Is it only chess and tennis where the terms "game" and "match" are not synonymous? "Game of football" and "football match" would have the same meaning. Cricket uses the term "series" for a sequence of individual encounters forming the same competition.
Snooker uses "frame" rather than game, but again that is distinguishable from a match.
I think it's a competition structure thing - in sports where there is a tradition of playing one opponent multiple times before moving on to the next opponent, there exist separate terms for games and matches; in sports where there is no such tradition, the terms tend to be synonymous.
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Is it only chess and tennis where the terms "game" and "match" are not synonymous? "Game of football" and "football match" would have the same meaning. Cricket uses the term "series" for a sequence of individual encounters forming the same competition.
RdC
Snooker uses "frame" rather than game, but again that is distinguishable from a match.
I think it's a competition structure thing - in sports where there is a tradition of playing one opponent multiple times before moving on to the next opponent, there exist separate terms for games and matches; in sports where there is no such tradition, the terms tend to be synonymous.
Also note that as Matt Fletcher observes (and I should have spotted) our man can't tell the difference between winning and drawing, either.
Badminton, squash and table tennis also have matches consisting of several games.
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