As a scientific test I decided to follow what my horoscope says each day in my chess games to see if it could really improve my rating. 

As a Pisces I am very artistic, prone to black moods and left handed which is all correct so there must be something in it.

Well on Monday it said "Avoid conflict in your dealings with others" I obviously played developing positional moves rather than sharp tactical positions and my rating went up by 100 points.

On Tuesday it said "Jupiter adds magic to your world, so raise your game"  Can you believe it I followed this simple advice and went up another 150 points. 

Even my super-sceptical father was taking an interest now and we awaited Wednesday's horoscope with bated breath: "Mars in the ascendant puts emphasis on relationships"  I played sharp combinatorial positions and this was starting to get way spooky - up another 200 points.

By Thursday I was trembling with excitement as I raced down for the newspaper. "A new moon in your fifth house is good news: a rebirth of your inner child" I played the KID all day long and lost all my games going down 450 points.

So proof at last.  Astrology is a crock of quack.

A chinese friend of mine swears by acupuncture.  Now where are those needles?

What do you think?

Astrology has been used to guide American foreign policy for at least two terms and they know their onions so there must be something in it.

I was born in the year of the Monkey

If I'm a pisces I must have been the year of the fish

 see this is where u went wrong.. only play the KID if youre an Aries

I think that your experiment was poor. You should follow the same protocol for days where the "predictions" are different. Also, you should get a statistically relevant sample.

As for if it can help your chess, well, I've talked to a few people that subscribe to [Religion] and they say that [Savior/Deity] helps them through their everyday lives. That's pretty cool, y'know?

Anyway! If [Deity] can do that shit for them, well, I bet astrology can, too. I think what it comes down to is that the stronger your faith is, the more your chess skill has the potential to be influenced by astrology or religion.

Conclusion: I doubt your faith in astrology, Lord Jones III

My father always told me:

"the only faith you need son, is faith in yourself"

He is a very wise man.

So I built a little shrine to me in the corner of the front room where (after putting down a towel) I make ritualistic sacrifices of small animals that I catch in the back garden.

I think the Najdorf is deeply flawed.

Hang on wrong forum.

Is Dragon one?

Hey - I'm a Pisces, an artist, prone to black moods and left handed too!

Maybe there is something in this after all 

For sure! Astrology worked for me too! I'm a Taurus, and I was born between April 20 and May 20, just like the zodiac said!!

I'm a pisces and reading this thread made me gay

Hey, that's great! Does being gay make you a better chess player?

 oops, I only got that far, good luck with the thread

I too am a Pisces. When I play OTB, I am sure to capitalize on my astrology by holding a fish in my left hand.

hee hee.  What's with you Welsh people?

I agree, never question the United States goverment.

Venus is rising in my seventh house. Its quite painful.

Let me tell you certain things extremely important regarding Astrology:

(1) you are Pisces because you are born between this month-to-that month is crap! This childish nomenclature is correct only in less than 5-10% cases. Real astrology works in much more complicated way - thus all (true) signs of Zodiac can be born in any ONE particular month, twins born at difference of minutes may have totally different signs and nature - there is pretty complicated calculations based on actual astronomical positions of the planets, which change every 12 minutes! First get your sign correct by a genuine astrologer who does the actual calculations - then you can check "newspaper" horoscopes for free. If your sign is wrong (more than 90% cases if you take only birth-month), you will find almost every prediction wrong.

(2) There are 9 fraudulent astrologers to every 1 genuine astrologer - believe me, I have expreienced that. And it is extremely difficult to find a genuine astrologer. Tip: genuine astrologers do not have craving for money.

(3) True astrology is not a precision science (there are large zones of uncertainty even from predictions of genuine astrologers, e.g.: one might say you will have monetary gain during this period - it may be a raise, a change in job for the better, or even inheritence or lottery) only a handful of people know in the world!

(4) Too much dependance on astrology weakens the mind - I have seen several cases. Better be a non-believer than a morbid depender on astrology. If you use it to help (like a tiny flashlight in the darkness of future), then it might be beneficial.

Finally, to do unbiased justice to astrology, I must say some predictions (from a friend who is a genuine astrologer and not a thief) came uncannily true: I lost job when he said there was high chance of "no-work" even after doing my work extra-carefully during that period. I sprained my ankle and was home-bound for 3 weeks when he said there was high chance of "illness" (all my high dosage of vitamins were of no avail). And no, it was not a psychological trick on a weak mind - I consider myself a strong-minded person.