Does chess make you smarter?

Originally posted by Menso
So I'm doing a research project on the benefits of using chess as an educational tool. A lot of research has been done on this matter, and the results are striking in that the majority of schools don't have a scholastic chess program. I'm hoping to put together a proposal for my local school district in hopes of persuading them to begin a scholastic chess club ative influence?



Anything you want to add (e.g. additional benefits, anecdotes, etc)?

1. I was introduced to chess by my older sibling.

2. I started playing I think at about age 8. My older sibling used to pound me into the ground game after game after game after game....until one day.....one glorious day....he left his guard down and left his king behind three of his pawns as my rook found its way down to his king to mate him. Then after a while, I began to beat him without getting lucky. Soon after wards I began to win more times than he until he stopped playing me altogether.

3. I guess I play chess because I a competitive. In addition, I like games. In fact, I approach most everything in life as a game.

4. I think it is fair to say that my problem solving has improved. Now was this due to aging or playing chess only God knows. However, I do try to approach life by thinking as many steps ahead as I can. Is this due to chess? I don't know.

5. Is it a negative influence? Yes and no. The initial influence taught me perserverance. It is a life long attribute that has served me well and for which I credit the majority of my successes. In fact, I would say that half of life is just showing up and the other half is not giving up. As for the "dark side", I began playing in tournaments. In fact, the first one I played I won $35. I then got a big head and went to a larger tournament in which a lot more money was involved. The very first game I played I got blown away and never returned. After that, I stopped playing for a while. I tried preparing for the tournament but for some reason my concentration was lagging. I found that it was not so much a labor of love and fun as it was a chore. It was then that I decided never to return to the tournament scene even though I returned to playing chess. Overall, however, I would say it has been a positive influence. I think the danger comes when you take it too seriously and/or yourself too seriously.

Originally posted by Thomaster
LOL A chess playing girl in my class wants me to watch it. Very funny, but it lasts longer than 350 hours. 😞

Will she let you film in addition to watching? You can make money that way. Too long though, best to just show the ending.

Originally posted by Mephisto2
Or is it draughts?

An excerpt from Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan POE:

" Yet to calculate is not in itself to analyze. A chess-player, for example, does the one without effort at the other. It follows that the game of chess, in its effects upon mental character, is greatly misunderstood. I am not now writing a treatise, but simply prefacin ...[text shortened]... cases out of ten it is the more concentrative rather than the more acute player who conquers."

now that makes you think


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Originally posted by Shamash
now that makes you think


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Ditto.