Does playing chess turn some people mad?

Question

So Fischer is dead. Too bad. While a great chess player, he was also known for his petulant behavior, paranoia, grouchiness and unfriendliness. I read of past great chess players going mad: Morphy, Steiner, Lasker and Alekhine. [On the other hand Capablanca was the "Cary Grant" of chess players: witty, urbane, sophisticated, friendly and romantic with women] Does playing chess can make people crazy?

Answer 1

I think perhaps there is more correlation than causation.  Those with excellent spatial abilities and minds for chess are often mad in their own right long before they become chess masters.

One cannot be blamed for pondering that though.  Having talked with one man ranked at master level, he clearly was abnormal, although not insane.  Paranoid, a bit sociopathic, but not so much unfriendly as simply incomprehensible.

Answer 2

.....no

Answer 3

My wife and I both agree that chess can make some people mad.  (We both love chess.)  And by the way, I hadn't heard that Fischer died until reading your question so thanks for the news flash.  I don't think chess made Fischer mad, though.  I think he already possessed those bad traits and chess simply made conditions favorable for them to surface.

As a chess player, I sometimes get so involved that I may appear to have gone a little mad.  Just today at work, as I was playing a computer generated character named Liz on Chessmaster for the Nintendo DS, I hollered and danced as I began winning pieces.  I'm sure I looked mad to my co-workers.  But I've been trying to beat her for over a week!!!!!  She still beat that game.  My wife played Liz and beat her on the third try!!!!  GRRRRRRR!!!!........oh, and yes....she rubbed it in!!!!  BIGTIME.

Answer 4

NO. I love chess and I'm not crazy.

Answer 5

brilliant people are often slightly MAD.  It goes with the gift.

Okay brilliant people are often VERY mad --- But their gift mostly covers for it

As for chess being the cause --  They spend a a lot of time playing -- so obsessive could be said of them - some of them make a lot of MONEY out of it ......

Not an expert on the personalities of major players...... but

fame, money  the women........   theres a thought is there many great female players.

Answer 6

Firstly, chess does not make its players go insane. The huge thing is what actually happens, and what the media portrays. The mainstream media often does not understand the complexity of the minds and lives of many famous chess players who are exceptionally smart, Bobby Fischer being one of these examples. Bobby Fischer has an IQ of about 180, which makes him extremely smart even considering genius standards (A genius is regarded of having an IQ of about 140 or higher.) The media often depicts them of having quirky behavior, and often paranoid thoughts.

     A great analogy for this situation is the smartest geek that you may have/had at your school. They are often misunderstood considering their superior intellectual ability. They may be picked on by bullies who find them as easy targets and their generally lack social skills. For our real life situation, the media will take the bullies place. And the geek will be swapped for the chess player. This will make it easier to see how the truth really is. Once one gets to know the 'geek,' they realize he's not a bad kid, and is helpful in many ways. Unfortunately, most of us cannot really get to know a world champion chess player, but we can investigate things before we take them as fact, particularly for the media.

        I leave you with the words from old bear tales, "Don't believe everything you hear."

T.O.

The 14-year-old prodigy

Answer 7

yeah it will if you play a lot of games