Why should one play chess?
One of the noble games in the world is CHESS. Is it only a game played for fun, excitement and relaxation?
No. Chess is not just a game played for fun. Chess has more than fun and excitement to offer to the people. That is one reason why this game is still in existence and gaining more popularity even after having been first played in the 6th Century. A.D.
Chess is not a game meant for playing just by the children, or by the youngsters or some middle-aged people. There is no restriction on the age factor for this game. It is a universal game that can be played by either a 5-year old kid or a 70-year old man or woman. The game is not limited to any one specific place or country. It is a game that speaks only one language – the language of chess. There is no retirement clause in this game. As long as your mind is active and have the passion, you can play the game. The more you play the game, the more active will be your brain and the mind. As such, there is no limit or retirement for this noble game.
What is there in the game that makes it so special?
The game of chess helps a person develop his memory. Though the game has been in existence for more than 1500 years and is still growing, no two games can be said to have a same set of moves and yield the same result. This is one of the unique features of the game. Apart from some basic rules of the game, that includes the movements and the capabilities of the various types of pieces in the board, one need to spend a lot of time practicing and learning the different variations, openings, and niceties of the game. While you need not memorize the moves for the game, you should be aware of the different approaches to the game, the styles of the game, the principles of the game and such other things.
In the game, there is no provision for luck or chance. As a player, you need to think before making any move. In other words, thinking precedes action. If you make a wrong move, then you will be instantly punished. As such, your move should be a flawless one. In order to make in a flawless one, you need to think deeply with attention. This attention and deep thinking leads to concentration, yet another important trait. Concentration on the job and deep thinking on the job before action are important traits that will not only help you play the game well, but also help you in all other decisions in life.
As I stated earlier, no two games are identical and yield the same result from the start to the end. Because the possibilities and combinations that can be thought of and implemented within that square board comprising the 64 squares is innumerable. An indefinite number of combinations can be tried out by the two players who literally fight between themselves to gain an upper hand over the other and say, “Checkmate”. This opens up the opportunity for out-of-the-box thinking or imagination as well as creativity. The mind is opened up and the brain is put to more effective use. Is it not a great advantage?
One more interesting thing - have you ever thought of doing exercise to strengthen your brain and sharpen your mind? We visit to gym to tone up our muscles and bones; we undertake exercises such as walking, jogging, running and such other exercises to keep up our body fit and healthy.
What do we do to exercise the brain and stimulate the mind – both at the same time? Reading, writing, solving puzzles, crossword are some of the means psychologists advise to exercise your brain. But what do you do to both exercise the brain and at the same time stimulate the mind?
You can play chess to do the twin things of exercising the brain and stimulate the mind.
Now, with advancement of technology and increased use of the internet, any person having a passion for the game and feel the need to take your brain to a gym, can do so now by playing chess online.
Playing chess online not only stimulates the mind and exercises the brain, but also helps you overcome the boredom, excite you with fun and teach invaluable lessons for making the right decisions in life.
Do you lack analytical skills? Play chess online
One of the important traits that every person should have and develop is the capability to analyze the things in the right perspective and take appropriate decisions that will finally yield the desired results.
What is analytical skill?
In the strict sense, analytical skill refers to the capability of a person to visualize or foresee complex problems and concepts, understand clearly those problems, assess alternative solutions to solve those complex problems and take informed decisions based on the information available.
In simple words, a person should take into consideration all the aspects of a situation before taking any decision. Logical thinking is one of the aspects of analytical skills that comes into picture while visualizing the possible alternatives and also in devising plans.
This is all about the concept analytical skills in simple terms. Without dwelling more on the intricacies of this trait, let us try to exploit what connection this analytical skill has, if any, with the game of chess and how playing chess online can help in developing analytical skills.
Chess is a mind game or a thinking game that requires a player to concentrate on the game, think deeply before making any move and devise a series of tactics and strategies to corner the opponent’s King and say checkmate.
The game, having been played since the 6th Century, is quite popular even today and will continue to challenge the brains of many people in the years to come, simply because it is the ideal means to exercise a person’s brain and stimulate his mind.
The game is a fair one in that there is no room for chance or luck for any one of the players against the other player. So, it is the player who decides the fate of the game himself. If he makes a wrong move, or makes a move without applying his mind, then he will be punished for the same by the opponent. Some mistakes can be rectified while some blunders cannot be rectified and the person who committed the mistake may have to lose the game as a result of a mistake or a blunder.
Now, the onus lies on the chess player to make moves after deep thinking. He has to take stock of the situation, visualize the opportunities and threats, chalk out a plan in his mind, play out the same mentally under different combinations, and then finally take a decision to make a move.
