I have always been a big fan of chess. Since I was 10, I am enjoying playing it more than anything else. Well, I am not a great player (not even close, lol) but I enjoy the way that the game of chess helps me build mind maps and reasoning skills. Recently, I have been playing it a lot and I have realized that it has the capability to improve one's problem-solving skills.

Here are the five changes that I have developed in me because of chess.

Attention to details! 👀

Chess is all about attention. How attentive you are will impact the result of the game. As a coder, I have always faced problems in finding bugs or even logical errors in a code but recently I have found that due to chess, my attention span on things has improved drastically. I now scan things rather than just skimming through them which has proven to be a really good skill for me.

Approaching the problem in an optimized way 🚴‍♂️

Earlier, I had a careless attitude towards the problems that I was supposed to solve in my coding assignments. I used to just solve a problem somehow and never bat an eye about finding other/optimal ways of solving it, but now I really dig deep into them and try my best to find the optimized answer.

Innovative and spontaneous thinking 🤔

I know whatever I am saying till now might come up as bragging to some people ( lol, I am just sharing my thoughts) but my main motive is to tell everyone how chess can improve you. Adding more colors to that, chess can really help you in becoming an innovative and spontaneous thinker. Once you’ll get into the game you would have to find innovative techniques (called traps in chess) and then later on as the time decreases you would have to be spontaneous and confidant with your moves. These crucial skills can also be applied to real-world problems.

Never underestimate others 🤼

Whenever you meet an opponent, never ever judge him/her/them. Underestimating someone not only losses your focus but also kills the hunger inside you to win. Learning from everyone however could help you a lot. To sum it up, sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.

It is not the end until it is the end 💪

I have also learned that one should never give up, be it in life, a game, or anything else. It is very important to fight till the end. You have to give your 100% till the last millisecond. There were instances where I played higher-rated players than me and won. Initially, you will fail, you will lose but soon the things will change. Even a chess grandmaster can blunder once in a blue moon. You just have to wait for your turn and give your best until the game lasts. The same thing goes for life and almost anything else.

I hope you liked reading my thoughts and I wish to hear out your suggestions.