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5 Health Benefits of Playing Chess

    Chess is game for everyone!

    Chess is one of the hardest games to learn and play. They say that it’s a game for intellectually gifted as it challenges everyone’s brain. Although it’s a game for all ages, most of us prefer not to join this sport because of the level of difficulty.

    Chess makes your mind sexy…

    Sure it will not help you tone your abs or build your biceps, but being smarty pants usually makes a person sexy. Chess requires strategies and techniques, determination, and patience. It’s not just a physical sport but mostly helps you work out your brain muscles. It’s not a game for pretty faces but a sport for beautiful minds.  

    Let’s check the 5 Health Benefits of Playing Chess, and it might inspire you to exercise your brain!

    Chess treats Schizophrenia

    Schizophrenia is a mental disorder pertaining to a person who does not understand reality. They have false beliefs on things, hearing voices that normal people are not hearing, emotional problems, and the absence of motivation. Based on the doctors at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience in France; patients who were taught to play chess every day showed massive improvements. They are now aware of reasoning, planning, and pay attention; most of them continue to play chess as part of their routine.

    Chess prevents anxiety and depression

    Playing chess requires a person to be calm and focus; through these, it can help them to think the right moves to make. Concentrating on something other than their problems can help people experiencing anxiety and depression. Also, interacting with other chess players can help them have a social life; gaining friends that they can share their thoughts can decrease their loneliness and improve their ability to handle stress.

    Chess helps patients to recover

    People who suffered from accidents or diseases are likely to benefit from playing chess. It will not require a person to have a complete set of hands, feet, eyes, ears, legs, or any parts of the body; all it takes is to have a determined mind. Chess helps them to develop their fine motor skills as it only involved small movements from the wrists, fingers, and toes. Chess serves as a therapy for patients to help them recover fast.

    Chess builds self-confidence and self-satisfaction

    According to the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, an individual who is involved in playing chess develops his ability to enjoy life. Triumphant in chess enhance your self-confidence that you can surpass every trial as long as you work hard. Chess makes you independent; deciding on your own, creating your own moves, and most of all winning by yourself. And even though you lose at times, chess can switch your disappointment to the determination.

    Chess improves your visualization

    Chess makes your visualization better in every game. Through practice or a competition, you develop your senses and predict the next best move. It’s not only an imagination or creativity that benefits from this sport but your awareness in every possibility. This can be applied in our daily lives as it strengthens your mind to be alert in every situation and to be more focused on necessary things in life.

    “Chess is life” – Bobby Fischer, Grandmaster and World Chess Champion

    Chess is a fun game. It never gets dull. Every game gives you an opportunity to showcase your intelligence, ideas, and imagination, not only in your house, school but all over the world. Tournaments such as US Open and World Open can be your playgrounds along with other players. You’ll able to meet new friends and a chance for you to travel places you’ve never been.

    Chess is a healthy game, this is an activity that increases your IQ, exercises your problem-solving skills, and improves your memory. Everyone should at least try to learn and play chess as it helps you see life in a new perspective. You’ll see that life is not all about Facebook and Instagram. It’s an assurance that playing chess can give you a healthier and happier mind. The choice is in your hand, you’ve got the power!