Chess vs IQ

Hello everyone,

I was curious about what the correlation between Chess and IQ was, so I decided to make this thread. If you are willing to, it would be helpful if you could post your IQ ONLY if tested by a psychologist, (No results from online tests, etc.), your rating for the time control which you play play most, (No variants), and how long you have been playing, (Amount of years + Left-over amount of months. If you are comfortable, age would be helpful, but not required.

If I get enough requests, I will post another thread sharing the data.

Thankyou!

Haha, I guess you make a fair point, but I want this to be as accurate as possible.

I don't believe there's much correlation between IQ and one's chess ability, assuming we exclude the outliers (those with abnormally low or abnormally high IQs).

Chess skill is more a matter of learning.

A Grandmaster, for example, knows a plethora of important positional and tactical ideas that an amateur player has no clue about. This isn't because the Grandmaster is a genius, and has figured those things out through sheer brainpower alone. Rather, it's because he's put in the extensive time (and considerable effort) to learn and master those specific things. It's a product of years and years of exhaustive, regimented learning.

Next up, correlation between race and IQ

I agree to an extent, but keep in mind that many, if not all of the top players have IQs of 175+ landing them 15 points above the super-genius category, so I do think there is a correlation.

142 IQ, around 1450 rapid, age 12, been playing seriously for around 11 months.

Thanks!

ELO=IQ x 10, still nothing much with an IQ of 135+

As someone who has a few high IQ friends, I can tell you that even with high IQ, you still need to study and work hard to get better. The main difference is the speed of that process and the capacity (In some cases).

Basically there can be a correlation, but I would advice you not to think about IQ, but rather hard work instead.

I agree, but I am still curious to see the strength of the correlation between IQ and chess.

Thank you!

IQ is not the best measure of intelligence. While there may be a correlation between chess and intelligence, correlation does not mean causation. Also, keep in mind that people who start young have a better chance, as the brain is still plastic. 

Here’s a thread with a similar topic.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/lower-iq-grandmasters

I agree with the remark you made about young people being able to learn better, which is why I asked for age and the amount of time the players have played.

We can also consider multiple-intelligence theory. There are several factors such as visual processing skills that come in to play also. Your best bet is to make a incredibly thought-out survey. You can ask people if they have had an IQ test, and otherwise, just ask questions to determine what they are on the spectrum of multiple intelligence theory. You probably need to read a few papers on how the results are determined if you want to go the survey route.

That's an interesting take, but would be very hard to set up. I have studied the multiple intelligences theory, and It would be interesting to see how they correlate with chess.

that would mean magnus has an IQ of nearly 300, which is literally impossible. 

Just a reminder, if you know your IQ please post it along with the information above. Thankyou!