Chess and Intelligence.
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IQ and chess. Well I was the only one in 3rd grade with hair under his arms but I was 17 at the time :)- Intelligence who cares, can you beat your opponent? IQ is such a subjective and inflexible scale of intelligence. I was in the military with a guy that spoke 17 languages fluently but couldn't tie his shoes correctly. Chess is such a narrow bandwidth of material on which to gauge a persons ability to cope with life. This is a dead subject. Is Steven Hawking a genius or the guy the created the post it note?
Fischer's IQ was in the 180 range if I remember correctly.He also had a photographic memory. Was he a genius.? Yes and not only in chess. That however did not compensate for other emotional problems in his case.
However a fine line between genius and insanity. I know of two people that I consider genius but after trying to teach both chess I began to have my doubts. Neither one ever went above my level although both tried studying several chess opening ,tactics and endgame books.
Natural talent and love of the game are the two most important factors that make a great chess player.-SIX
BrooksJ wrote: I think Tarasch said that any person of average intelligence who works hard enough should at least be able to achieve an expert rating.
I think that was Lasker, he said in his Manual of Chess that anyone with reasonable intelligence and the right training can become a master in like 3 years.
Magikstone wrote: i consider myself smarter than most people. in this sense, intelligence is when i am listening to someone and that person doesn't have the "intelligence" to get their point across, and thus, its hard to have an intelligent conversation with someone who is less intelligent than you. Chess is also like a conversation. If you opponent is blundering from the start, it's gonna be a bad date. If your opponent has a much deeper understanding of chess than you, than he/she's out of your league.
An interesting stat (which I do not have the source of on hand but I'm sure google could find) is that 51% of Americans polled believe they have above average intelligence. Of course, this is not possible. We have a bias towards our own intelligence in comparison to others (perhaps by nature more than by nurture). There are varying degrees of intelligent people. Some people can converse and express their intelligence fluidly while others, who may be of even greater mental constitution, lack basic communication skills. Prime example, Isaac Newton. No doubt one of the brightest minds but nevertheless a social recluse and by all means incapable of basic communication and social interaction. Instead, he communicated his briliance in a language of his own.
--My one cent on the thread: Chess is a mental excersise. It works for some and not for others. But I dont think its plausible to say it can increase intelligence any more than say, studying screenplay structure, or any other analytical excersise can. Nor do I think one can assume that intellectuals are inclined to play chess well. One must find enjoyment in the game; some more aesthetic or abstract geniusess might find the game fixed by rules and rather explore other venues of mental excersise. Newton might get bored of playing by himself.
There was a thread last week on almost this same subject http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/relationship-bewteen-chess-rating-and-iq
I personally am new to chess but I have to say that I don't find it "fun" in the traditional sense of the word... not "roller coaster" fun... not, "NASCAR" fun. It's the challange of it is that appeals to me, not even the challange of other players, but the challange of the board, the position... better players just create more difficult positions. anyway, my point is that the complex nature of the game (and it is just a game) is probably what attracts most people and if we are classifing intelligent people as those who enjoy mental challenges (as it appears we are) then we can go ahead and call chess a game for intellectuals.
...of course, even smart people can be stupid at times.
...and I'd also like to go ahead and congratulate myself for being the first person in the chess.com forums to ever make a referance to NASCAR :P