Why is Chess not an Olympic sport? Will it ever be?

Chess is a recognised and watched game, all over the world, but chess is not included in the Olympic games. There are many reasons for this, which I will break down in this post. Over 100 countries in the world officially recognise Chess as a sport, even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially recognises it as one, but there are still many countries in the world that do not, including the UK but there are ongoing petitions to change this and make chess a recognised sport by Sport England.

Why is chess not suitable for the Olympics?

As I mentioned, there are many reasons why Chess is not suitable for the Olympic games. I believe the most notable reason is related to viewership. The Olympics mostly hosts games that are exciting to watch, and most people can follow them and understand what is going on – this would not be the case for the world watching chess games in the Olympics, for inexperienced viewers it would be near impossible to understand who is winning, or what is going on.

Chess games typically last for a long time, whereas Olympic games are usually over within minutes or even seconds. Although, the modern Chess world has introduced variations of the game such as ‘Rapid Chess’ and ‘Blitz Chess’. These versions of the games make Chess a much faster game, whilst still requiring significant mental talent, if not more. Is this enough to feature Chess in the Olympics?

Another arguable reason would be that Chess is not a physical sport and doesn’t require physical talent – However this does not mean that Chess is a talentless game. The games in the Olympics require strength, speed or agility meanwhile Chess requires a great deal of mental intelligence and foresight. Although chess may not fit the criteria as a physical sport, I do believe that its competitiveness can make it a worthy game for the Olympics.

What about chess boxing?

In 1992 an idea was created by Enki Bilal, a match that combined Chess and Boxing into one; Chessboxing. There is even a report that a match like this took place in a boxing club in London in 1979. The game requires considerable talent in both chess and boxing, and it’s relatively small following makes it quite a niche market. Do I think that Chess boxing should be in the Olympics? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean it’s unpopular, in fact it has been a growing topic for a long time, and the first international club match took place in 2011. Since then, there has been the creation of a World Chess Boxing Championship, and more competitions alike. Like many sports, Chessboxing tournaments took a hit during the pandemic, but they have come back and are still being hosted to this day.

Does chess have its own Olympics?

Whilst chess is not included in the Olympics, it does have its own tournaments that bring in a lot of international attention. The most recognised tournament is of course organized by the FIDE, which is the international chess federation. Every two years they host a Chess Olympiad, which allows the best players from around the world to compete for the number one title. The Chess Olympiad has a similar style to the Olympics, but it solely focuses on chess skills and not any other sport. The 45th Chess Olympiad is being hosted this year in Budapest, in September.

This is not the only tournament in chess, there are many others including many others organized by the FIDE, such as the FIDE World Cup, the FIDE Grand Prix, a women’s chess championship and even a championship dedicated to Rapid and Blitz chess.

To conclude the blog, there are certainly good reasons for chess not being included in the Olympic games, but there are also arguments as to why it could be. It is an ongoing discussion and for all we know, we may see it introduced to the Olympics in the future. Would you watch Chess in the Olympics?