Does Art and Creativity help your Chess?

                                         Does art and creativity help your chess?

In that typically depressing and negative way that I have made my own, I have started to realize that I am running out of time in life to do something. To achieve something constructive. 😣

Who knows- I could be dead in a few years. Quite a few of my friends have fallen by the wayside in recent times. I have also come to the conclusion that I can barely tolerate my current life, so need to do as much to improve it as possible. Hence why I am posting on Youtube, streaming on Twitch, and in general attacking it as much as I can possibly can. I have also reignited a Gormally blog, which had some moderate success back in the day and lead to my being offered some book contracts, once people cottoned on that I was a half reasonable writer. Not that any of that ever lead to a dramatic change in circumstances. I still have very little money. 

I have also started drawing again and showing some of these amateurish doodles off online. 

The above drawing of my fellow Grandmaster Keith Arkell, still as industrious as ever at the grand old age of 62 (he plays as much as anyone) seemed to draw some praise on Facebook.

I think this desire to prove that I have some talent at drawing was as much a desire to not just be pigeon-holed as someone who is good at chess, and chess only. As human beings we like to compartmentalise- write someone or other off as being good at that, and then move on. Something about that irritates me. I hate the thought that I'll just be known as a good chess player.  I also used to draw a lot when I was younger, and was probably much better at it then. 

Tracey Emin or Banksy don't have anything to worry about yet, and of course I'm acutely aware that I am still a far better chess player than I am an artist. In fact the depressing reality is that I'm much better at chess than I am at anything else. In fact I'm better at chess than I'll ever be at anything else. 

It is more than likely that is the case, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. Who knows, maybe I can find a USP as a Chess grandmaster who draws other chess players. 

All of this got me to thinking. Am I good at chess because I have a decent creative mind and half reasonable memory, or is chess such an abstract skill that it is not really connected to anything else?

Bobby Fischer once famously said that he is not a chess genius, but a genius that happened to play chess. While this quote came from later in his life when he was known to come out with ever more outrageous quotes in keeping with his declining mental state, I don't think you could write off what he says completely.

Lets look at the facts:

• Bobby Fischer had an I.Q. of 185. Admittedly that was a sociologist estimate, but that's still very very high. I have met some fairly bright people, but noone with an I.Q. that high.
• Bobby Fischer never really tried anything outside of chess. Who knows what he could have achieved?
• Bobby Fischer was brilliant at chess but sociologically awkward. That held him back in life- and most likely prevented him from succeeding in other endeavours. Most likely, he was someone on the "spectrum."

                                   The brilliant if flawed Fischer solving a difficult puzzle on prime television.

Who knows what Fischer could have achieved if he had turned his brilliant mind to other activities, and you could also point out that some of his contemporaries like Mark Tiamanov and Vasily Smyslov, were accomplished musicians. 

The link between chess and music has long been proven because they use the same parts of the brain; the same is true of art.

Of late I've felt a slight uptake in my results online and I think this is connected to the fact that I'm spending some time drawing. It is helping to condition that same part of my brain that I use for chess.

If you have some kind of artistic ability, and even if you don't, I suggest you try doing some art or music. You'll be surprised how much it helps your chess.