Who else with Average IQ sucks at Chess ( lol ) ?

IQ tests are not supposed to be about memorizing facts at all.  In practice, they don't always meet that goal, but if an IQ test measures anything related to memorizing facts, it isn't a very good IQ test.

In theory, an IQ test is supposed to measure cognitive ability, regardless of teaching or training.   In practice, that's impossible.  Experience will guide you in answering the questions.

As I mentioned at the beginning this thread was going to be a counterpoint to the thread that was on the go here about high IQ players that are not good at Chess. It would seem to be the case that most Chess players are at least of average IQ with a certain percentage being in the above average category. However the confusing part would seem to be that a portion of those people who are above average in IQ are rather poor at Chess. This seems to be a situation that is confusing to a lot of people. I mean here we have these high IQ types that are having fun with Rocket Science and Nuclear Physics ( etc etc ), yet they are having problems in trying to master Chess ( not a logical situation  lol ).    

I just wanted to add a note to mention that there is now a thread on the go here that covers the relationship between Chess ratings and IQ. They are having a very interesting discussion over there with people bringing up some good points. 

i recently took 2 iq tests on the internet, one result--a test that had verbal questions-- said that i have an iq of 130 another that--had graphical problems--said i have an iq of 101, which should i believe?

Neither.

I know far too many people who have scored 130+ on these internet IQ tests to believe them, I've scored higher than that. I guess I don't believe that the average on them is 100, they are trying to sell their analysis of your IQ more often than not, and who wants that if you've scored 90?

Thanks for all of the recent posts. The accuracy of IQ test and what they really measure are items that we have tried to examine in this thread.

A interesting subject just came up on the thread that I mentioned a few posts back. The subject of Blindfold Chess has intrigued me for some time and I feel also gives some insight into what is needed to be good at Chess ( beside studying ). Blindfold Chess would require having a very good memory as each move that is made by BOTH players must be remembered by the player with the blindfold. Also that player needs to have the ability to visualize the new positions on the board as the moves are made. Plus of course the blindfolded player also needs the keep his Strategy in mind to have a chance to win the game, quite a feat.

There was once an entertainer who did a blindfold act where he shot guns threw swords and the like blindfolded. It was common knowledge he used trickery, he has some way of peeking under the linens, dough and whatnot that were wrapped around his head.  Maybe those blindfold chessplayers do the same thing but won't admit it!

Thanks for raising those points Frank124c, I gather that even the Great Houdini had to use some tricks to be able to survive the stunts that he did. From what I've read there were certain specific proceedures to be followed for Blindfold Chess. The player with the blindfold would sit some distance away from the board and would sit with his ( or her ) back to the board. There was an assistant of course who made the moves that the blindfolded player requested and also called out the moves made by the opponent. So one can see that a serious attempt was made to keep things on the up and up.    

Well, I guess they could've made him goalkeeper (and just figured nobody could've ever gotten the ball in there around him)...

  All IQ is is measuring how well you think and reason like society (educational thought police). It is not meant to measure profound and original intelligence. There's a big difference between just knowing answers and applying that knowledge in an original, profound way. The former can be labeled gifted, but the latter would be profoundly gifted. In terms of chess, the former can make a skilled club player, but the latter is needed to make an artist. But I guess that's true in any endeavor.

P.S intelligence transcends IQ.

Thanks fo the recent posts and for the info.

AndyClifton I'm with you as he would have been good in goal by virtue of his size alone  lol.

On a serious note, there have been more than one study done comparing the IQ of GM's to "regular" players and the results have shown that there are NOT huge differences in intelligence between the two groups.  Evidently, what the elite chess players are able to do is what is refered to as "chunking" information.  This is basically where they are able to memorize certain patterns in a game (probably due to the sheer volume of games played since they started) thus saving time calculating moves and assuring better accuracy. I saw one of the neatest examples of this in a documentary on Susan Polgar.  It's on youtube if anyone wants to see it.  In one of the segments she actually starts and plays a game of chess over her mobile telephone, telling her opponent what moves to make as she arrives to where he has the board set up.  Obviously she is able to visualize the board and memorize where the pieces are as he makes both his moves and hers!!!!!!!  What would be very interesting and I believe helpfull to people trying to improve at chess, would be a method to help "regular" players be able to "chunk" like the GM's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kenpo: You mentioned H.N.Pillsbury ( 1872 - 1906 ) who was quite a interesting character based on what little I've read about him. He was the USA Champion from 1897 to 1906 but had not learned the game of Chess until age 16. In 1895 at age 23 he won a strong tournament at Hastings finishing ahead of Lasker, Steinitz,Tarrasch and Tchigorin. He was indeed well known for his ability to play blindfolded and often asked the audience to create a list of 30 unrelated words for him to memorize before the Chess games started and he would then correctly call out all of these words after the games were over ( quite the terrific memory to be sure ).   

Hiredgun7: You make some very good points. The ability to visalize a Game of Chess as in your example with Susan Polgar ( a talent also used for Blindfold Chess ) is of course very important. This would also be required in quickly assessing any position on the board and then projecting several moves ahead to be able to visualize the board after these hypothetical moves would have been made. Also having the ability to memorize dozens and dozens of openings ( including variations ) and being able to remember positions from hundreds of games is a requirement for advanced play. That brings us back to the relationship between IQ tests and memory capacity. We have all heard of absent-minded Professors but are there any absent-minded Chess GMs ?

Hey yeah, and that works with other stuff too!  Like knowing that the White Album hailed the upcoming revolution was disturbed...but going out and killing a bunch of people at Roman Polanski's house because of it was profoundly disturbed.

Thanks for the post AndyClifton.

I recently received the August 2012 issue of " Chess Life " the cover of which features two people who might be just slightly above average IQ, namely Hikaru Nakamura and Irina Krush. Nakamura had just won the US Championship for the 3rd time and Krush had won the US Women's Championship for the 4th time, very impressive for both players.     

Yo tengo 109 de IQ pero me es dificil jugar ajedrez por que tengo poco tiempo de entender todas las tacticas y estrategias conocidas y memorizarlas, el punto clave del ajedrez a mi parecer es memorizar toda la teoria ya hecha, no hay que inventar nada. Ademas de que no tengo tiempo por la escuela, pero solo hay que estudiar es todo.