SEARCY, Ar. (LP) — Everyone knows what the famous board game chess is about. A board game where you compete with other opponents to win the game. But the game chess isn’t only about winning, it’s about learning, it can help you with multiple things with physical and mental health. “Chess teaches you to think and how to have patience” says Daven Garland, a senior of Searcy High School. “It also helps with relieving stress.” He also says. “Chess is a great game to get your anger out.”

I did some research on how chess can help with well being and I came across a website called “Chess-site.com” which on there , they had some very good and convincing opinions and facts. One thing I found very interesting on this website was, Chess uses both parts of your brain. “Chess actually gives both sides of your brain a good workout. If you continue playing chess over time, your brain will also perform better, which in turn gives you a better advantage on future chess matches.” The site says, “Playing chess involves using the left side of the brain for tasks such as object recognition. At the same time, the right side of the brain also gets involved to help you recognize patterns. Both of these skills are needed to play a game of chess. Since chess involves many rules, techniques, and visual recognition, over time the game will help to stimulate both sides of your brain.” Chess also helps with Preventing Schizophrenia, improving your IQ, builds better self confidence, rehabilitation and therapy purposes, improves your memory and etc. It’s amazing on how much one board game can help a human.

I also went to another website to get more information called “health, fitness, revolution” and I came across a short article that talks about chess helping improve reading skills. A doctor named Stuart Marginalizes studied the reading performance of 53 elementary school students  who participated in a chess program and evaluated them compared to non-chess-playing students in the district and around the country. He found definitive results that playing chess caused increased performance in reading. In a district where the average students tested below the national average, kids from the district who played the game tested above it. Chess is a board game that can help people mentally while satisfying the users.  It’s a great way to relieve stress and teaches you new things mentally, but anyways, do you chess?