Introduction
Everyday there are millions upon millions of chess games taking place both online and offline. The benefits of playing chess regularly is quite well known around the world and there are a plethora of reasons why so many people choose chess as their board game of choice. Chess has been played for thousands of years and everyone who has played chess throughout history has benefited from the many lessons the game has to offer. For many the joy alone a game of chess can bring about is enough to play the game every day and benefit from the long lasting health benefits associated with chess. However for those that are unfamiliar with the many benefits chess can have on both ones mental and emotional well being when played over long periods of time there is much to uncover.
Chess has the greatest impact on the development of the mind when played from childhood into adulthood and has the ability to prevent many of the mental diseases that unfortunately plagues many adults. Mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and dementia are but a few of the perils associated with achieving maturity that can be avoided by simply incorporating chess into ones daily life with the most benefits being awarded to those that have had the privilege of being exposed to chess from an early age. It’s important to remember that the brain is a muscle that must be exercised and unlike other muscles that benefit the most from strenuous physical exercise the brain benefits the most from mental challenges and an exercise can be as simple as playing a game or chess, completing a puzzle or even completing a maze game.
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Is Chess A Good Hobby?
Chess is one of the best inexpensive hobbies that is currently available today in society. Aside from being an exciting form of entertainment it’s one of the most educational hobbies one could have regardless of age. There are many positive attributes associated with playing chess and mental health especially for younger children. Regularly playing chess can be immensely rewarding in terms of the wide array of cognitive functions chess can strengthen and develop.
Chess has been played for thousands of years all over the world and continues to be played up until the present date for many reasons. One of the main reasons is the sheer joy a game of chess can foster in addition to the innumerable amount of benefits playing chess can have on one’s mental performance. In any event having a strong and functioning mind is essential, having a strong mind is comparable to hiking up a mountain armed with the sufficient equipment for the task at hand as opposed to attempting to hike up a mountain wearing slippers. There are a multitude of lessons that can be learned from playing chess and one of the main lessons that’s learned very early on is the importance of teamwork.
The best chess players are able to both protect their most valuable chess pieces and utilise the majority of their chess pieces to both defend and attack as a unit. Similar to Mr. Miyagi’s subtle and inconspicuous methods of teaching in the movie karate kid chess also has the ability to transmute powerful lessons and insights that may go unnoticed to the untrained eye. There are very few hobbies that has the capacity to simultaneously entertain and educate as chess does so eloquently and many countries have even seen fit to implement the study of chess as a subject in schools. In the soviet union and in present day Armenia chess is a subject that is taught in schools for the purpose of cultivating a society of strong and independent thinkers.
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How Long Should You Play Chess Every Day?
Ideally at least an hour should be spent playing chess daily especially for younger children and anyone that wants to improve their performance in chess. Playing chess is great for children as chess can help to develop key areas in the brain responsible for decision making and problem solving. Adults who are looking to improve their chess would also see the most results by spending at least an hour a day playing.
Chess is one of the best games for exercising the brain as it stimulates the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for tasks such as reasoning, problem solving and decision making along with other areas of the brain that is responsible for memory and concentration. The development of the prefrontal cortex for younger children is a process that takes many years to complete and the absence of a fully developed prefrontal cortex is the cause for many of the poor choices younger children tend to make even up until and beyond their teenage years. Playing chess regularly especially for children is a great way to enhance the development of the prefrontal cortex and as a result cultivate better decision making and problem solving skills. Another key component of chess is its ability to improve memory and concentration which is essential for learning and being able to implement what has been learned later in life. For children and young adults still in school having a strong memory as result of playing chess daily can be beneficial for studying for exams and taking tests and for adults a strong memory is essential for handling the multitude of tasks that needs to be addressed on a daily basis.
For chess players looking to seriously improve their game an average of 1-2 hours should be spent playing chess daily in order to see significant improvement. In addition to playing daily chess for the best results it’s important to play against opponents who are more experienced. The best chess players spend many hours a day playing chess and as a result have much more experience than the average chess player and will therefore be much more challenging to defeat. Playing against experienced chess players will allow you to enhance your learning process dramatically as it will allow you to gain the perspective that experienced chess players have accessed through their many years playing the game. The insights gained through playing tougher opponents is priceless as there can be much learned by analysing the thinking process of a stronger opponent such as the best moves for positional advantages and avoiding blunders and mistakes. Not only does playing tougher opponents in chess enhance the quality of your education it also increases the speed in which your able to learn as the most experienced chess players will have a great understanding of nuances such as the principles of proper opening formations and good foresight which is crucial to succeed at higher levels of chess. Learning these skills will be essential to defeat higher level opponents whereas less skilled chess players are much more lenient in being skilled in these areas because of this it would take very few games with stronger opponents to become aware of weaknesses and improve in chess.
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How Good Is A Chess Player That Plays For 1 Minute?
There are many different time frames in which a chess game can be played in with different names depending on the time frame. In chess the shortest games which are usually under three minutes long are called bullet games, chess games that are over three minutes long but are under ten minutes are called blitz games and the longest chess games that are over ten minutes are called rapid games . Playing one minute chess games is great for making fast decisions and is a sign of a fast thinker.
