatigue: it seems to you that your brain is tired - switch to physical exercise, and vice versa. When preparing for competitions, include strength training on the first day of training, engage in mental games on the second day, after which you should give your muscles and brain a rest for one day.

Chess is not an active sport. The player has to sit at the table for hours, playing games and multi-move combinations. To win, the player’s mental superiority is not enough - he must be in excellent physical shape.

Physical training for chess players

In addition to “mental gymnastics,” a chess player experiences enormous nervous and physical stress during competitions. Chess training is aimed at developing visual memory, tactics and combat strategy. No less important for a chess player is a strong-willed and psychological attitude, avoiding a sedentary lifestyle. Outstanding grandmasters preferred comprehensive preparation for tournaments and achieved high results.

In elite sports the following should be harmoniously combined:

• talent;
• character;
• physical endurance;
• professional training.

Chess players can be recommended to practice team sports: volleyball, football, hockey. They are not required to play at a high level, it is enough to maintain physical strength. Morning exercises with contrasting water procedures are irreplaceable. Long walks, jogging, swimming, skiing and skating are included in the chess player’s training system. The trainer draws up an individual list of classes, where mental and physical stress, days of rest and relaxation are judiciously alternated.

This way, the athlete will be in good shape and will extend his chess longevity.

The content of the article:

Surely you know that chess is an ancient game that originated in India. However, chess as a sport was recognized by the IOC only 13 years ago. However, this is not the most interesting fact, because in Great Britain this ancient game was recognized as a sports discipline only in 2006. According to information announced by the President of the International Chess Organization (FIDE), Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, in 2018, chess as a sport will make its debut at the Olympic Games.

He had a conversation on this issue with the head of the committee for the preparation of the 2018 Olympics, and an agreement was reached between the parties. However, for now, chess will act as an exhibition sports discipline. The number of teams that will be able to take part in this undoubtedly historic event is still under discussion. The situation is similar with the regulations of the first Olympic chess tournament.

Is chess a sport or not?

It should be noted that from an etymological point of view, the word “sport” is not quite what most people assume. This concept is an abbreviation of the English word “disport”, which can be translated as “to have fun” or “to have fun”. As you can see, there is not even a hint of physical culture here. Agree that board games are also entertainment.

In our concept, sport is a specific type of physical or intellectual activity that is performed for the purpose of competition with other people. It is quite obvious that to win you need to work hard in training. Most people are sure that sport primarily presupposes a person’s ability to overcome himself.

Sport is a competition and, to a certain extent, even aggression, because otherwise it is difficult to become a winner. All of the above can be fully attributed to chess. In this regard, it is not entirely clear why many people do not consider chess as a sport. In the minds of most of us, sport is associated with strength and agility, rather than intellectual activity.

Recognition of chess as a sport

Note that today chess as a sport is recognized in one hundred countries on the planet. We have already noted that in 2018, chess as a sport will make its debut at the Winter Olympic Games. This is a significant breakthrough, even if the status of chess is for exhibition. For many years, FIDE held its own Chess Olympiads, but now a fundamentally new level of development of this sport has been reached.

It is interesting to note that chess is not the only intellectual sport that has not been represented at the Olympics for a long time. If the issue with chess has been resolved, then checkers, go, bridge and Chinese chess are still waiting in the wings. However, today world mind games are held in these sports under the auspices of IMSA (International Mind Games Association). The leadership of this organization plans to achieve the same status for the Intellectual Games that the Paralympic Games currently have.

It is not entirely clear why many people have the opinion that sport is associated exclusively with a person’s physical qualities. Surely you know the saying about a father who had three sons. Two of them were smart, and the third became an athlete. However, if you analyze the history of sports over the last 10 or 15 years, the best results are shown by athletes who are well developed not only physically, but also intellectually.

Today there are many sports disciplines in which physical indicators are far from coming first. An example would be, say, shooting. Moreover, even in those sports where it would seem that only reaction speed or strength is important, the intelligence of athletes is also important. The Russian Chess Academy conducted a survey on the influence of chess on various sports. For example, winners of arm wrestling tournaments said that in their free time they actively play chess and this helps them win in their sport.

We would like to offer you a comparison of chess as a sport with tennis. You can often hear the opinion that tennis is chess in motion. Let's see how fair this is.

Intellectual component

• Chess- contribute to the development of intelligence and creative thinking. This sport has also been proven to have a positive effect on memory. To win here, you need excellent strategic thinking, and in some situations, the ability to quickly make smart decisions.
• Tennis- the strategy of the match is planned before it begins, and each combination must be calculated several steps ahead. Tennis players must be able to quickly analyze the situation on the court and make appropriate changes to their plans.

Physical training

• Chess- Without maintaining excellent physical shape, athletes simply cannot conduct high-quality long-term training.
• Tennis - without good physical preparation it is simply impossible to win. Coordination of movements is also important in this sports discipline.

Psychology

• Chess- athletes prepare for tournaments individually, and in such a situation psychology occupies one of the key positions. During the match, you also need to remain calm, because excessive emotions can lead to defeat.
• Tennis- The situation is similar in this sports discipline.

You can independently conduct a similar analysis of any sport and make sure that these three components are of decisive importance for achieving victory.

