'Better than computer games' - should chess become a sport after popularity boom?

Chess fans are aiming to get the game formally recognised as a sport in the UK after a surge in global popularity and among sporting stars.

While over 100 countries and the International Olympic Committee officially classify chess as a sport, it is still not recognised in the UK and Ireland.

Chess coaches Tim and Sarah Kett, from Cardiff, are part of a group of people hoping a Welsh Parliament consultation on sport will help get the ball rolling, calling chess the "antidote to video games".

Experts have even said the chess "boom" is building young minds and the market is expected to grow to $7.66bn (£5.7bn) by 2034, according to Fortune Business Insights.

Helping fuel the growth are its high-profile fans, in the shape of A-list sportspeople across football, tennis and basketball.

Erling Haaland, Carlos Alcaraz, and Victor Wembanyama are just a few who have gone public with their appreciation, often referring to the mental benefits it can bring.

Manchester City striker Haaland, who has recently invested in a global chess tour, said it "sharpens your mind" and likened the strategic side of the board game to football.

Meanwhile fellow footballer Eberiche Eze walked away with £15,000 last year after winning a four-day amateur chess tournament contested by 12 celebrity content creators.

Tim told Radio Wales Breakfast on Friday that you get "far more value for money" from chess than you do from other sports which makes it more accessible.

"If you think about how much it costs to build new tennis courts, rugby fields, cricket pitches, and that will help a few people in that area play," he said.

"If we go into every school in Wales and ensure they have a few chess sets it's maybe £100."

Tim said the value for money combined with the "intellectual stimulation" when playing it makes chess a better alternative to video games.

"It teaches you about grit and resilience, about digging in when you are in 'ab ad [absolute advantage] position," he added.

Whereas video games teach you to "see something and shoot it", Tim said chess is more "let's take a minute and think about it".

He added: "How much better a sort of life lesson can we get for young people than that?"

Recognition for chess as a sport would open the door for more government funding and it would also gain a higher priority in schools.

The Welsh Parliament's consultation on issues like culture and sport, which closes on Friday, was identified by the Welsh Chess Union as an opportunity to ask it to examine the case to recognise chess as a sport.

The group said the policy would bring Wales, and the UK, in line with the "vast majority of European countries".

Avid chess player Rohan believes playing chess is "better than computer games".

"I really enjoy it. It helps you think. You've always got to be thinking about what your opponent might do and what you might do," he said.

Rohan added that the game was "quite easy to learn once you know the rules", with many videos and apps available to help you.

Sakshana takes a calculated approach, after learning the game last September, describing it as "really fun".

"You have to remember some openings and think what your opponent is going to do," he said of his strategies.

The Welsh government said it did "not have a separate process for designating an activity as either a sport of a game".

Instead, formal recognition of sports "is considered through the UK Sports Councils' Recognition Policy, which is administered jointly by Sport Wales, Sport England, sportscotland, Sport Northern Ireland and UK Sport".

Sarah said about 13% of the UK currently has an interest in chess with 8.9 million accounts active on Chess.com.

She said that equated to about 400,000 people in Wales which is a "big part of the population".

She said she would like to see more funding to further promote and encourage participation in chess.

The global popularity of the board game exploded during the Covid pandemic, with many young people discovering the game online.

It was also boosted by the unexpected success of the 2020 Netflix miniseries The Queen's Gambit, which follows the journey of an orphaned girl who finds stardom as a chess prodigy.

Tim said this gave its popularity a "double boost" and there are now about "10 times more people" playing chess than there were before the pandemic.

"It is in the most robust health it's ever been. Chess is booming through the world."