Chess

One of the many good qualities that differentiates a child from the other children is his or her IQ or the intelligence quotient. What is this IQ and why is it important? IQ or the intelligence quotient refers to the best possible response from a child in a given situation. It has nothing in particular to do with the knowledge. However knowledgeable a student be, lack of intelligence might not lead to better results at times. Hence the importance for the IQ universally and not something like a Knowledge Quotient or a Brilliance Quotient.

How chess can help a child develop this trait of Intelligence and score a higher IQ than others?

Chess is a fair game in all aspects and as such there is no room for outside influence in the game. As a player, he should ensure that he does not commit any mistakes allowing the opponent to gain an upper hand. If one were not supposed to make any mistakes, then it becomes important that he should clearly understand the game in its entirety, assess the situation properly, and make the correct moves at the correct time.

One more thing that the game of chess demands from a player is timeliness. A player cannot be allowed to take inordinate time in taking decisions about a move. As such, the player is required not only to make the correct move, but also at a relatively lesser time so that he does not get involved in a time–trouble issue.

In that way, the game of chess demands that a player display analytical skills, planning and execution of the moves within a stipulated time so that he achieves the goal of saying checkmate to the opponent.

Encouraging children to learn Chess right from the early stages and making them learn the nuances of the game helps in learning the most important trait of analytical thinking, planning and careful execution of the same within a given period of time.

A child not only learns to think analytically and logically, when he is trained to play chess right from his childhood. He also learns yet another important virtue that will help in meeting the challenges of life – the virtue of Patience.

The game of chess requires that each player makes a move and wait for the other person to make the move before he can make his next move. That means, one has to wait for the response of the other person and then make his move taking into account the impact of the opponent’s move.

One needs to be patient and wait for the opportunities or mistake on the part of the opponent to take advantage. Children will be trained to develop this virtue of patience through the game of chess.

A child is trained to learn the virtues of patience, analytical thinking and decision making through the game of chess. These virtues will help him perform better in the examinations and outshine other children. Not only will he perform better in the studies, but also the self-confidence of the child gets a boost with success. This self-confidence is the most important virtue that is required to meet the challenges in life. So, teaching chess and encouraging children to take up chess as part of his schooling helps in making their life a very fruitful one.

Chess is a challenging board game that requires a lot of thinking on the part of the players. The one predominant quality of the game of chess that helped this ancient game, played since the 6th Century, survive the travails of time and technology and still fascinate people across the world to take up this game is its fairness. In other words, there is no room for chance or a hand of god or luck to win in a chess game. The only possibility that can help you achieve success in the game is through an accident – an accident that results from the mistake of the opponent.

A mistake is possible in the game of chess due to inattentiveness, lack of understanding, lack of skill, lapse of concentration, pressure of time, and other emotional disturbances. This mistake on the part of a player is the passport for success to the opponent. This signifies the importance of not making mistakes in the game of chess to ensure that the word ‘checkmate” is not uttered to you by the opponent. Irrespective of your level in the game of chess, be it a novice, or a budding chess player, or a champion, or a grandmaster, attention is very essential for success in this game. The trait of giving importance to attention and not getting distracted with other aspects, which one should display while playing chess, helps him in his life to a greater extent.

What is attention? and how one can maintain high level of attention throughout the game?
Attention is defined as nothing but concentration of cerebral activity on a certain object. This concentration is essential in the game of chess. More so, to assess the position of the pieces in the board, the threats to one’s pieces and the opportunities to attack the opponent’s pieces, and such other things. This attention has twin benefits. Not only will it help have a better understanding of the game on hand, but also, in the process helps you to gain more knowledge about the game and recall this position at a later date in a different context and might help in taking the appropriate decisions.

If one were to improvise his skills on the game of chess and elevate himself to higher levels, he should not do any mistake in the game of chess and gain more in confidence and skills. In order not to make any mistakes, he need to concentrate on the game more and pay attention to the pieces on the board, assess the position and take steps not only to avoid making mistakes but also to latch on the mistakes made by the opponent.

It may not be out of context to point out that people with serious absent-mindedness have been suggested to take up the game of chess to help them get rid of this absent-mindedness. Research has shown that playing chess helped them overcome this problem of absent-mindedness.

The role of attention in the game of chess is best summarized by one of the grandmasters of Chess N. Grekov. In his words, “Chess demands…. a prolonged, a constant concentration of attention. It is quite clear that one can well achieve a winning chess position, but then …. as a result of relaxing the tension or failing to pay attention even for a second, turn a won game to a lost one. An essential pre-condition of perfecting one’s chess is to fight this failing.”

To many of us, the word “chess” refers to a board game played across a square board having 64 squares in alternate colors distributed across eight rows and eight columns by two players sitting opposite to each other with the board placed in front of them. Each player is provided with a set of 16 pieces comprising eight major pieces that include two rooks, two knights, two bishops, a Queen and the King, and eight minor pieces in the form of pawns. One set of pieces will preferably be in white color, called White pieces, and the other set of pieces would be referred to as black pieces. The objective of the game as understood generally is to capture the opponent’s King and say checkmate.

This is the general notion of the game. A little introspection into the game reveals that the pieces provided to each player at the beginning of the game have some different characteristics and unique capabilities. The pieces also follow some basic clearly defined rules and regulations with regard to movement across the board. Adhering to the rules of the game, which are very simple and can be grasped in no time, anyone can start playing the chess game.

One more thing most of the people might know about the game of chess is that it is one of the oldest games played since the early 6th century. Despite being played since the early 6th century and more popularized since the 15th century in Spain, the game of chess still attracts the fascination of many people across the world.

Now, coming back to the game, we found that each player is provided with the same set of pieces at the beginning of the game. There is no difference in the characteristics based on the color of the pieces. No player is allowed to make more than one move consecutively. In other words, both the players are provided with equal opportunities to make the moves. In each move, only one piece can be moved, castling being the only exception where two pieces exchange squares in a single move. The pieces are allowed to move only across the open squares or unoccupied squares. There is no question of jumping over the pieces, only exception being the Knight, which might hop over a square even if the square is occupied by another piece.

Misconceptions and myths surround the game of chess more than the ideal aspects of the game that can provide more sheen and shine to a person’s character and life.

At the start of the game, each player is provided with equal number of pieces. In other words, equilibrium is there at the start of the game. When each player is provided with same number of pieces and has equal powers or capabilities at his or her disposal, how can one corner the opponent’s king and say checkmate. The only possibility must be a mistake on the other player. If both players play to their skills and do not make mistakes, all that can happen is sacrifices and captures of the pieces excluding the King. That leads to the conclusion that the logical outcome or objective of the game is only a draw and not checkmate. CHECKMATE is only an accident in the game resulting from a player’s mistake and cannot be a logical outcome.

Some ignorant people might decry the game of chess as an idle amusement fit for the old people, while some others give the stamp of an intelligent sport. Chess is not just an idle amusement or an intelligent sport. It has more to offer for a person’s life and that can be only experienced and felt.