PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
RECOGNITION OF CHESS AS A SPORT IN THE UK (29 March 1999)

That this House congratulates the Minister for Sport for reaffirming his support for chess to be recognised as a sport; recognises that chess is a sport in which there are no barriers of physical ability or between the sexes; notes that in this country four million people play chess, and in England alone 50,000 children in some 3,000 clubs play it; recognises that the United Kingdom is the second strongest chess nation in the world after Russia and currently European champions despite the disadvantage of receiving only £50,000 per annum from Her Majesty's Government compared with Greece which spends £337,000 a year; notes that 104 nations worldwide recognise chess as a sport including 37 European nations of which 10 are European Union partner members; calls upon Her Majesty's Government to find an early legislative opportunity to carry out the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport's proposal to broaden the scope of the Physical Training and Recreation Act 1937 to enable chess to be funded by the United Kingdom sports councils; calls on the sports councils to have in place the necessary mechanisms to amend their Royal charters once the 1937 Act has been amended so that they can recognise chess as a sport; and with the Department for Education and Employment recognising the educational value of chess for its ability to help the acquisition of cognitive thinking skills, urges the four United Kingdom chess associations to apply for Lottery funding to promote chess in after-school clubs using the New Opportunities Fund.

Sponsored by:
Charlotte Atkins (Labour)