Originally posted by ivangriceWould like to se your "totally non-scientific" results, including sample size. Please dont wait to long, its facinating research you've got going there.
This may have been done before; apologies if so. My totally non-scientific browsing of the Forums leads me to believe that there is a 0.65 correlation :-)
To help you on your further path to truth I'll state that my rating (provisional) is slightly above 1400 and my IQ is slightly more above 0.
Ok, I'll stir the pot here. A correlation between IQ and rating is outlandish. You might say a high IQ helps someone become good at chess faster. Maybe even say that a high IQ is necessary to become very good at chess. BUT there is no way there could be a direct correlation between the two for one basic reason: how good a person is at chess is highly dependent on study and instruction.
A good example: A person with an IQ of 110 that has 4 years of formal instruction and has spent 3 years analyzing GM games would most likely be much higher rated than someone with an IQ of 170 that learned how to play last week and has now played 12 games against his 11 year old sister.
Having a high IQ doesn't make someone automatically better or smarter. They may be able to learn quicker or understand complex abstract ideas better. Another example: having a high IQ hasn't made me any better at speaking Italian because I've never studied it.
Chess, like everything else, has to be learned. How much is learned is what effects their rating the most.
Originally posted by Saint NickWhat about two people, who have both had three years experience playing chess, but had two very different IQs. Who would play the better game?
Ok, I'll stir the pot here. A correlation between IQ and rating is outlandish. You might say a high IQ helps someone become good at chess faster. Maybe even say that a high IQ is necessary to become very good at chess. BUT there is no way there could be a direct correlation between the two for one basic reason: how good a person is at chess is highly dep ...[text shortened]... e everything else, has to be learned. How much is learned is what effects their rating the most.
If we sample all of those that have joined RHP and have played a similar number of games per month and all share the same "yearly experience", that is, they have all played chess for the same length of time, would their IQs be proportional to their rating?
I say; probably.
Originally posted by ivangrice
I'm looking (looks around). No, not even a hint of irony there. Wow.
Don't think so. Much like you have some people with excellent memories and others with fantastic mathematical skills, it takes a combination of skillsets to make a great chessplayer. Know some people with average IQ's that are great chessplayers and others with very high IQ's and mathematical 'brains' that are average players.
Hehe, is everyone on this site either
1. VERY INTELLIGENT
2. Believe they are VERY INTELLIGENT ?
Originally posted by pcaspianThere are many types of intellegents.
Originally posted by ivangrice
[b]I'm looking (looks around). No, not even a hint of irony there. Wow.
Don't think so. Much like you have some people with excellent memories and others with fantastic mathematical skills, it takes a combination of skillsets to make a great chessplayer. Know some people with average IQ's that are great che ...[text shortened]... is everyone on this site either
1. VERY INTELLIGENT
2. Believe they are VERY INTELLIGENT ?
[/b]
demonstrating a high iq is simply a matter of being good at giving the wanted solutions to puzzles tossed at you.
all these types of puzzles can be practiced so that you can artificially increase your score.
chess puzzles are simply another of these types of puzzles ....except .... people tend to practice this type over and over and over.
other types of puzzles are less practiced.
Jon Levitt has some rambling about this on his website - he suggests that (10xIQ) + 1000 ~ Elo. And that all strong GMs have IQs of above 160. I seriously doubt IQ is worth anywhere near as much emphasis in any activity as he ascribes though. I would tend to belive chess players (and bridge players) have higher IQs than average as the kind of people who play chess are often more inclined to solve IQ-type puzzles - conditioning plays as much of a part as intelligence.
Lots of other outrageus stuff in his article, have a look 🙂
http://www.jlevitt.dircon.co.uk/iq.htm