Ye instinctive..I'm starting to get that...but with a triple make sure...It becomes more right than wrong as more playing is done. I posted a Face recognition/chess thessis earlier.....The more you play out certain stratergis..The more they become second nature....Do mathematicians do the same with formulae and numbers.......I think Chess players and mathematicians do have a connection......But only to collect there mail out of the same mailbox...
Do you think chess and mathematics are related?

NO - math does not have so many exceptions to its rules and laws, or any at all that I am aware of. Various rules of chess strategy (don't move the same piece twice in the opening etc) have numerous exceptions. As Bobby Fischer once remarked the only math a chessplayer needs is the ability to count moves in basic endgames.
As for "rigorous reasoning" I have no clue how anyone else defines that term.

Prime numbers
Physicist : 2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19....
Mathematician : 2,3,5,7,9 ...sorry , force of habit ...5,7,11,13,17,19
engineer: 2,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19.....
How about chess?
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

In some theories, to be consistent, 1 is not a prime number.
See : http://primes.utm.edu/notes/faq/one.html

Rigorous reasoning is required in chess as in mathematics, no?
No.
Some great chessplayers have been good at math. Some have also been lawyers. Some have been musicians. Some have been women chasers.
I believe so because both math and chess require calculating to a certain extent. Chess also helps you to think clearer in math and it makes it easier to calculate. Three out of the four best Under 12 chess players in Jamaica obtained scholarships after doing this exam which included math, social studies, science and english language. Also, all of them got into the high school they wanted to go to which required a high average. That is enough to make me believe that chess and math is related.

Three out of the four best Under 12 chess players in Jamaica obtained scholarships after doing this exam which included math, social studies, science and english language. Also, all of them got into the high school they wanted to go to which required a high average. That is enough to make me believe that chess and math is related.
That's not nearly enough for me.

Well lets look at a few things... Chessboard has 64 squares right? a pawn is worth 1 point, knights 3..etc.. a chess game takes usually less then 2 hours..
I used to calculate my next move, but since a while I just make it. No mathematics.