The Sport of Chess - Part Ia

Chess has been stereotyped as a game rather than a sport, because, at first sight, chess does not appear to require any physical skills. An onlooker, who has no chess experience, may perceive a game of chess as slow and uneventful, just two people pushing wooden pieces on a checkered board. A Russian saying found by Regis, a strong amateur chess player, even describes chess players as "wood-pushers" (Regis). During a chess game, the players hardly budge, only occasionally moving to shift a piece, hit the clock, or record the last move made, all of which only require a minimal effort of the hand. Occasionally, players will walk around to catch a quick glance at other chess matches in progress, to find a drink, or to use the restroom. This idea of chess players using the restroom during matches leads to the idea that chess players do not sweat from the energy used during the match. Dr. Dubourg, a French translator who does not think highly of chess, notes, "playing chess diminishes perspiration and increases urination" (Lopez 113). The physical energy required to move the body quickly and forcibly causes one to sweat. Many perceive chess just as a mental game because chess players appear not to sweat during matches and to keep physical movements to a minimum.

Despite its outward appearance as a purely mental exercise, a tournament chess match is a physically demanding experience. All tournament players know that a chess match significantly drains the body of both mental and physical energy. Schonberg, a strong amateur chess player and a biographer of chess masters, notes that "the pure intellectual and physical effort of staring at a chessboard without being able to touch it, trying to capture all possibilities and anticipate all future situations, is brainwork on a rarefied level, and there is a heavy drain on the body" (Schonberg 26). Chess requires not only mental energy, but also physical energy and can be just as exhausting as heavy physical exertion. Schonberg also points out that Researchers at Temple University conducted an experiment on this observation and concluded "chess drained as much energy as did a comparable session of boxing or football" (Schonberg 26). Many athletes, including soccer players and gymnasts, sweat while exerting similar amounts of energy, for sweating is one of the major signs of physical exertion. Despite using large amounts of physical energy, chess players do not sweat while competing. Archery, an Olympic sport, does not make the participant sweat either. Swimmers also exert physical energy, but do not sweat, because they immerse their skin in water. Like archers and swimmers, chess players do not sweat during competition, yet they use an abundance of physical energy.

The physical energy needed during a chess match involves stamina, endurance, and mental alertness. Just like the sport of auto racing, chess requires stamina, as well as mental alertness over a long period of time under extremely stressful conditions. A momentary lapse of attention can result in devastation. This concept of stamina is physical. Just as runners win by being able to deliver more oxygen to their muscles, thereby allowing them to run faster and longer, chess champions win by having the ability to physically deliver good blood flow to the brain, allowing them to concentrate more deeply and to remain alert for longer periods of time. The best way to make sure one has this ability to deliver good oxygen or blood flow involves rigorously conditioning the body so one is in top physical condition. Such physical conditioning improves endurance and promotes concentration, two key factors in all sports. For chess players, successful chess simply means having "a sound mind in a sound body."

The Russians recognized this concept early and used it to breed a strong nation of chess players. In 1925, three Russian psychologists observed the importance of physical conditioning. After testing several competing chess masters, they "produced a chess masters' psychogram-sixteen physical and psychological qualities necessary for success at higher levels of chess, with number one being a good reserve of physical strength and good general health," notes Richards, a writer who researched the history of chess in Russia (Richards 26-27). The psychologists placed "physical strength" at the top of their list, emphasizing its importance for success in chess. The Russians soon incorporated this idea into their chess training, resulting in their domination of the World Championship throughout the twentieth century. For example, Russian chess masters preparing for the 1953 Zurich Candidates' Tournament spent two months on intensive physical training. The first two weeks consisted solely of physical sports, including "gymnastics, four-hundred meter races, high and long jumps, ten and one-hundred meter races, tennis, rowing, etc. Only in the third week came chess," explains Richards (Richards 162). The Russians regarded physical fitness as the most important part of a chess player's preparation. Traditional sports, such as football, have coaches and training camps; likewise, today's chess champions have coaches and chess camps. Since trivial pursuit training camps and scrabble coaches do not exist, one can see how the existence of coaches and chess camps brings chess closer to the world of sports and further from the incorrect stereotype that chess is merely a board game for the mind.