I was wondering if chess had anything to do with IQ. My inference is that people with high tactical ability have a pretty high IQ.

Any thoughts on this?

I believe chess is it's own intelligence.  I've seen people that aren't necessarily well read, or "intellectual" in too many ways, who had a real eye for the game.

I've also seen highly intelligent people who can't play to save their lives.

Go figure!

I have a pretty high I.Q.  I stink.

Yeah i guess so.

The best chess players of all time, i.e., Fischer, Tal and Kasparov, all have documented IQ's of 160, 157 and 171. Thus, the best of the best do indeed have above genius level (140) IQ's.

if IQ measured chess strength, i would win a lot more.

Of course, as jazz pointed out, at the top, the most brilliant chess players are also brilliant people.

the only thing IQ tests tell you is how well you can take IQ tests.

 that is so true i learn that in ap psychology

Hmmm interesting.

i have to agree, there are loads of such tests, Beethoven was deaf, a deaf composer!!!!  Einstein did,nt talk until he was 4.

I don't entirely agree. It shows how well you can solve intellectual problems.
Which refers strongly to intelligence, or it's potential.

I do agree chess has an own kind of intelligence, but I think intelligence is neccessary to be a top player, not to get to a decent level.

a recent post 

my IQ test results were just below 140...I suck at chess

in my opinion the correlation between top players and IQ probably has more to do with memory and pattern recognition than anything else...

Does IQ indicate chess talent?

I hope not.

Does chess talent reflect one's IQ?

I really hope not.

There are a lot of different IQ's -

Spatial, Mathematical, Logical, Emotional - are you talking standardized IQ tests here?

You may guess I dabble in statistics where the answer is "It depends"

I do know this - that if all of us posting on this site took the same, exact IQ test, and, given we all did not score the same score, about half of us would be below average plus or minus 5%.

Chess may make you smarter - but if you are smart it is no guarantee you can win at chess. 

Why is it that everyone on the internet seems to have genius level I.Q scores?

- More than half (I don't know exactly how many, but greatly over this percentage) lies about his or her identity on the internet.
- It is very easy to do so, and mostly harmless to anyone.
- You wouldn't start about it if you didn't want people to know it.
- 2,5% is gifted, which make up many people on this site.

 Then i guess mathematical IQ has a part in chess?

Jazz, I'd like to know where you got your numbers. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they conducted a series of IQ tests on Kasparov, and they all placed him around 135, without fail.