Chess Put Forward To Join Paris 2024 Olympic Games

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Surely there would be a minimum qualification standard or qualifying events?"

There is for other sports, but IOC tends to trust the countries entering athletes. Remember "Eric the Eel"?

Chess was a demonstration sport at a Winter Olympics wasn't it? A couple of GMs sat in a café playing chess, so playing conditions were not great. And if chess did become an Olympic sport, drug testing would be compulsory, probably even in ordinary events.

[Alex Holowczak]

I suppose it could be an Olympiad-style event, but for Rapidplay and Blitz. If that is to be the case, then the issue with that is that we'd have to compete as Great Britain and not England/Scotland/Wales/Jersey/Guernsey etc.

Surely there would be a minimum qualification standard or qualifying events? FIFA has around the same number of members as FIDE, but you don't see every FIFA member with a team at the Olympics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_ ... r_Olympics

In addition to host nation Japan, 15 men's national teams will qualify from six separate continental confederations

Usually for space and logistics reasons though. You can run a 16-team tournament within about 2 weeks. You can't run a 64-team football tournament, because it'd take too many matches.

[Roger de Coverly]

Usually for space and logistics reasons though. You can run a 16-team tournament within about 2 weeks. You can't run a 64-team football tournament, because it'd take too many matches.

Cost as well, I should have thought. 64 teams will cost four times as much in terms of accommodation and hospitality as 16 teams.

[Alex Holowczak]

Usually for space and logistics reasons though. You can run a 16-team tournament within about 2 weeks. You can't run a 64-team football tournament, because it'd take too many matches.

Cost as well, I should have thought. 64 teams will cost four times as much in terms of accommodation and hospitality as 16 teams.

I'm sure that's right. But those arguments don't really apply to chess in the same way; the extra space is negligible, and the squad of 5 is less than the squad of 23.

[David Sedgwick]

There is an article on the French Chess Federation website at http://www.echecs.asso.fr/Actu.aspx?Ref=11653.

The "600 million" claim doesn't feature there either, but Bachar Kouatly is quoted as follows:

"Bachar Kouatly a rappelé les chiffres clés des échecs:

• 10% des Français savent jouer aux échecs
• 5 millions de parties chaque jour dans le monde sur internet
• Avec 189 fédérations dans le monde c'est un des sports les plus universels, au niveau de l'escrime et du judo, tous deux sports olympiques
• 68% des joueurs français licenciés ont moins de 20 ans
• 27 millions d'internautes sont inscrits sur la première plateforme de jeu d'échecs au monde"

Here is my attempt at a translation, which I invite readers to improve:

Bachar Kouatly quoted some key statistics about chess:

• 10% of French know how to play chess
• 5 million games per day worldwide on the internet
• With 189 federations around the world, it is one of the most universal sports, on the level of fencing and judo, both Olympic sports
• 68% of licensed French players are under 20 years of age
• 27 million Internet users registered on the world’s leading chess game platform

[Roger de Coverly]

• 27 million Internet users registered on the world’s leading chess game platform

That would be from the chess.com website.

[Roger de Coverly]

Chess tournaments attempting to tie in with an Olympics have been infrequent or never. Whilst the 2012 British Championship Congress coincided with part of the London Olympics, it was about as far away from London as possible whilst remaining in England.

It appears from wiki pages about the history of FIDE, that it was founded during the 1924 Olympics in Paris. That at the very least ought to give FIDE/FFE an excuse to run a tournament alongside the Olympics to celebrate 100 years since the founding of FIDE.

[IanCalvert]

Maybe a novel , "Chariots Of Fire" image might help to get support via spectator interest: team blitz (or rapid) with an average grade constraint??

[Richard Bates]

As reported by chessbase

https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-olympic-dream

The 600 million claim is back again

Well who saw that coming

I thought it had risen to 605 million?

[Nick Grey]

Sport climbing in 2020 Olympics with baseball & softball back.
The French may want some local sport. I cannot imagine chess qualifying for the Olympics. Chess-boxing may work.

[Alex Holowczak]

The French may want some local sport.

They're allowed some "local sports". I imagine Basque Pelota is the most likely to get in as a local sport. It has been a demonstration sport a few times, and was in the 1900 Olympics.

[David Robertson]

The French will probably opt for pétanque d'échecs. This hugely popular regional game involves lobbing heavily-weighted pieces down the board. Injuries can occur - strains, sprains and some bruising. But Arbiters generally recover

[JustinHorton]

Chess-boxing may work.

No

[Chris Rice]

As reported by chessbase
https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-olympic-dream
The 600 million claim is back again

Well who saw that coming

I thought it had risen to 605 million?

Ju Wenjun has just beaten Lagno in a very close match and the article from the event contains the following impressive stat:

"CCTV5+ covers 600 million people in China and according to our correspondent for this event Liang Ziming, this game was watched by 60 million people. That could well be a record for our sport!"

[Roger Lancaster]

Ju Wenjun has just beaten Lagno in a very close match and the article from the event contains the following impressive stat:

"CCTV5+ covers 600 million people in China and according to our correspondent for this event Liang Ziming, this game was watched by 60 million people. That could well be a record for our sport!"

But I think it has to be noted that these were blitz/Armageddon games. Hard to believe CCTV5+ would have allocated the much longer time necessary to cover a typical classical game.