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Chess Too Wimpy for Olympics?
IOC says the game, along with bridge, isn't physical enough
By Michael Foreman
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Posted Aug 6, 08 6:25 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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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.