Chess and Mathematics

[benbo]

What do you think about the purported relationship between chess skills and math skills? I think it is overblown myself. I think they are both things that require logic, strategy, and concentration, but I don't think there is a big correlation.

I used to play a lot in high school but was never super good. I played with a few nerds who were ranked, one I think is still some sort of master or grandmaster or something, so obviously I wasn't as good as them. Now I play maybe a couple times a year with my kid or my brother-in-law, both of whom pretty much regularly kick my ass. But both of them are terrible at any kind of math, while, as an engineer, I'm reasonably good at math. THe main difference is they play all the time.

Opinions anyone? Or am I just a sore loser who needs to practice my chess more if I want to win?

 

[SSmith]

I think chess is more about pattern recognition than anything else. And the ability to see those patterns is an extremely mathematical skill. The problem is that given the same set of information about the game state of a chess game, there would be many different responses about what to do next. This is because we may not all see the same patterns. And even for those that do, we may not going about attacking that position in exactly the same manner.

 

[benbo]

I think chess is more about pattern recognition than anything else. And the ability to see those patterns is an extremely mathematical skill. The problem is that given the same set of information about the game state of a chess game, there would be many different responses about what to do next. This is because we may not all see the same patterns. And even for those that do, we may not going about attacking that position in exactly the same manner.

I would agree with this to a certain extent. And it makes sense, because on IQ tests and such, I am always pretty lousy at finding patterns whether geometrical or in sequences of numbers. However there are other elements of math that I don't think are as directly related. Of course there is the memorization and application of rules, computational abilities, and the strategic elements such as making appropriate substitutions. And there are other more esoteric things such as identifying the elemental components and limits for multidiensional integrals, and things like that. And I am pretty good at that.

So I guess I would say that they are related to a certain extent in pattern recognition and logic, but not so directly as I think they make out. And it also depends on what level of math, and whether it is more pure, abstract, geometric, or application oriented.