In order to promote the Olympic Movement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) may recognise as International Sports Federations (IFs) international non-governmental organisations administering one or several sports at world level and encompassing organisations administering such sports at national level.
Recognition of the International Federations (IFs)
In order to be recognised, these organisations must apply the Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Code and conduct effective out-of-competition tests in accordance with the established rules. The recognition of IFs newly recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shall be provisional for a period of two years or any other period fixed by the IOC Executive Board. At the end of such period, the recognition shall automatically lapse in the absence of definitive confirmation given in writing by the IOC.
As far as the role of the IFs within the Olympic Movement is concerned, their statutes, practice and activities must be in conformity with the Olympic Charter. Subject to the foregoing, each IF maintains its independence and autonomy in the administration of its sport.
RECOGNISED SPORTS LIST
Air sports
Netball
Automobile
Bandy
Orienteering
Billiard Sports
Pelote Basque
Boules
Polo
Bowling
Powerboating
Bridge
Racquetball
Chess
Roller Sports
DanceSport
Rugby
Golf
Squash
Karate
Surfing
Korfball
Sumo
Life Saving
Tug of War
Motorcycle Racing
Underwater Sports
Mountaineering and Climbing
Water Skiing
Wushu
Source: IOC
What are the rules? Where are the rules for doping in chess? Do you believe that there are drugs that can help a player become Olympic or World Champion?
Currently I don’t think there are any drugs that could help chess players, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible to develop drugs that aid things like memory retention or concentration.
If there do exist drugs that have these effects, should they recieve a blanket ban? Or only if they have side effects?
In order to answer to your question, you must answer to that question : What is the definition of doping ?
A simple coffee can be considered as a doping substance…
Probably eating some chocolate 😛
Chess is being held a prisoner of the IOC by ourself. We have been told that chess cannot become an olympic sport. Yet we persist in giving away our freedom to govern ourself. Chess should be independent. Chess is not an Olympic sport and we need to accept that and move on. IOC is simply another corrupt governing body. We do not need more levels of corruption to do what is good for chess.
Generally, any given sport is a weak candidate for Olympic competition unless the Olympic Gold Medal is considered the pinnacle of achievement in that sport.
[] Downhill Skiing: Gold is the pinnacle.
[] Chess: The pinnacle is World Chess Champion title (of Steinitz lineage).
[] Tennis: Tennis was recently added to the Olympics, but for no apparent purpose. I remember who won Wimbledon, but I could not care less who won those shorter Olympic matches, where several of the world’s top players were absent.
[] Boxing: Odd case. Works well in the Olympics because it still seems to be limited to amateurs. Also, power is less important than jabbing speed, due to the score rule differences.
In any case, the Olympics may “recognize” chess as a sport, but my understanding is that chess is not one of the sports conducted in the primary Olympic games (despite the confusingly named chess Olympiad events).
Keep chess out of the Olympics.
GeneM
CastleLong.com
If there was a drug that could help you at chess (i.e. make you smarter, have better memory, etc) I would take it, daily, regardless of whether I played chess or not. Part of why I play chess is to improve my mental abilities in the first place.
I would love to see their list of what drugs are prohibited for chess players so I can know what to begin including in my diet.
Is called fritz, Rybka etc 🙂
Wait… does this mean that the olympic committee recognized chess as a sport and will therefore allow it in the olympics?
i think that 2 glass of a good italian red wine is fantastic for being more creative :-)))
Dario
Doping is:
1. the use of an expedient (substance or method) which is potentially harmful to athletes’ health and/or capable of enhancing their performance, or
2. the presence in the athlete’s body of a Prohibited Substance or evidence of the use thereof or evidence of the use of a Prohibited Method.
Caffeine is on the list of doping agents, however, there is a threshold limit before it becomes a violation.
Any substance that would improve concentration/relieve tiredness would likely be considered a performance enhancer. Most stimulants would fall in this category. Likely research areas would include Attention Deficit Disorder, Alzheimers and geriatrics (in particular effects of aging on memory).
Doping does not make you a world class anything, it merely enhances your performance through artificial means.
Chess is not a sport. A reasonable definition of sport is
“Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Used by itself, sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome.”
If the definition is broadened enough to include Chess and Bridge, then any human activity could be considered a sport. We could have Math Olympics, Drinking Alcohol, and Competitive Reading as formally recognized sports.
As a logical corollary to this, all the drugs (steroids, EPO, HGH) and techniques (blood doping) used to cheat in (real/physical) sports are irrelevant to Chess. Greater muscle mass or oxygen uptake are non-factors in Chess but absolutely critical in real sports. Conversely drugs that are being researched now relating to memory enhancement might be very interesting to Chess players, and of little or no use to Olympic athletes.
Peter Schilling III
Drinking alcohol should be a sport. Especially shot-for-shot match or all you can drink winner-take-all tournaments.
The only definition of sport that counts is the one used by the IOC – which I do not know.
Actually, a large number of banned substances are not related to muscle mass or oxygen uptake. They are central nervous system stimulants. If I recall correctly, the central nervous system includes the brain.
Regardless, the list of substances is constantly evolving. If chess were to become a part of the Olympic Games, I am confident that they would try to identify substances that would be of specific interest to chess.
Ironically, at the highest levels of most sports, the difference in performance is more mental than physical.
If there was a drug that could help you at chess (i.e. make you smarter, have better memory, etc) I would take it, daily, regardless of whether I played chess or not. Part of why I play chess is to improve my mental abilities in the first place.
Modafinil-containing drugs, such as Provigil or Alertec improve concentration, memory and alertness without the adverse effects of caffeine. Modafinil was originally developed to treat narcolepsy and is non-addictive. It was banned by WADA only very recently.
see Modafinil