10 Benefits of Playing Chess

10 Benefits of Playing Chess

What are the benefits of playing chess? Chess has been around for thousands of years, and even today it’s considered by many to be the ultimate way to test your mental agility and problem-solving skills. Here are the top 10 benefits of playing chess, including how you can take advantage of each in your own life and how chess can help you improve in areas such as learning, memory, planning, creativity, decision-making, and concentration.

1. It makes you smarter:

Research has found that chess makes kids more intelligent and helps them with problem-solving skills—it’s also been linked to better school performance. Not only does it train children in logical thinking, but it also teaches them how to strategize, be patient, and anticipate an opponent’s next move.

2. Brain Power:

Chess is a brain-building activity that challenges your mental abilities and decision-making skills. It’s no surprise that children who are taught chess tend to excel academically. In fact, studies have shown that children between 8 and 16 years old increased their IQ by approximately 15 points after just eight weeks of chess training. Whether you play against others or yourself, chess challenges your brain in a way that builds smarts, memory, concentration and problem solving.

3. Improves Cognitive Function:

Chess improves a player’s cognitive abilities, including logic, memory, spatial relations and concentration. All these skills are critical to education and important to daily life, especially as people age. Improved cognitive function has been linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease. There is also evidence that chess players are less likely to suffer from age-related mental decline than non-players.

4. Boosts Brain Power:

According to research conducted at Queen’s University in Belfast, playing chess may help boost brain power. The study involved using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on 50 people who had played chess for at least four years and 50 who had not. It found that those who played chess developed denser gray matter in their prefrontal cortex, areas associated with planning and working memory. Scientists believe these areas develop as a result of being challenged mentally by chess.

5. Improves problem solving skills:

One might think that chess is just about pieces moving on a board but there’s more to it than just making sure your King stays safe. Every move you make affects multiple positions on your side, forcing you to solve several different problems at once. This is why many CEOs and business owners prefer playing chess to taking up other hobbies - because its training their brains for real-life situations.

6. It Helps Manage Stress and Anxiety:

The benefits of playing chess don’t end with one game. Learning chess is a lifetime pursuit, so once you start you’ll reap benefits from beginning to end. For example, studies have shown that by playing chess on a regular basis, people can reduce their stress levels and also manage their anxiety.

7. Encourages Hand-Eye Coordination:

In order to play chess, you have to look at your board and then make a move using your hands. This exercise is great for improving hand-eye coordination, which can lead to better ability to learn or engage in all sorts of manual tasks. Better yet, children who are engaged in early sports activities tend to do better than their non-athletic peers in school and on standardized tests.

8. It is a stress reliever:

When you play chess, you have to control your emotions and try to stay calm at all times, even if things aren’t going your way. You’ll also learn how to think ahead and avoid overreacting or getting upset when things don’t go as planned—this can be an excellent skill to develop in order to help reduce stress.

9. Lower risk of Alzheimer’s:

Researchers have discovered that senior citizens who play chess score better on cognitive ability tests and show less clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease than those who don’t. Although doctors are still trying to determine whether playing chess directly prevents Alzheimer’s, we do know that engaging in mentally stimulating activities is correlated with a lower risk. So get moving—on or off a board!

10. It Increases Your Brain’s Grey Matter:

In a study, scientists found that chess players who had played since childhood had bigger brains than their non-chess playing counterparts. Specifically, they had more grey matter in areas of their brain associated with memory, attention and decision making.

Conclusion:

There are countless benefits to playing chess that have nothing to do with winning or losing. Through chess, players can learn important lessons about making decisions, handling defeats and resisting short-term temptations in favor of long-term goals. These skills may not be directly applicable in chess games but they can translate into other areas of life. For example, someone may develop bad habits like biting his nails when he’s feeling stressed out.

Thanks for reading.