What does chess say about us?

Question

Ok, just because one is very good at playing chess doesnt mean you are good at everything! A very good player would have to be very observant...good strategy... Can anyone add anything valid to this?

Answer 1

Quoting notable sources and running down a list of what chess is supposed to give to those who undertake its many disciplines does not really answer the question.

No matter what is going to be said here (or anywhere else on this subject) there is one fundimental truth: chess is just a game. If one wants to spend time trying to gather up hiden truths out of chess then I do really apologize in advance but you are really wasting your time. Chess like any game or sport does one of two things. It will give you want you out of it depending how much work you are willing to put it into it or it will amplfy what skills are already present. The expection to the rule is the 1% of the 1% who can be classed as prodigies.

I think one thing that is important to remember chess is not a one person game and you are only as good as your next opponent.

Answer 2

Chess is a problem solving game.  After each move, the board is different, and that give us a different problem to solve.

Being a good chess player requires the ability to plan, and the ability to implement a plan under changing conditions. It requires the ability to think logically and without emotions.

Chess teaches us how to make pieces of differing abilities work together within certain rules and restrictions in order to achieve our goal.

Chess teaches good sportsmanship, when handled properly.

Chess is also a game in which, if we study it, teaches us how to learn from our mistakes.

It also teaches you that there is another move after this one, and that your opponent will counter-move, so don't act as if no one else will respond to your actions

Benjamin Franklin published the first American book on chess, and it it, he wrote:

The Game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very  valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life,  are to be acquired or strengthened by it, so as to become habits,  ready on all occasions. For Life is a kind of Chess, in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events,  that are, in some degree, the effects of prudence or the want of it.  (published in 1802)

Franklin thought that chess was very useful for basically teaching all about life.  We all (hopefully)  have goals we want to achieve, and we all encounter obstacles we have to deal with in order to get there

Former World Champion Garry Kasparov has written a book entitled "How Life Imitates Chess".   I have not seen that particular book yet, it was published sometime last year.  Here's a little info on it:

http://www.howlifeimitateschess.com/

When you go to that page, be sure to view the back cover, it talks a little bit about what's in the book, and it looks excellent.  I've seen a lot of entire books that didn't contain as much insight.

There are a lot of analogies that can be drawn between chess and real life.

Answer 3

Being good at chess doesnt say much more about a person, than being good at anything else. It does not require amazing feats of genius, just a knowledge of do's and dont's like any other game. Even the grandmasters are doing the same thing, just at a higher level (but every now and then, just like with anything - a true genius comes along and astounds us all with their brilliance!).

Once a person has a very solid knowledge of game basics, they can beat even a far more intelligent person if they lack experience.

It is possible to say about a serious chess player, that they have chosen a competitive game, where there are no excuses. If you loose, the sun did not get in your eyes, you didnt get a poor hand of cards, the equipment your were using was not faulty (unless you want to blane your own brain...), luck was never involved. Win or loose, it was all YOU! It is a game of decisions and personality - all your own.

If a person can accept this, and apply it to life, the effect can be profound. For myself, chess has taught me to try to decide what is most important to acheive a goal. On every chess move, I ask myself "what is most important here?"

Many people have the conception that chess player is good when they can calculate many moves in advance, or some other hidden complexity. I find that a good chess player, (apart from knowing how the game works) will be bold at times, get creative at times, know when to just hold down the fort, do the unexpected, and most of all - not fall apart when things begin to look bad!

I like the question, -  and what does chess say about us...I think much of it applies to any discipline, but most of all, a good chess player will have control over mind and emotion.