The Powerful Moves Behind the Benefits of Chess

A true pastime of the world played in every country, chess is an ancient game competed in the plazas of Cartagena and the pubs of London. Having stood the test of time, the checkered board offers a near-endless amount of different moves, with no two games ever ending in the same way. With so many people willing to dedicate hours to the game, it is worth exploring the benefits you get from playing chess.

Improved strategy and decision making

Perhaps one of the most apparent skills that comes from playing chess is the strategy skills that you gain from it. Having to use your brain in a different way than you would in normal daily life, there is key pattern recognition talents being honed alongside quick decision making in a bid to stump your opponent and gain the upper hand. Chess is superb at teaching players to think about different ways to defeat their opponent and come up with dynamic ideas and thoughts to make sure they conquer their rival.

These skills become transferable elsewhere, which can be another identified benefit of chess. Strategy and decision-making skills improved in chess can become useful in a variety of other games, such as online casinos, with games such as Poker, Bridge, and Progressive Sweep Slots all requiring the same kind of quick decision-making and pattern recognition strategies used in chess. Sweep slots can be played for free, allowing you to practice your improved strategy and decision-making skills without any financial risk.

Even when playing games like the classic board game RISK and turn-based video games such as Civilisation, an improved strategic planning learned from chess can be utilised to improve your performance.

Consequences of your actions

The lessons you learn from chess don't end with the strategy side of things. Chess has also been proven to be useful in teaching people other benefits, which you wouldn’t necessarily initially think about. Perhaps one of the most important lessons it can teach people from all walks of life is the idea of winning and losing in a larger bracket of learning about the consequences of your actions. This is perhaps why certain countries are teaching chess to their children en masse alongside judiciary systems throughout the world implementing chess to help rehabilitate their inmates in prison settings.

The idea of winning and losing can frustrate many people, but the beauty of chess allows people to learn lessons surrounding this and change their behaviours for the better. This is valuable for every child who can learn about the consequences of their actions in a way that will affect almost every aspect of their life outside of this prestigious game. The same can be said for using the game in corrective prison settings to teach offenders consequences and how to control their emotions in a more channeled way than perhaps they have previously been used to doing in their life.

Social skills

Once you become somewhat skilled at chess, you can begin to predict your opponent's moves and develop what scientists regard as the ‘theory of mind’. This sees people improve their empathy and ability to see the world through others' eyes. It creates a skill for people to be able to see things from another person's perspective, and it is a key skill in chess and life.

Whilst you can help to improve your outlook on life, it is also simply a social game. The game brings people together in a wholly intimate way that can see you staring at the face of another human for lengthy periods at a time. The common board, rules, and widespread nature of chess allow people from every corner of the world to indulge in a game. This allows people to socialise easily, whether it be playing your 92-year-old granny in her living room or battling against the weird young hippy guy in a Nicaraguan hostel. The social aspect of this game is invaluable and is certainly a benefit of playing chess.

Memory

Yes, it is only a game. However, continued playing of chess has regularly been proven by several studies and featured in various academic journals as being a key link to improving a variety of different health concerns in humans.

Perhaps most glaringly, chess has been proven to improve memory, retain neuroplasticity in the brain, and use both sides of the brain. It is believed that chess has huge benefits for people when it comes to preventing the development of diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia. Chess causes the players to flexibly use the brain and adapt to given situations in an intense environment through the use of problem solving and strategic wit, which the New England Journal of Medicine has discovered leads to people over the age of 75 to be much less likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases.

Checkmate

It is clear to see the cognitive and developmental benefits that chess offers to your brain. It’s great for decision making abilities, staving off degenerative diseases, and improving skills which can be transferred to everyday life. Now, who's ready to counter my queen's gambit?