Rectification of Names; Chess is Not a Sport

Chess is not a sport-it's a game, an intellectual game. Language has definitions within given ontological relativism of meanings. Lexicon A may or may not share some common terms with lexicon B, C etc. Lexicons are constructions and nominal rather than of a Platonic realist nature.

Chess and monopoly, tic tac toe and poker while competitive cannot be well said to be sports without Morphy'ing the meaning of sport so far as to relinquish its ordinary meaning.

We believe without bias that quadriplegics too can be champion chess players, or that even blind, quadriplegic chess players can rise to G.M. level if applying themselves with modern technology position-sounding chess boards (perhaps each piece would have a distinct pleasing sound when a hand is waved above it)for them. It would still seem an error to consider chess as an athletic instead of an intellectual activity.

Some can argue that the brain has neurochemistry that works-that it increases energy consumption with intellectual effort. That is true enough. Yet one can't regard chemical energy burning of plants as sport or  even that of an individual in a coma arising to r.e.m.sleep and increasing brain activity.

Intellectual activities are worthwhile ventures for-themselves. One would not use intellectual and athletic as synonyms, or consider Curlie, Moe and Larry as great intellectuals nor Albert Einstein a great athlete.

Philosophers assuredly do consider material things as well as abstract entities that have no material existence (if anything such could be said to exist) if that were possible. Within the greater metaphysics of monism-all things that exist would be material, spiritual or whatever other term one wanted to label everything that exists with.

The Olympics got rid of wrestling-one of the original sports, and might like to add chess one day in order that Norway could get more gold medals in areas besides sky jumping, giant downhill or shooting targets while cross country skiing. The most difficult question for the I.O.C. would be is chess a summer or a winter sport?