If I got $10 for every time someone told me they could not play chess I probably would have enough money to travel the world and probably become a grand chess-master. A lot of people have probably heard how chess makes you smarter yet never gave much thought as to why.
My experience with chess
My experience with chess started when I was about 9 or 10 years old. A classmate brought a chessboard to school and showed me how to play. It seemed complex at first, especially as I was only familiar with playing checkers; and the pieces on the board looked strange.
It took me less than an hour to learn what each piece was for and I practiced moving pieces repeatedly. When I felt I learned how to move each piece well enough I then played against my first experienced opponent and somehow won the game. Call it beginner’s luck or whatever but it was still a win. I played and played more games and just kept on winning.
Chess only looks complicated
Chess only looks complicated because, unlike checkers, multiple pieces can move differently from each other. But once you understand how each piece moves, that each player only has 16 pieces, and that most of those are duplicates, it becomes much less daunting.
Breakdown of pieces include 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights and eight pawns. So in actuality you only need to remember how a total of 6 pieces move in order to play the game.
Chess makes you think
Contrary to common opinions, chess is not for intelligent people or for “nerds,” so to speak. It’s for thinkers. And quite frankly the more someone thinks the more potential they have to become smarter. So playing chess in itself does not increase intelligence, it’s the requirement to consistently think that does.
From the beginning of the game no player possesses any distinct advantage and victory is almost never dependent on luck. You must move during your turn, then see which piece you opponent movies, and each move thereafter changes the entire nature of the game. Then you rinse and repeat. While chess does have game mechanics that are similar to checkers, it’s the increased number of movement possibilities that causes chess to make you think more.
It increases your focus and memory
The more you think, the more playing chess teaches you patience, how to be resourceful, how to strategize, anticipate and consistently execute intricate moves that can stall or confuse your opponent long enough till you secure a win. This makes you smarter because it teaches you basic principles that are transferable and applicable to every situation in life.
Each move you make in chess can either create a new situation or be a reaction to an unexpected one. And one wrong move can cost you the entire game. Knowing this forces you to maintain your focus and memory, which are attributes that are aligned with intelligence.
The smart ones know better
The only reason chess is not viewed by many to be a medium they can easily use to become smarter is because they don’t want to think too much about how to play it; they have long closed their minds to the possibilities. Interestingly, if keeping a job was dependent on someone’s ability to play chess a lot of people would probably pursue a degree in the subject.
Nevertheless, those who are smarter tend to more easily grasp why intelligence and ultimately success can come from the simplest (seemingly most useless things in life). Just don’t ever be too surprised, should a chess player with no degree actually beat you out for that promotion you’ve been working hard towards academically and professionally for the last ten years. Because the best chess players will always know how to use your most powerful weapons against you. Long live chess, long live the kings!
If you’re interested in learning how to play chess check out the video below:
