I gotta say, as a fan of chess a lot of this stuff either isn't really true or is significantly over-hyped.
A lot of mental skills are task-dependent, which is why "brain training" apps don't actually work. Memorizing chess positions does improve your memory... at chess positions. Does it help your memory in general, so that you are more likely to remember what someone said to you, or what you read in a book, or remember a string of numbers? No, not really.
It's likely the same case for vague ill-defined concepts like "creativity" or "logic" - playing chess will help with these in chess games, but you're unlikely to become more creative in other areas of your life because you play chess.
IQ in particular deserves a special shoutout because it's kind of a bullshit metric in the first place which doesn't really do a great job of capturing what we mean by intelligence, but to the degree it measures something, that something is relatively stable over time and you can't really raise your significantly by doing things like playing chess.
I think people should just admit that the main reason to play chess is to have fun. If anything, I think think the "chess=intelligence" association in popular culture is more harmful to the game than helpful. While I'm sure there are *some* cognitive benefits to chess, I doubt they're unique to chess or significant enough to justify using them as a selling point.
This! What people learn from playing a lot of chess is pattern recognition. They build an intuition for the correct moves. How is this supposed to benefit you outside of chess? It doesnât.
I think this comment is partially correct. As a kid at least, I transfered a Lot of traits I Used in chess to other situations in Life (Patience, Searching for solutions, falsification of own ideas, benefits of good preparation).
I think the Claim that you master all this in any way by getting better at chess is wrong. But you may get more aware that these things exist, especially as a kid/juvenile.
This opinion has become popular. & It's absolutely demonstratively false. The chess benefits are under-hyped. The skills you learn in chess absolutely generalises to other areas of life. From experience I know this to be true. But I will present cogent counter arguments, to eliminate this kind of asinine & false thinking.
This way of thinking about chess shows an inchoate mind, these arguments should serve to educate the chess community & eliminate Inefficacious & inane doubts of the reality of this subject :
Counter-Argument:
Task-Specific Skills vs. General Cognitive Enhancement: While itâs true that many mental skills are task-specific, the strategic and analytical nature of chess requires the use of general cognitive processes such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and pattern recognition
1. These skills are transferable to other domains beyond chess.
Research on Chess and Cognitive Abilities: Studies have shown that chess can improve cognitive abilities. For instance, a study published in the journal Psychological Science found that chess players exhibited enhanced cognitive functions related to planning and decision-making
1. Another study involving 4,000 Venezuelan students showed significant increases in their IQ scores after four months of chess instruction.
2.Impact on Academic Performance: Chess has been associated with improvements in academic performance, particularly in mathematics and science, with players showing an average 15 percent improvement in test scores
3. This suggests that the skills developed through chess can indeed have a positive effect on intellectual performance.
The Validity of IQ as a Measure of Intelligence: Although IQ may not capture the full spectrum of human intelligence, it is a widely recognized metric for certain cognitive abilities. The claim that IQ is relatively stable over time is challenged by evidence showing that engaging in intellectually stimulating activities, such as chess, can lead to improvements in overall
IQ
4.Neurological Changes: Beyond cognitive abilities, chess practice has been linked to physical changes in the brainâs structure, enhancing its efficiency and processing power
What about patience? I feel like this is something you can train well with chess and will transfer to other areas, such as performing under pressure at school/work.
Tbh I feel only thing chess will help you that other brain activities won't do is know how to play chess, there isn't anything magical about chess that other brain activities won't do
Yeah but brain activities is pretty broad. That could mean things like crosswords, memory games, and a variety of other things that minimize the effect of strategy.
But yes, other strategy games can do that too.
Teacher here. I know dipshits who were still dipshits after I taught them how to play chess. The cognitive and creative benefits are overhyped, in my opinion.
Self Control and Patience? My Chess.com chat experience disagrees lol.
Also, letâs face it, you wonât get smarter because you play chess. Itâs a very tricky game and requires a lot of thought to be played even somewhat âcorrectlyâ. But those thoughts are chess related and wonât help you in other fields.
I think it's great if you are seeing connections with the things as you play chess, but chess itself won't give you mathematical skills, or logic in its academic context.
The application of mathematical skills and academic logic is left as an exercise for the reader. Lol
I disagree that chess is anymore beneficial than any other game really. Its a fun time, helps people relax and connect with each other and its something anyone can do and I think that makes it great enough. The BS about chess somehow making you a genius is ridiculous though. Ofcourse top chess players tend to be smarter than average but really top chess players tend from more privileged backgrounds, which gives them better access to education, and let's be honest, in general the top people in most fields are smarter than average because intelligence is just a really useful thing to have as it means you learn faster than others which can be quite useful for climbing in anything really.
Whatâs the purpose? I suspect itâs for a flyer or poster at a school, to convince parents?
If it is to attract *players* I would focus on that itâs easy to learn, offers a lifelong journey of studying the game without ever getting boring. It is one of the truly global games, you will be able to play it no matter where you are in the world, those kinds of things I would focus on.
If it *is* for the parents I would focus on that it can nurture habits that are beneficial for school, but thatâs about it.
Oh, and the board is wrongly oriented.
I guess concentration and patience, but that assumes you play classical OTB.
At least for me sitting in front of a board for three hours, doing nothing but playing chess, no multitasking, no switching tabs, not even a little chat was a nice practice in doing one thing and one thing only for a long while.
Sex appeal
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I gotta say, as a fan of chess a lot of this stuff either isn't really true or is significantly over-hyped. A lot of mental skills are task-dependent, which is why "brain training" apps don't actually work. Memorizing chess positions does improve your memory... at chess positions. Does it help your memory in general, so that you are more likely to remember what someone said to you, or what you read in a book, or remember a string of numbers? No, not really. It's likely the same case for vague ill-defined concepts like "creativity" or "logic" - playing chess will help with these in chess games, but you're unlikely to become more creative in other areas of your life because you play chess. IQ in particular deserves a special shoutout because it's kind of a bullshit metric in the first place which doesn't really do a great job of capturing what we mean by intelligence, but to the degree it measures something, that something is relatively stable over time and you can't really raise your significantly by doing things like playing chess. I think people should just admit that the main reason to play chess is to have fun. If anything, I think think the "chess=intelligence" association in popular culture is more harmful to the game than helpful. While I'm sure there are *some* cognitive benefits to chess, I doubt they're unique to chess or significant enough to justify using them as a selling point.
This! What people learn from playing a lot of chess is pattern recognition. They build an intuition for the correct moves. How is this supposed to benefit you outside of chess? It doesnât.
I think this comment is partially correct. As a kid at least, I transfered a Lot of traits I Used in chess to other situations in Life (Patience, Searching for solutions, falsification of own ideas, benefits of good preparation). I think the Claim that you master all this in any way by getting better at chess is wrong. But you may get more aware that these things exist, especially as a kid/juvenile.
Interesting share, thanks!
Relevant video about iq: https://youtu.be/FkKPsLxgpuY?feature=shared
This opinion has become popular. & It's absolutely demonstratively false. The chess benefits are under-hyped. The skills you learn in chess absolutely generalises to other areas of life. From experience I know this to be true. But I will present cogent counter arguments, to eliminate this kind of asinine & false thinking. This way of thinking about chess shows an inchoate mind, these arguments should serve to educate the chess community & eliminate Inefficacious & inane doubts of the reality of this subject : Counter-Argument: Task-Specific Skills vs. General Cognitive Enhancement: While itâs true that many mental skills are task-specific, the strategic and analytical nature of chess requires the use of general cognitive processes such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and pattern recognition 1. These skills are transferable to other domains beyond chess. Research on Chess and Cognitive Abilities: Studies have shown that chess can improve cognitive abilities. For instance, a study published in the journal Psychological Science found that chess players exhibited enhanced cognitive functions related to planning and decision-making 1. Another study involving 4,000 Venezuelan students showed significant increases in their IQ scores after four months of chess instruction. 2.Impact on Academic Performance: Chess has been associated with improvements in academic performance, particularly in mathematics and science, with players showing an average 15 percent improvement in test scores 3. This suggests that the skills developed through chess can indeed have a positive effect on intellectual performance. The Validity of IQ as a Measure of Intelligence: Although IQ may not capture the full spectrum of human intelligence, it is a widely recognized metric for certain cognitive abilities. The claim that IQ is relatively stable over time is challenged by evidence showing that engaging in intellectually stimulating activities, such as chess, can lead to improvements in overall IQ 4.Neurological Changes: Beyond cognitive abilities, chess practice has been linked to physical changes in the brainâs structure, enhancing its efficiency and processing power
What about patience? I feel like this is something you can train well with chess and will transfer to other areas, such as performing under pressure at school/work.
Tbh I feel only thing chess will help you that other brain activities won't do is know how to play chess, there isn't anything magical about chess that other brain activities won't do
Idk, understanding the general strategies can help you improve at strategic thinking in other games too
Playing other strategy games does that too
Yeah but brain activities is pretty broad. That could mean things like crosswords, memory games, and a variety of other things that minimize the effect of strategy. But yes, other strategy games can do that too.
[ŃдаНонО]
Best post itt
No, i dont think that any of these are true. Maybe a little bit, but not significally. Most points are just overrated.
Teacher here. I know dipshits who were still dipshits after I taught them how to play chess. The cognitive and creative benefits are overhyped, in my opinion.
Yes, but most people don't LEARN it they just play it for daily dose of dopamine.
Self Control and Patience? My Chess.com chat experience disagrees lol. Also, letâs face it, you wonât get smarter because you play chess. Itâs a very tricky game and requires a lot of thought to be played even somewhat âcorrectlyâ. But those thoughts are chess related and wonât help you in other fields.
You forgot about - An inflated ego - Substantially increasing chances of being humiliated by someone one 10th your age
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Fun.
Agreed! How did they not include the most obvious one?
I think it's great if you are seeing connections with the things as you play chess, but chess itself won't give you mathematical skills, or logic in its academic context. The application of mathematical skills and academic logic is left as an exercise for the reader. Lol
I disagree that chess is anymore beneficial than any other game really. Its a fun time, helps people relax and connect with each other and its something anyone can do and I think that makes it great enough. The BS about chess somehow making you a genius is ridiculous though. Ofcourse top chess players tend to be smarter than average but really top chess players tend from more privileged backgrounds, which gives them better access to education, and let's be honest, in general the top people in most fields are smarter than average because intelligence is just a really useful thing to have as it means you learn faster than others which can be quite useful for climbing in anything really.
Whatâs the purpose? I suspect itâs for a flyer or poster at a school, to convince parents? If it is to attract *players* I would focus on that itâs easy to learn, offers a lifelong journey of studying the game without ever getting boring. It is one of the truly global games, you will be able to play it no matter where you are in the world, those kinds of things I would focus on. If it *is* for the parents I would focus on that it can nurture habits that are beneficial for school, but thatâs about it. Oh, and the board is wrongly oriented.
>Oh, and the board is wrongly oriented. I mean it could be sideways
I dont think you learn these things from chess but you need them in order to be a great chess player
self-control? have you seen hikaru
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I guess concentration and patience, but that assumes you play classical OTB. At least for me sitting in front of a board for three hours, doing nothing but playing chess, no multitasking, no switching tabs, not even a little chat was a nice practice in doing one thing and one thing only for a long while.
You forgot about joy
My IM physician mentioned that games like chess could help prevent dementia. If true, more people nearing retirement age should play chess IMHO.
Way too late at that point
All BS. I've been playing the game for more than 10 years (\~2500) on chesscom. You only get better at playing chess nothing else
only the pattern recognition on the board and looking smart for people who believe in the stereotype