Chess

The game of chess teaches the art of visualization, foresight and analysis that will help a person in many ways in his life. The game enables the horizon of thinking to spread its wings and provides innumerable ideas and solutions for a given situation. Is it true?

Well. It is true that the game of chess does help a person learn a lot of things or good virtues that will help him become a better and successful person. It has been proved beyond doubt that children trained to take up the game of chess and play regularly have outperformed their friends in their academic career.

The popularity of the game of chess has been growing every day since being played from the 6th Century AD , and the increasing number of websites talking about this game and offering online chess opportunities is a testimony for this popularity. Chess has been popularized to such an extent that the need for two players, a chessboard and ideal time in isolation have been totally done away with, and any person interested in the game can play chess online now with other players available in the Internet or with the computer.

What is it that attracts people towards this game? One possible reason for this is that the game of chess is a synonym for mental exercise. Yes. It is true that the game of chess trains and stimulates our mind to a great extent. The game not only relaxes and provides entertainment to the player, but at the same time, challenges the mind.

Chess is probably one game that does not get influenced by any outside factors such as chance, luck or some thing of that sort whatsoever. It is purely a thinking game and the players have to take responsibilities for all that they do or fail to do in a game.

In the game, each player has to think and think deeply before making any move. Each and every move in the game should be done after a detailed and careful analysis. A wrong calculation or a move made in haste without proper thought would lead to loss of advantage and eventually game. As such, before making a move, the player has to ensure that the move is the right one in the given circumstances.

He should have a thorough understanding of the board, the strengths and weaknesses in the board and also the consequences of his move on the part of the opponent. The number of squares in the chessboard is only sixty four and they can neither be increased nor be decreased at any cost. Whatever has to be done, it needs to be done only in 32 squares if we take out the 32 squares occupied by 16 pieces given to each of the two players.

As such, before making a move, a player should analyze the various options available on the board, weigh the options of each piece and each move, and also take into account the pieces of the opponent and his possible moves of the opponent. Then, he should imagine each of the options mentally or visualize the moves before and then finally having convinced, he should make the move. There is no guarantee that a player’s line of thinking or visualization will always result in success. The opponent, who is also looking at the same board and the same position, might have other ideas and his move might nullify the plans.

Not only should a player visualize and analyze any move well in advance before making a move, he should also be prepared to face failures or see his plans going haywire or nullified by the opponent. In order to ensure that he makes the correct move, his visualization capability needs to strengthened and analysis needs to be sharpened. The chess player strives to achieve perfection in this skill and will, by practice, learn to enrich his skills on visualization and analysis.

Once a player masters this invaluable technique, not only will his game of chess improve drastically, his mind will be tuned to look at things with foresight and analysis. The possibility of acting in haste or impatiently is totally eliminated from his life. This, in turn, will help him lead a confident and successful life.

Chess is not a mere sport or an idle amusement as it is believed to be. In addition to these attributes, the game of chess has much more to offer to a person, provided he has the interest on this game. This is the reason why the board game has been rightly proclaimed as the King of Games.

Now this game has virtually gone global thanks to the technological advancement. Yes – it is true that a single person, with the help of his desktop PC, can learn, play and enrich his life by playing chess online.

What is the connection between chess and grasping qualities – one might ask. The game of chess is a fair game in the sense that the result of the game is entirely dependent on the player only and cannot bank on other outside influence such as luck or chance. Only thing that is possible is mistake from the opponent.

As such, the game calls for concentration, attention, analytical capabilities, planning, visualizing, decision-making and ultimate execution of strategies of tactics aimed at cornering the opponent’s King. The interesting part is that a player’s moves and planning process is impacted by the response from the opponent. In other words, dynamic planning is what a player requires and not mere planning.

As a player, not only one needs to look ahead for at least two or three moves, but his planning needs to be dynamic in that he should be capable of altering the planning based on opponent’s moves. In other words, the player should be well aware of the position of the pieces, their positional influence and the impact of the opponent’s moves on the planning process. He should have apply his concentration and attention on the board, the moves of the opponent as well as his plans. The onus lies on him not only to attack the opponent’s King but also safeguard and defend his own pieces.

All these aspects call for deep understanding of the position in the game and quick reaction, which are the hall marks of grasping capabilities. Not only should a player display alertness in analyzing the situation but also counter them with precise moves so that the objective is achieved.

These qualities will not only help a player achieve success over his opponent in the game, but also help the person display these skills when faced with similar situations in life.

It is a well known fact that physical exercises keeps a person’s body fit and healthy. Similarly mental exercises keeps a person him agile, sharp and intelligent. If running, swimming, or other exercises help keep your body fit, chess helps you to be mentally alert and agile. In other words, chess is the best exercise which in addition to relaxation of mind and relieving of stress also stimulates your mind and keeps you healthy.

It has been proved that people suffering from diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis or Alzhmeier can take up playing chess to keep their mind active and postpone sudden loss of memory or deterioration in their mental conditions.