Re: Chess recognized as a sport by Sport Canada
Chess is a game of co-operation. After all each player can compete with another only by agreeing to play in accordance with the rules of chess. Physically, I can easily move my bishop as if it were a rook or a queen, but I do not do so because we cannot play the game "chess" unless we follow it's rules. So it gives one practice in follow group norms and conventions, surely an essential life skill.
And this is true of life in general. Every explicit competition requires, and indeed is only made possible by, an implicit co-operation. At the base of it we must co-operate with the laws of physics, so there is never any competition that does not involve a set of rules. Thus to learn to compete we must learn to follow the agreed upon rules which themselves make competition possible.
Furthermore one cannot play chess well unless he (or of course, she) learns to make all the individual pieces support and co-operate with each other. As good play requires planning it teaches leadership, generalship if you like. As it requires calculation it teaches one to be forward looking and to put oneself mentally in the position of the other. And as it also rewards alertness it gives us a practice in a skill that is needed throughout our entire life.
As for fighting spirit, the game is precisely a formalized fight, as Emanuel Lasker realized and pointed out. You will never be really good at chess without a fighting spirit. The real delight of a hard chess game, win or lose, is precisely the fight it involves. There is no need to fight again after the game for then the real fight is ended.
Originally posted by Egidijus Zeromskis
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And this is true of life in general. Every explicit competition requires, and indeed is only made possible by, an implicit co-operation. At the base of it we must co-operate with the laws of physics, so there is never any competition that does not involve a set of rules. Thus to learn to compete we must learn to follow the agreed upon rules which themselves make competition possible.
Furthermore one cannot play chess well unless he (or of course, she) learns to make all the individual pieces support and co-operate with each other. As good play requires planning it teaches leadership, generalship if you like. As it requires calculation it teaches one to be forward looking and to put oneself mentally in the position of the other. And as it also rewards alertness it gives us a practice in a skill that is needed throughout our entire life.
As for fighting spirit, the game is precisely a formalized fight, as Emanuel Lasker realized and pointed out. You will never be really good at chess without a fighting spirit. The real delight of a hard chess game, win or lose, is precisely the fight it involves. There is no need to fight again after the game for then the real fight is ended.
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