chess as way of life

I think every one of us heard at least one time how playing chess is good for developing our brain and how it will change our "way of thinking"

my question is : has anybody ever experienced chess influence in "real life"? how? was it helpful

i will tell you my story

2 yrs ago in my high school i had crazy math teacher. at the end of the year, only C mark i had was from his subject, although i know math reaally good. so when i said i want to answer for higher mark,he said how that is imbossible since it already was the end of the school year.but he said, there is ONLY ONE thing to do. to play chess against him. 3 games. no clock. winning = not B than A ; losing = D mark. so i played and i won. my legs shaked like never in my life, but it was a feeling i wouldnt change for extra year of life :)

p.s. sorry for gramatical or other mistakes.english is not my motherthounge,but i hope every one of you will got the point :)

hoping to get replys

Fun story!

nice

Very good question my friend so far away, when I am very active in chess, and winning , I find that my mind is thinking in advance,  like hyper adrenaline flow, when I am driving, I think not only what is in front of me but what lane I need to be in miles down the road, where the dangerous turns are etc.  When I come home I may have seveal things to do and I instantly organize what sequence of events, I should do, most important to least important. 

But I also feel physical exercise is important, for balance, not all intellect.

Great story... I would do the same thing. I would challange the professor :) But some subjects are not related to chess, for example Economics of the Firm. Although, chess logic can help you in some aspects... ;)

I find chess usefull in my life, but yet I am not playing it so often. But it helps me to have "big picture" of my life because some moves in our lives "behave" just like chess figures :))

@Estragon: Yeah right, like that will ever work. :P

Anyways, I've found that it helps further improve my analysis of the world around me. That can sometimes be a bad thing (when I'm having a conversation, I always see people walking around me diagonally like a bishop).