Board Games: The Benefits of Playing Chess

Board games has long been used as an entertainment for all people in different occasions and situations. There are a lot of board games out there and chess is one of the most famous board games played in different countries. Although there is no history records from who invented chess, but in our ancient times, chess has been played in some countries. Let us find out what is chess and know some talented beings that built their own reputation in chess and has been known in the history. And let us also know how people, students or adults, can benefit in playing chess.

According to Wikipedia, Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on a chessboard (a checkered game board) with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid where in each player will begin with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Each of the six types has their own unique moves. The queen is the most powerful of them all while the pawn is the least powerful. In order to win, you must capture the opponent’s King by moving each piece in every turn of your move. You have to be resourceful of your moves and use it wisely on planning a trapping the opponent’s king in which it will be hard for its king to escape. When the king is finally on an inescapable threat and there are no movies left, you are already considered winner. You need to think of every move very carefully. Use your visions to build a strategic planning on capturing your opponents’ King or others. The wiser one will win the game. There are some instances that game ends in a draw and sometimes you van win when the opponent voluntarily quits.

Chess can be a past time game, sports competition game, online game, big tournaments and others. But playing chess is very beneficial to many people, especially teenagers or adults. According to Laimonas, playing chess results in better brain function, improved memory and cognitive abilities, strategic thinking and attention improvement. Playing chess improves brain function because the player uses his or her brain’s left hemisphere which deals with recognition of objects, and right hemisphere which deals with recognition of patterns. Playing chess improves memory by adopting the strategies and tacties used for good gaming experience. Scientists believe that playing chess helps slow or prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Playing chess also improves cognitive abilities such as perception, visual and patial processing, motor language, and executive functions. All this aspects are covered in playing chess. Playing chess also improves our strategic thinking for we know that chess is a strategy board game, strategy thinking will be developed as long as you play and willing to learn because no one is born with the skills of strategically thinking. It is learned, it is adopted. You must have plans, the plans you think are the best and won’t cross your opponent’s mind. In the attention improvement, players tend to be more attentive and focus on what’s happening in the real world. If they learned it on chess, they can also apply it on their real lives such as into discussion, exams, household chores, etc. Because chess demands attention so bad that if you don’t pay enough focus, you’ll surely lose the game. Chess also is very beneficial when it comes to problem solving. When you know opponent’s move took an advantage on you and made the game critical, of course you’ll think wisely of one move that might change the game and this also where your creativity will be challenged and developed.

One of the most influential chess players of today’s world is Vladimir Kramnik. He belongs to one of the top ten chess players of all time. He beated Kasparov’s all time record through his 2000 world championship. Fabiano Caruana is also included in the list. According to Pete’s article, there’s no denying Caruana is already one of the strongest and most compelling chess players in history. It is because he has a standing of 7-0 at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup ranks. Pete also mentioned that this man became a threat to replace Magnus Carlsen as world champion in the chess history. Meanwhile, Garry Kasparov, will never get out of the list as one of the most influential chess players of all time. It is said that he played better chess longer than anyone in history. His commitment to chess influence many chess learners and even computers today

I therefore conclude, you do not need to be smart in order to play chess. You just need to be wise of your next moves and utilize them well. Chess is a game of all of those who want to learn. Plus it is cheap because it is only a board game and is very accessible because lots of chess apps are free to download anywhere on your mobile phones, PCs, etc. Meaning, you can learn it in real life interactions or in virtual versions. You can also learn by watching other games and adopt their strategies, or read the experts’ advices. But if you really dream being better in it different way than anyone, you might want to get yourself a trainer. Having fun without noticing you are developing your well being is enough motivation to start or get back to playing chess.

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