Four Surprising Life Lessons that Chess Taught Me

Sharpen your mind with the king of the games.

Photo by VD Photography on Unsplash

Since I was 12 years old, I have played chess. I improved my rating to master level and played against strong opponents.

Thanks to chess, other areas of life benefited me, such as the obvious ones like getting good grades in math. But beyond becoming smart and training the brain there are additional lessons.

Lessons that help me in life. Lessons that make me more productive.

Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover

Chess is one of the few sports — yes, chess is a sport — that can be played by anyone against anyone.

You see grandmasters playing against amateurs.

You see 5-year-old kids playing against 90-year-old grandmothers.

You see wheelchair users playing against blind men.

Anything is possible.

That also means that anyone can beat anyone.

Every club-level chess player has a rating, so you already have an indication before the game of how strong a player is compared to you.

But just from the player's looks, you do not know how strong they are.