I've recently been attempting (somewhat successfully) to become ambidextrous, and I'm not sure if this has been making my chess games better or worse. It is said that an ambidextrous person uses both halves of their brain, but does the brain temporarily have to rewire itself before that happens? Cuz my go games have temporarily been worse, and I think my chess games might have too. Feedback would be appreciated.

p.s. I am primarily right-handed, which may or may not mean I am primarily left-brained.

I could not find any correlation between ambidexterity and chess playing.

See "brain laterization".

i'm not neurologist but as a Martial Art student, i have regularly worked as left-handed for 2 or 3 weeks (i'm right-handed) and 24/24. drink left-ended, write left-handed, etc...

First, i think i'm too old to become a true ambidextrous. i made these experience twice a year during 5 years and i'm not ambidextrous. perhaps more accurate when i have to use my left hand in complex situation (screw and screw-driver in a small place is an exemple).

Second, after 3 weeks of left-handed/reverse practice experience (reversed shoe's knot is a pain !), i feel that my brain/perception/logic was not the same but i don't have objective test results to fully qualify the phenomena.

Therefore, i'm not surprise if you have experienced some troubles playing chess. I wonder that a Chess player use a lot of "pre-wired" knowledge. i think about tactics or mate pattern and applied to the reverse sided, threats. i'm not sure that a temporarly balanced brain handle this kind of work as fast and accurate as a primary left/right handed brain with no compensation work. Brain lateralization works disturb the balance.

Perhaps you can find some articles about brain work/chess seen from a medical perspective.

Best darned excuse I ever heard!

I don't know what to make of the whole thing.  Most children just get to pick up the pencil in whatever hand suits them but I feel if you were made to do it with the other hand too you would become proficient at it. 

I consider myself right handed.  In my martial arts days my left kicks were a lot better, I still considered myself right sided as I was balancing on my right leg to kick with the left.  In football if I were to take a free kick I'd use my right foot.  If you hand me a guitar I'd hold it left handed.

I use both hands to type and one is as good as the other.  I think I've got shades of ambidexterity but suspect that everyone does. 

Hmm...I never knew there was an age limit on developing ambidexterity? (BTW, I'm 15) Anyway, thx for the interesting information. And also, most people do type with both hands, that's more of a synergy than ambidexterity.

I don't know much about it, but the way I think of it the brain itself can be broken into separate parts with different functions, and handedness has more to do with muscle memory than overall brain function.

The brain never re-writes itself, if you challenge it though it has to build more connections.  For example mentally gifted people don't have larger brains, just more connections.  This is where it might make some sense -- but it seems to me that developing motor control isn't going to affect, say, pattern recognition and visuo-spatial memory.

Also I thought a lot of muscle memory was stored in the spinal cord, you may be building that more than anything.  That's why it might feel like a mental exercise -- your right hand knows movements your brain doesn't, and your trying to consciously access the movement information of your right hand (which you can't it's stored in the spine) so it's mentally challenging.

Anyway that's my take on it.

I am ambidextrous, so I could tell you that you don't "become" ambidextrous. You are born ambidextrous. It is hereditary. As far as practicing goes, you could work hard, but you will never become a true "ambidextrous" person. Personally, I would try, if you care to, alternate moves between hands to sort of get a grip on it mentally. Otherwise, as in physically, its just practice, I guess.

It would be very interesting to find out what part of the brain are mostly employed for chess playing

Go for it srn347...I'd take it that if using your left hand starts to trigger the other side of your brain more, then it would take a while before your body gets use to the extra workload :)

I always considered myself right-handed until I reached my teens when I started breaking various bits of my lower right arm in fights. For quite long periods I have had no alternative but to use my left, and I now find that some tasks are easier to perform with my left - never tried to analyse it, just got on with it - bit bloody difficult 3 yrs back when I broke both right and left at the same time - still fightin' after all these years (49) - thing is, is that humans (all animals in fact) are remarkably adaptable - there's a pied wagtail lives in my garden who lost his right foot - still raised a brood of youngsters same year - most important factor is DETERMINATION

If you try to do stuff left handed, you will just improve your imagination, which only marginally improves your chess. You still need to understand the basic strategies, end games, pawn structures etc to improve your chess.

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-players/left-handed-gms

Ok...I just read through that thread (one page :p) and they really didn't get anywhere with the topic lol

No they don't, if they have typing skills then yes but mostly people don't and sort of poke at the keyboard with one finger. This is enough for most folk because if you get good at it you can hit around 22 wpm.

Synergy or not I would imagine that being left or right handed would have a bearing on this.  My point as a guy who hits over 90wpm (its my job) is that there is no such weakness in either hand.

I think everyone is ambidextrous to a degree.     

Ok, I have completed the process of becoming ambidextrous. As for whether or not it should affect my chess gameplay...only one way to find out.

I'd give my left arm to be ambidextrous.

Well, somebody had to resurrect that old chetnut.....

I'm primarly right handed, but in soccer, sports, and usualy I use my left leg mostly, dunno why

Hm, I wonder if any of the super grandmasters are left handed...

Interestingly enough, the same areas we use for language. You have to access board positions the same way that you'd recollect words to attach them to a meaning. Quite a few studies have been performed around the subjet and if I remember correctly, a documentary about Susan Polgar (My Brilliant Brain) also scratches the surface of the subject.