Besides being a great game that is easy to learn and fun to play, did you know that playing chess is considered to be very beneficial to your mind!
This is because, through playing chess, you learn many skills and techniques that you can also apply to many other aspects of your daily life.
Chess teaches you to take responsibility for your actions; this encourages you to have patience, to think before you act, to plan ahead and to try and predict the consequences of your actions.
Chess trains you to analyse and weigh-up all the various factors associated with any given situation and then to make a final decision based upon the result of your analysis.
Chess trains you to cope and work well under pressure and to hold your nerve.
Chess enhances your problem-solving and analytical skills.
Chess encourages you to explore new ideas, to be inventive and creative, and to use your imagination.
Chess improves your
Chess also improves many other mental capacities such as concentration, visualization, organisation, logical and abstract reasoning, and critical thinking.
Chess encourages self-improvement as there is always more knowledge to acquire and new skills to be learnt.
Chess teaches you to win graciously and to learn from your mistakes when defeated.
And, of course, winning at chess improves your self-confidence and self-esteem and gives you a great sense of achievement when you outwit your opponent.
Finally, chess is cheap! Compared with the cost of many of the latest and greatest computer games, which rarely have a life-span of more than a couple of months, it costs almost nothing to play chess and it is a game you will enjoy for the rest of your life.