Chess games that are under three minutes long are called Bullet games and are very fast paced. Decisions have to be made quickly as opposed to slowly and methodically as longer games permit and because of this chess players that play Bullet chess tend to be much faster thinkers although their moves are not always the best thought out compared to players of much slower games. Playing faster chess comes with it’s pitfalls and requires the chess players in most cases to sacrifice making the best move possible for the best move available given the time. Over time playing faster chess on a consistent basis will lead to better and faster decision making skills as any skill that is given a sufficient amount of time and effort can and will be improved upon. Playing faster chess is seen as much harder than playing slower chess as there is less room for error and because of this playing high level bullet and blitz chess is a sign of a strong chess player.
Playing speed chess is a great way to improve the speed of your decision making in preparation for tournaments and competitive games in general. Chess tournaments typically have strict regulations on time which is the reason why timers are used in chess. Playing bullet chess will allow you to get used to the speed of professional chess games and the use of timers which is helpful for chess players that are used to slower games. Being able to make good decisions under pressure or within a specified time is one of the signs of a great chess player and even the most experienced chess players struggle with this. It’s important to remember that even though speed chess is great for learning how to make faster decisions in chess it should be secondary to fully grasping the basic principles of chess such as understanding basic chess openings and basic pattern recognition.
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Does Chess Increase Your IQ If You Play Daily?
There is a strong relationship between playing chess and an improvement in cognitive functions such as memory, reasoning, problem solving and concentration however these improvements do not necessarily translate to higher IQ’s. The improvement in cognitive functions gained through chess however can be extremely beneficial when learning and developing new skills or studying for exams. Chess may not directly increase ones IQ but it will indirectly affect your ability to learn in a positive way which can result in a higher IQ.
There have been many scientific studies on the impacts of playing chess and the benefits that can be garnered by implementing chess into ones daily routine. Chess is great for developing the prefrontal cortex of the brain which is associated with memory, reasoning and concentration along with other areas of the brain such as the mesial temporal lobe which is responsible for both short term and long term memory. Developing these key areas of the brain is essential for cultivating the right mental environment which will lead to higher IQ scores in addition to a sufficient amount of research and study in whichever subject that is in need of improvement. In most cases the difference between a high IQ and a lower IQ is deeply rooted in ones ability to memorise and retrieve information. If investigated the cause of a high IQ for a large majority of people has a lot to do with the state of their prefrontal cortex and mesial temporal lobes.
Any subject that is studied stimulates the growth of brain neurons which in turn stimulates the growth of dendrites which is essentially the brains neural network of information. The brain stores masses of information into clusters that resemble tree branches which stimulate the growth of new dendrites. Essentially any subject that has been learned has an area in the brain with neurons and dendrites associated with that information which grows in complexity as more information on that topic is accumulated. There are almost an infinite amount of possible ways a game of chess can go which makes chess an excellent source of new information and an excellent method of strengthening one’s neural network. There are a plethora of mental health benefits that can be taken advantage of by playing chess daily and an increase in ones IQ caused indirectly by playing chess is one of them.
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What Happens If You Play Too Much Chess?
Although chess can be extremely entertaining and sufficient improvement requires many hours of daily practice spending too much time playing chess can have a negative impact on your performance. Playing too much chess can result in making more mistakes and blunders due to tiredness and fatigue. Studying chess excessively in many cases leads to less creativity and poorer concentration.
In chess just as with many other activities an over indulgence can have the opposite effect of what most may expect. Moderation is important in all areas of life and chess is not an exception to this rule. Playing chess excessively can definitely have a negative effect on the quality of the games you play. Contrary to what most people may think playing more chess than your competitor after a certain threshold has been reached will unquestionably lead to tiredness and fatigue setting in which can be disastrous in a chess as it requires a lot of focus and concentration. The most innovative and spontaneous games in chess usually come from the minds of the most energised and sharpest chess players. Even at the championship level the most experienced chess players understand the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle in order to perform at optimally during competitive chess games.
Grandmasters in chess in training for championship games will pay close attention to their general health and their mental health in particular in anticipation to their upcoming games. Having a healthy mind and body is a critical component to playing chess which can have major implications on the overall outcome of the game. Chess demands a high level of focus as it requires the player to think many moves ahead and anticipate reasonable moves their opponent may make and how to respond to them effectively. The amount of mental energy that chess demands from the chess player makes it unsuitable to be played excessively whilst still making good moves.
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Conclusion
Whilst playing chess daily is great for maintaining good mental health and improving in chess in general playing too much chess can have an inverse effect on the speed of your improvement in chess. Playing chess for a few hours a day can have major implications on ones health both in the short and long term. Chess exercises key areas of the brain responsible for the majority of the aspects we currently associate with good mental health and general intelligence. When chess is played from childhood into adulthood the benefits become the most apparent as aging has the effect of slowing the cognitive functions of most adults. Most chess players have very good short and long term memory and are less likely to suffer from mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia due to their years of playing chess.
The best chess players also have some of the highest IQ’s which may be the result of having such a close proximity to chess and the brain boosting effects the game. Chess develops the mind by strengthening many cognitive functions which can indirectly affect ones ability to learn. Chess can stimulate the growth of stronger and more complex neural networks which is essential for storing and retrieving information and transporting this information across this newly developed neural network. Playing chess has been associated with intelligence for the longest time as there is a strong relationship between intelligence and chess players in general and it is common for chess students to improve in their game and overall intelligence over time.
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