Should chess be an Olympic sport?

Do you think chess should be considered an Olympic sport?

Viswanathan Anand: Back in 2000, chess was played as an exhibition sport at the Sydney Olympics. I played a match with Alexei Shirov. We played very combative chess in that match. It was nice for us to visit the Sydney Olympics and see how it was organised. We hoped at that time that it would be a first step to the Olympic Games. I think getting into the Olympic Games is desirable for chess.

Pravin Thipsay: Chess has every reason to be an Olympic sport. There was a lot of interest generated (in chess) by the Indian contingent which participated at the Sydney Olympics. They were curious to see a chess match being played. That sort of interest among athletes who were there to play other sports showed that they considered chess as an equal sport and felt that this game could be a part of the Olympics as well. It deserves to be a part of the Games.

Chess is played by about 200 countries. The sport is run very systematically; FIDE regularly conducts the world, continental, and regional championships. There are events for various age groups, from children to veterans. Competitions are even held for inmates of jails. Chess is also played as a hobby by many people, like badminton. So I feel there is a strong case for chess to be included in the Olympics.

How realistic are the chances of chess becoming an Olympic sport?

Viswanathan Anand: I don’t have a number for you, but we are in close contact with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Chess is already part of the Olympic Esports, which is also an Olympic discipline or an Olympic event. (Esports is a global virtual and simulated sports competition created by the IOC, and in collaboration with International Federations and game publishers.) Maybe that is the pathway for chess to become an Olympic sport.

Pravin Thipsay: I think chess has to be presented in a different way than it has been so far. I was part of the Indian team at the 1994 Chess Olympiad. I had talked to the then IOC president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was there for four or five days, about the possible inclusion of chess in the Olympic Games. The quiet atmosphere when the game is being played and the slow nature of the game might have led to some of his observations about chess. He said that he did not see chess being a part of the Olympic movement during his tenure. That was, of course, 30 years ago. Chess has changed a lot since. Now the game has become faster and we have more rapid and blitz formats, which do not take much time. And unlike earlier times, we also have people paying and watching chess tournaments. I was the head of the Indian delegation at the Chennai Chess Olympiad two years ago, and there were days when about 10,000 people would turn up to watch the Olympiad at Mamallapuram. If we project the game in the right way, there is a really good chance of making it (to the Olympic Games).

How can chess gain by becoming an Olympic discipline?

Viswanathan Anand: Here is the thing. We are already part of the Olympic movement, but chess is not an Olympic sport. If it does become an Olympic sport, it would facilitate interactions between the federation and the government and the sports ministries in many countries across the world. Chess would also benefit from the worldwide attention given to the Olympic Games.

Pravin Thipsay: The Summer Olympics particularly draws the attention of almost every sports lover in the world. Even those who are not sports fans follow it because it is a matter of pride for the country. I have been in touch with some developing countries’ federations and they say that the government doesn’t support them enough because they are not a part of the Olympics.

Can the Olympics and the Chess Olympiad coexist?

Viswanathan Anand: I don’t see why they cannot. Many sports continue with their traditions as long as they do it on their own. Of course, the scheduling may be an issue, so Chess Olympiads may not happen during the years when the Olympic Games are held. Some compromise like that will have to be found. The Chess Olympiad is an event that sees participation from so many countries and this great tradition goes back 100 years. It is an event where many teams, whether they are composed of fully professionals or many amateurs, all compete together. It is traditional and special for chess. So, ideally, I would like to see it continue.

Pravin Thipsay: I think the Chess Olympiad should continue for two reasons. Even if you have a team championship at the Olympic Games, it will still not include so many countries. It may be restricted to 12 or 16 countries, so it will not have this kind of of an environment or promotional effect. As for the Olympiad, of course the name of the tournament may be a problem and FIDE could change the name of the Chess Olympiad into something else, like World Team Championship, and do away with the existing World Team Championship. The Olympiad must continue, perhaps under a different name.

It has been said that chess has a better chance of making it to the Winter Olympics rather than the Summer Games. Is such a scenario appealing, especially from an Indian point of view?

Viswanathan Anand: I don’t see a big disadvantage in chess being at the Winter Olympic Games. For me, the price of being in the Olympic Games is so big that I think the rest should be flexible.

Pravin Thipsay: I believe that chess should be a part of the Summer Olympics, which has better viewership. So, if we get an option, being included in the Summer Games would be better than the Winter Games. Of course, some may argue that there is an optimal temperature for intellectual activity, that is, the lower the temperature, the better for the brain. The brain is more active then. But since players play in an air-conditioned environment anyway, it doesn’t really matter. I think the Summer Olympics would be the best option for chess.

Why has chess not appealed to the IOC so far? What could be done to make chess more appealing?

Viswanathan Anand: It may not be about chess at all. It may be a decision taken by the IOC and how big their games are and how many sports they should have. By the same logic, I wouldn’t say that the IOC objected to cricket before.

Pravin Thipsay: It was 30 years ago, but Samaranch said chess did not appeal to him as a sport. He said chess looked more like an intellectual activity. So, as a solution for that, I was wondering what could be done. After the two seasons of the Global Chess League (a joint venture by FIDE and Tech Mahindra), I think that is perhaps a great way of making it a community sport, a spectator sport. It could probably appear like a sport to the IOC.

One of the good things in the Global Chess League is the specific time control. Any sport that drags on for an unlimited time does not really attract a crowd. So, I think we should have quicker time control, which is fixed, and no incremental time given.

Japan has its own chess format (Shogi). Spectators are allowed to shout and cheer the players and even suggest moves during the game. I think we can go for that sort of version of chess. I am sure that the top players are really strong and very rarely would they benefit from spectators’ help. It would be nice if they are able to adjust to the noise from the crowd. They could make it a quicker game where there are fewer chances of cheating. We have to make chess look more like a sport in order to get into the Olympics. So somewhere, the players will have to adjust.

Listen to the conversation in The Hindu Parley podcast