Let me just give you an example. The dark colored bishop and the rook are stationed in their usual positions at “a1” and “c1” respectively. Pawns are guarding all the three pieces, including the Knight at “b1” from the second rank. If a player wants to open up the bishop, he has the option of moving be pawn at “b2” a couple of squares, which will then provide the option of moving the bishop at “c” to either “b2” or “a3”. Here, by opening up the pawn at “b2”, the rook at “a1” gets exposed to the “a1-h8” diagonal. AS such, before deciding to move the pawn from “b2” to “b4”, the player has to pause for a while and ensure that there is no threat to the rook at “a1”, and also have a plan to defend the rook if the opponent tries to exploit this weakness.
This is not just a particular instance. For each and every move, a chess player has to do all these things, calculate the possibilities and visualize them before making a move. He has to do a lot of thinking, which can be categorized as creative thinking, logical thinking or critical thinking. The player does not know all these things. He is only rooted to the game and thinking about the moves. Indirectly his brain is involved in serious exercise and stimulates the mind.
This exercise of logical, creative and critical thinking, which a chess player does, is all that we call it analytical skill in management parlance. By playing chess regularly, a person can master these skills and train his brain to foresee, analyze and take informed decisions.
Now, with the help of Internet, any person, fond of playing chess, can do so by just visiting the online chess site, register for free, and start playing the game with any of the players available on the Internet or with the computer. This online chess not provides the much needed relaxation and fun, it stimulates and exercises your mind and rejuvenates you for fresh challenge.
Merits of playing chess online
Online chess is the latest trend that is fast catching up with the chess loving people across the world. There are many reasons for this latest trend.
More and more people are using the World Wide Web or the Internet as it is otherwise called in common parlance. Despite being played since the 6th Century AD, this ancient game of chess has fascinated the computer programmers and engineers and they are coming up with innovative ways of playing the game of chess, however, without altering the basic structure or rules of the game. The fun, excitement, and the challenge the game poses to a player has increased manifold in online chess.
Why one should prefer online chess than conservative ways of playing chess with another player in front of a chessboard?
In conservative form of chess, the two players should be physically available with lot of time at their disposal. They should then sit at a common and quiet place and start playing the game. One interesting aspect of chess is that either it can be completed in less than 5 minutes or it may take more than 4 to 5 hours to complete the game, depending upon the skill set as well as style of play of two players. I am talking about the game of chess, played at home or in a club for the purpose of practice or enriching your skill set. If you were to play in a tournament or a FIDE-rated championship, then the rules might be slightly altered where timers will be there and other people or spectators might be there.
For conventional chess, you should get hold of a friend or a relative, finalize the time and place, and then start playing the game. One more disadvantage of conservative chess is that a person can play with a specific set of people at any point of time, friends, relatives or such other known people. Over a period of time, the style and approach of the opponents will be familiar to you and the scope for learning new things, exploiting new ideas and implementing the same is much limited, unless you are more passionate about learning the game in its entirety. Secondly, there will tend to be a mismatch between the talents of the two players. Either you will be winning all the time if the opponent is novice and will always be hearing checkmate from your opponent, if he is more experienced and skilled than you. In either of the ways, the urge to excel might start waning over a period.
Now, in online chess, you can play the game whenever you want to play or feel like playing. All you need is the personal computer or laptop and Internet connection with reasonably good broadband connectivity. It is immaterial whether it is early hours in the morning or late in the night at your place, you can connect to the site providing online chess, register yourself, (many sites do not charge at the initial stages), enter into virtual chess rooms, invite player to play or choose any one of the waiting players to start the game. Online chess sites offer the game to all types of players. If you register yourself as a novice, then you will be given a certain basic rating. Depending upon the number of games you play and the number of games you win, your rating keeps on changing. Starting from the basic reading of say, 750 points, you can increase your score to as high as 2700 – which is around or equal the grandmaster’s cadre. Depending upon the number of games you played in the site, your rating will be assigned and displayed against your name. For example, you got a rating of 1100, and you want to choose a partner in online chess site. You can find a player having a rating between 1050 and 1150 and then invite him to play chess with you. In that way, the game between both of you will be an even one and will be interesting enough.
This feature of choosing a player based on his ranking is possible only on online chess. The type of players you will be playing there will also be different. People from New Zealand in the east to people in the northern part of Canada or in Alaska can be found in the online chess site. You can play with people from different countries or places and engage in healthy exchange of ideas. The approach to the game of chess by a Russian player would be quite different from a player coming from Chennai, the home town of Vishy Anand. However, the language of all these people is only chess and that language is more than sufficient for a game.
The only disadvantage is that interaction will not be there between the two players.
These are some of the major reasons for online chess than the traditional way of playing chess across the chessboard.
Chess Links
Killer Chess Tips
- 12 chess tactics and how to use those to gain advantage – Part 10, 11 and 12
- Endgame Lessons From Game Twelve of the 2010
- 12 chess tactics and how to use those to gain advantage – Part 9
- 12 chess tactics and how to use those to gain advantage – Part 8
- 12 chess tactics and how to use those to gain advantage – Part 7