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Chess Too Wimpy for Olympics?

IOC says the game, along with bridge, isn't physical enough

By Michael Foreman, Newser User

Posted Aug 6, 2008 6:25 PM CDT

(Newser) – Chess players and bridge players will be spectators when the Olympics begin this week, but both are making a strong push to be official sports at the 2012 Games, Time reports. First, they'll have to convince a skeptical International Olympic Committee that they belong, despite their decided lack of physical activity. "Mind sports, by their nature, cannot be part of the program," says one IOC official.

Nonsense, say critics. The chief of the World Chess Federation notes that ancient Olympics featured contests in poetry and the arts. And the World Bridge Federation thinks the card game qualifies because it requires stamina and "strenuous exercise." In the meantime, both will have to settle for competing in the first World Mind Games this fall, also in Beijing.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Should a card game be an Olympic sport? (Flickr.)

The World Chess Federation wants the "mind sport" included in the 2012 Olympic Games. (File photo)

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge speaks to the media in Beijing. Rogge capped the number of summer Olympic sports at 28. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

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Mind sports, by their nature, cannot be part of the program. - Emmanuelle Moreau, spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee

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Chess Too Wimpy for Olympics?