Does Chess Make you Smarter?

I have always contemplated this question,but I can never really decide if this is true.I mean chess players who are good may not be as smart as their chess is good.Also,not so good players may be very smart.So what would you all think?Does it really improve your iq?

what do you mean?

Boy, there are times when I'm positive it's making me more stupid.  You should see some of my recent games.

NO absolutely not. I'm fervently against that idea.

nothing I have learned about being good at chess has said anything about IQ- instead. Pattern recognition. Intuition. Patience. and athletic determination.

I agree with thegreat_patzer. I dont think chess makes a person smart (IQ) but it can give them skills they didnt have before or even improve it. May be like "Pattern recognition. Intuition. Patience. and athletic determination", oraganization, planning, etc....

No. Chess just help me fight boredom.

Well, for younger children to fullly develop their intelligence a variety  of stimulation of the brain is helpful. Chess can be one way to help achieve that. It won't create intelligence from thin air, mind you, just help to develop a child to its potential.

It also helps adults with pattern recognition and can help with the ability to focus well.

Making an adult person smarter as in a raw intelligence boost, probably not.

Heh. Indeed. Chess just drives people crazy. Believe me, it doesn't make one smarter. Having a slight OCD problem helps playing chess better but again, people think you're quirky not intellectual. Heh.

Sometimes, commenting on a forum like this when intoxicated often makes others think you're smart.

8)

I think you can be smart and a bad chess player, but i dont think you can be stupid and a good one.

yeah that could be true but I have played games and lost and just felt like I was dumb

Chess helped me a lot with focus and organization. Helps me to think better, clearer. But I can't tell if i'm smarter, problably not.

Hulk, that would be right but for the fact that nobody knows what IQ is.

I feel like chess is similar to language. Learning a language has the potential to make you wiser (different from more intelligent, because it's extremely difficult to change one's IQ level in any drastic way, apart from suffering a massive brain injury) because through studying the 'language' that chess forces you to learn, you are gaining a new perspective from which to analyze the world. With that new perspective comes potential knowledge.

Is it possible to rearrange the brain cells so that they produce more IQ?  I use my tactical skills to cross the road.  I figure that I will generally make it across unless it is one of those days when the interference theme applies.

At what speed?

we played blindfold chess on a bus traveling at about 50 km/ hr.

Is that fast enough to drive you crazy?

unfortunately it didn't work for us eastie.

Initially yes. It's a type of thinking that's useful in daily life and decision making. If this then that. Cold logical analysis, visualisation and keeping an eye on the total rather than get lost in the details.

Great way for kids to develop this ability. (As is learning a computer programming language for example that requires a similair type of thinking.) And for people that can't be described as kids anymore it keeps us snappy and the brain juices flowing.

Certain studies have found that most GM's have an above average IQ but it's way below the genius level they've been trying to accomplish. :) As for blindfold chess, many can.