5 Reasons Entrepreneurs Should Play Chess

Chess is one of those games that has had a certain reputation for centuries. If you were good at chess, you were considered intelligent, analytical and strategic. You may also be considered a bit nerdy and quirky.

But Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit has done an excellent job of showing that chess can indeed be a classy game.

In fact, it was this show that spurred the chess boom that we’re having at the moment, and now chess is played by more people than ever.

As an International Chess Master, I’ve always admired the game, and naturally, I took it very seriously when I played for England. But the approach to chess now is a lot more “fun.”

It’s considered a great social game, and your average Joe is playing chess on the daily.

More and more people I meet networking are intrigued by chess, and they often ask me questions about the game and whether it can help them in other areas of life.

I believe there’s a huge crossover between chess and business, so I’d like to tell you five reasons why I believe all entrepreneurs should play chess.

Now, there are the obvious reasons — such as improving strategy and analytical skills — but I am picking ones that may not be so obvious.

1. Positional understanding

This is one of the biggest ones for business that is completely undervalued. Many entrepreneurs spend a great deal of their time on sales and marketing, throwing more time and money at any issues they face.

What they don’t realize is that there’s nothing wrong with their marketing, but actually, their positioning is completely wrong. No matter how great your campaigns are, how many posts go viral and how many people hear about who you guys are, if they don’t really understand who you’re for and how you can help them, you’re not going to make your sale.

It’s the same in chess — positional understanding is what sets apart good players from great players.

You can only get so far by knowing some cool tricks and traps. Even if some of these work, if you then don’t understand how to handle the resulting position, someone who does can outmaneuver you, even if they’re down on points having already fallen for your trap.

2. Mindset control

Chess is a mental game, so anything that affects your mindset will affect how you play your game.

There’s no luck in chess, in that it’s a game of absolute information. You’re in full control of how well you play. Therefore, if you make a mistake, it hurts — as it was all down to you. The thing is, for most of us, we’re playing against fallible humans. So when we make a mistake, it’s not always fatal.

However, if we react badly to it and continue to play bad moves after that, then of course, there’s no coming back from it.

In business, we’re bound to make mistakes all the time. We face a lot of rejection, and we’re constantly iterating and improving. Setbacks are inevitable, but how we react to them is everything.

The ability to take a moment’s breather when you’ve made a mistake, pause for a moment and re-evaluate your position is a huge skill to have. If you do this in business, you may suddenly realize opportunities that you may never have realized you had before.

3. Patience

Already, there’s a common theme: If you’re rushing things and looking for quick success, not only are you likely to not find it, but you’re probably going to make a few mistakes along the way as a result of these shortcuts.

I’ve always believed that if the destination is worth getting to, then the journey is worth taking, and shortcuts very rarely work out.

In chess, those with the most patience often win. They sit back, play the position slowly, ensuring their own king is safe first, and then attack when they’ve got all their pieces ready. Those who charge forward quickly and try to force the issue with each move usually cause weaknesses in their own position that their opponent can exploit.

In business, it’s the same. You don’t always have to say yes to every opportunity or take on every single client. You don’t have to be launching a new product every year or a new offer each quarter.

Sometimes, it’s much better to just optimize what you’ve already got — get your business in the best shape it can be before launching something new and challenging your competitors.

4. Underestimating your competitors

Chess is one of those beautiful games where anyone of any age, race or gender can play on a level playing field.

But naturally, some demographics will get underestimated. “Oh, they’re just a kid!” Or even, “Yes, I’m playing a woman!” You genuinely hear these comments at chess tournaments … by amateurs, of course, as professionals know that they should never judge a book by its cover.

The kids are often so much sharper and better at tactics, as they just don’t have that fear factor. They’re also way quicker.

Many business owners I work with have underestimated their competitors because they’re “not as experienced” or they’re “much smaller,” so they wouldn’t be able to compete with them.

But because they’re less well-known, they have the ability to keep experimenting and iterating until they find the perfect positioning and offer without affecting their brand. They can also be more agile due to a smaller team, and it’s often cheaper for them to pivot and make progress.

As a result, many new companies have overtaken their competitors due to being underestimated.

5. Effectiveness of planning

We’re all told that planning helps make later decisions much easier, but I don’t think most people realize just how effective planning really is.

In chess, those who have already learned their opening theory and have studied all the most common moves at the start of the game can guarantee themselves a healthy position going into the middlegame. Plus, when playing on a clock, they save a great deal of time because no thinking is required. This then helps put added time pressure on their opponents later.

Those who skip this step end up having to calculate every move as if it’s new. They use up precious thinking time that will be essential later on in the game, and even if they get into a decent position, they won’t have much time to navigate it properly anyway.

In business, those who make detailed plans and strategy docs know exactly when things need to be done and what results they’re aiming for. At any point in time, they know if they’re on track — and if they’re not, they can analyze why, thereby nipping any issues in the bud early.

They also massively reduce decision fatigue because most of their decisions have been determined by the strategy created before the execution stage.

So, when you read through the above, it’s a bit of a no-brainer that entrepreneurs should play chess. But just like in business, there are a lot of people out there giving bad advice, leading people into bad habits.

Therefore, you can find yourself trying to take shortcuts, doing clever tricks and getting quick wins instead of going for sustainable growth.

Just as they’re bad in business, these “strategies” are also bad in chess. Do things properly from the start, and you could find yourself on the path to be a chess AND business master!

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