Decisions

I started playing chess around six years back and really took to the game. I recall, in December of 2016, we were on our way home from a fun Disney world trip. It was an amazing trip, the rides were fun, and the food was amazing. While we were driving home, my dad was playing a game of chess online. I got curious about the game, and my dad started teaching me about the pieces, how they move and the main idea of the game itself. I do not know if it was the spillover joy from that trip or the exhilaration of learning something new, but I fell in love with the game. Coming up with creative ways to win and the various possibilities one game can have made the game very exciting for me. Every move was a decision with consequences and I loved the idea.

Decision making is defined as the process of making choices by identifying a decision, gathering information, and assessing alternative resolutions. Using a step-by-step decision-making process can help you make more deliberate, thoughtful decisions. Chess helps you organize relevant information methodically. I have noticed that my decisions in life are strongly impacted by the process of decision making I learned in chess, even just the simple ones.

Chess has been in scientific research for the longest time. It requires many different academic subjects to understand the science behind the game. In the article, Psychology of Chess, Dr. Ferdand Gobet talks about the positive impact of chess on decision making. He states,

“It has been investigated by a number of academic disciplines, including sociology, ethnology, philosophy, mathematics and neuroscience. By far, it is in computer science (including artificial intelligence) and psychology that chess has been studied to the greatest effect.”

Chess has also been a big interest to psychologists. The reason chess has many interesting research studies is because it requires various types of thinking to win a game. You may be in a tactical position, where you have less time and have to make the best decision with a time constraint, or you might have to strategize and carefully plan your moves, if time permits. Chess presents obstacles and you have to creatively figure out the best way to solve them, keeping in mind the current set of limitations.

A study written in the Psychology of Chess, “De Groot studied not only chess players’ ability to find good moves, but also their ability to rapidly understand the gist of a position even after seeing it just for a few seconds, as well as their ability to memorize these positions rapidly and accurately.” The game clearly helps analyze situations quickly, and improves memory.

Popular culture seems to now be picking up on the beauty of chess and new shows like Queen’s Gambit and inspiring stories such as Queen of Katwe are helping build a chess interest around the world. I love the game for a multitude of reasons, but mostly chess to me, is a the means to understand myself and the decisions I make.