Playing chess is more than just a fun pastime, there are many benefits to playing chess that extends outside of just becoming a better chess player that is often times overlooked. There are many correlations between being a talented player at chess and having success in various aspects of life such as health, both mental and physical, relationships and business. Becoming familiar with chess and the rules of the game will enable you to master many skills that can have both tangible and intangible benefits outside of chess when completing tasks that require attributes such as discipline, patience, social skills, adaptability, pattern recognition and much more. A large percentage of individuals that have managed to achieve success in their life either attribute their success to the principles they have learned from playing chess or at least have admiration for the game of chess due to the principles chess has the ability to help individuals cultivate within themselves.
Here are three quotes from successful business leaders and entrepreneurs about the positive impacts of playing chess from a business perspective. Sabrina Chevannes the owner of a successful web development and creative media agency sheds light on this fact “ I went from being a professional chess player to being the CEO of a successful creative agency, transferring my skills along the way.” Chuck Gargotto a successful real estate investor is quoted as saying “I have found the mental training and discipline involved in the game of chess to be very applicable to the real estate investing process. The methodical thought process, deep thinking and end game orientation required in chess are parallel to the analysis, negotiation and contract work involved with real estate investing. I believe chess is excellent mental conditioning for the real estate game or any business endeavour.”Lastly Bill Pena the CEO of Simply Business states that “Chess has been loaded with a variety of ascribed “meanings” over time — war training, intellectual self-improvement, moral righteousness — but at its core chess is an enduring game of strategy. My family has played this game for generations, and in this inheritance are lessons I apply to business leadership to this day. There are analogies to many of the most critical concerns of a CEO — including people, strategy and adaptation — in the ancient game of chess.”
The best chess players are able to effectively use strategy, tactics and vision in order to create successful plans to win the game much like entrepreneurs are required to use strategy for tasks such as creating marketing campaigns, tactics for tasks such as deciding when and how to introduce loyalty programs in order to foster long term customer relationships and vision when looking into the future in order to identify potential upcoming challenges or opportunities for growth. Chess has the ability to teach individuals valuable skills that can be transferred into business that can be helpful when completing different tasks within the business sector which can set individuals and companies apart from those that have not been exposed to chess. Utilising the skills needed to be successful in chess into business endeavours is almost a guaranteed way of ensuring ones success for several reasons. Thinking strategically when undertaking business tasks will enable you to shortcut your path to completion without compromising the quality of your work which can save you time, money and maximise results. Employing a tactical approach to business endeavours such as hiring staff will ensure that positions within a company can be handed to individuals with a special ability to deliver unmatched results competitors will have a difficult time replicating.
Applying the visionary skills that excellent chess players utilise to identify likely challenges as well as opportunities during chess games can be immensely beneficial in business as it can help companies position themselves to be able to withstand challenging economic environments such as periods of low profitability or identify opportunities that can yield substantial profits such as occasions where stock or essential equipment can be acquired for significantly less than the market value. Chess is often compared to life as there are many similarities between the challenges that occur in real life situations such as business and the obstacles that chess players tend to experience during chess games which makes chess a great game to learn as it can help you to prepare for whatever life may choose to throw your way and develop the right mindset and methodical processes to overcome them. There are many instances in business where successful companies have utilised strategy, tactics and vision in order to benefit from the changes in trends such as the shift from the era of physical sales of music to the era of digital downloads and streaming which resulted in the rise of companies like Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music. On the other hand there are also companies such as Blockbuster and Polaroid that failed to recognise the shifts in the economic environment and lacked the strategy and tactics to make the necessary adjustments which ultimately resulted in these companies closing down permanently.
One of the most essential skills all successful chess players, entrepreneurs and CEO’s must have is the ability to solve problems as they arise. In chess as in business there are endless problems that can arise at any point in time many of which can be anticipated and many of which can be hard to foresee. Chess players that transition into business have an advantage over their peers that do not play chess as through their experiences playing chess they have had the chance to cultivate the ability to come up with creative ways to solve problems which can be an extremely advantageous skill to have when faced with challenges in business. Being able to transfer the problem solving skills learned from playing chess into business is but one of the many things entrepreneurs admire about the game of chess which highlights some of the correlations chess has with various aspects of life as a businessman or woman. Whether it is recognisable or not there are principles that need to be understood and mastered in order for anyone to achieve success in business and in most cases finding success in one business profession can positively impact your ability to achieve success in another by uncovering the transferrable formulas for success even if they may appear to be unrelated.