Chess as a professional sport

To achieve good results in chess, you need to start playing this sport from an early age. This is fully true for any sports discipline. Nowadays, to achieve good results in professional sports, you need to invest decent money. Those parents who dream of seeing their child on the Olympic podium in the future are forced to bear serious financial losses. Chess is no exception to this rule.

In such a situation, it is very difficult to cope without state support for sports. Just look at the results of Chinese athletes. In this country, the government spends a lot of time on the development of children's sports and the results are already noticeable. It should also be said here that in some European countries chess is included in the school curriculum. Actually, you don’t need to go far, because in Kalmykia, chess has been taught in every school as an elective for more than a decade. As a result, many international-level grandmasters appeared in this republic.

Perhaps we have not convinced anyone that chess can be fully considered a sport. However, no one will argue that at the moment they are the main intellectual sports discipline. Thanks to chess, you can significantly improve your memory and logic.

As an argument against, the lack of sufficient physical training among grandmasters is often cited. However, you must admit that not everyone can even just sit at the board for several hours. In addition, it is known that many chess players use physical activity to relieve stress after matches and training.

Psychology is extremely important in any sport. Remember the 1994 World Cup final, when Dino Baggio failed to score a penalty. During training, he could easily have done this 9 times out of 10, but at such an important moment he could not control his own emotions. In chess, the situation is similar and if equal opponents meet at the board, then the one with better psychological preparation will win. We can discuss this topic endlessly, but we are confident that our article today will allow you to reconsider your point of view and help you begin to view chess as a sport.

Chessbox: a combination of chess and boxing

Today we are talking about chess as a sport, and in this situation information about chessboxing may be interesting. This sport originated in Germany and is now very popular in some European countries. This discipline is a combination of chess and boxing, which at first glance seems simply impossible.

There are eleven rounds in chessboxing, of which six are chess rounds and last 4 minutes each. The remaining five rounds are boxing rounds, and their duration is two minutes. The pause between each round is one minute. To win, you need to win a chess game or a boxing match. Note that the total duration of a chess game is 24 minutes. If the result is a draw, then the winner is the athlete who played with black pieces.

Today, in this new and unfamiliar sport for our compatriots, there are already more than four dozen clubs, and various tournaments are actively held. Do you agree that after reading the regulations for a chessboxing match, you immediately wonder what chances a chess player can have against a boxer to win?

A more detailed study of this sport revealed that not only boxers, but also grandmasters take part in chessboxing. Each boxing round lasts two minutes and it is quite difficult for chess players to resist boxers, but it is no less difficult to suppress adrenaline and restore a normal emotional state after chess rounds.

More about chess competitions, see here:

One day a story happened that is sometimes cited as a clear example of different attitudes towards. A young Canadian player with a Russian surname, Kuznetsov, asked the head of the sports department of his province to help him compete at the junior world championship by allocating a certain amount. And he received the answer that he could not do this. After all, he has not yet decided whether chess is a sport or an empty pastime, and he is not sure whether Kuznetsov can be considered an athlete.

Without being confused, the chess player answered sarcastically: “If Mikhail Tal plays, then this is a great art. If I play, then . But if you sit down at the board, then it will be just spending time.” After which the future FIDE (International Chess Federation) and Canada's 54th player walked out proudly.

International grandmaster Mikhail Tal is a famous Soviet chess player. In 1960, he became the eighth world champion. He was distinguished by his sharp attacking combinational play, often making beautiful, conscious sacrifices of pieces.

Supporters of chess as a sport have other arguments. Among them are the existence of state-funded schools for children and youth, the holding of Russian and world championships both among individual players, especially professionals, and among clubs and even national teams. As well as international tournaments with large prize pools.

In particular, the inclusion of chess in the list of game types and in the Unified Classification with the assignment of such titles as Master of Sports of Russia, Master of Sports of International Class and Grandmaster speaks in favor of the sporting orientation of chess. Chess is also included in the annual calendar of competitions held under the auspices of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation.

The following argument is also interesting: by professionally practicing any sport in the gym or at the stadium, a person builds up his muscles and muscle mass. And spending many hours at the board with pieces or at the computer, developing openings and endings, he actively increases the level of his intelligence. Why not sport?

By the way

In one of the social networks, its visitors were asked to answer what chess is for them, offering seven options to choose from. 2538 people spoke. 792 (31.21%) of them chose sports as an answer, 751 (29.63%) preferred art, 360 (14.18%) preferred the “hobby” option, 292 (11.51%) consider this game a way of life . Finally, 195 visitors (7.68%) are sure that chess is a science. By the way, only 88 (3.47%) voting participants found it difficult to answer.

In 2010, the Center for Public Opinion Research surveyed 1,600 Russians, also asking them to answer: “Is chess a sport or a hobby?” And the overwhelming majority of respondents - 69% - spoke in favor of sports.

Chess as a hobby

The main argument that supporters of this version give is that even an ordinary child can learn to play and practice in the future. That this is a very simple game, to master which it is not at all necessary to visit any specialized sections. And you can move the figures even on the beach or on a park bench, at any time and without attaching serious importance to the result.

They are also supported by those who are confident: with the advent of the Internet and computer developments among grandmasters, chess has grown into an intellectual, namely scientific game. All that remains from sports is the competitive principle.