IQ and Chess

@deepLA Kasparov's IQ has never been tested to be that high. I cite: "Some sources give Garry Kasparov, a renowned chess player, an IQ between 185 and 190. But in 1987-88, the German magazine Der Spiegel went to considerable effort and expense to find out Kasparov's IQ. Under the supervision of an international team of psychologists, Kasparov was given a large battery of tests designed to measure his memory, spatial ability, and abstract reasoning. They measured his IQ as 135 and his memory as one of the very best. "

Actually Carlsen's IQ was measured to be 192-two points behind Kasparov. I dont think these are false because quite a number of sites mentioned it

Some guys are pretty intelligent although they play chess.

IQ cannot be accurately measured above 130-140, so saying that ''Magnus has 192, two points behind Kasparov'' means absolutely nothing.

There are many IQ Tests, you have to clearly express what you are talking about (e.g. abstract, language, problem solving, ... )
Besides, some of them are limited to 150 points, others go up to 200 and some are not limited. I know it myself, as I had to take one in an assessment center with a consulting company: 60 abstract picture sets with different levels, I missed three of the most difficult -> IQ 139

There is empirical research data about this and it is often misunderstood.

First you got to know what a correlation is. Then you will find a correlation of about .2 to .4 in different studies between IQ and measures of successful problem solving.

Then you will have to look for "variance accounted for" and you will find that IQ "explains" about 5% to 20% of success in problem solving. Chess is no exception.

So a simple linear function describing the interdependence between chess and intelligence shows at least two, maybe three points:
1. lack of knowledge about psychological measurement.
2. lack of knowledge about chess as a field of problem solving and competion.
3. narcistic desire to produce a text without having worked on the basics.

No good trainer reduces the success in chess to one factor. There health, memorial skills, memorial abilities, perseverance, motivation, intelligence, opposition, practice, .... So the reported numbers above reflect what we all might observe.

An interesting case is that of the Polgar sisters whose father believed achievement was 99%work and the rest favourable circumstances.
It caused much debate because all three were amazing players.
Some say they had high IQ s at about 170 which would be in keeping with their talented father ; who fed them chess night and day.

Paul Morphy could play multiple blindfold games simultaneously and still remember each move in every game after three weeks, that is something only true genius could do. I believe it was his incredible memory that made him the king of chess at his time.

''Besides, some of them are limited to 150 points, others go up to 200 and some are not limited.'' Complete and utter nonsense

There are no IQ tests that measure someone's intelligence over 140 accurately enough for it to matter, it's mostly a way for low-esteem individuals to boast about themselves. Many countries also use many different scales, so 150 somewhere could only be in 120 range. Mensa accepts top 2%, and when they talk about intelligence they talk in percentages, not numbers. Also, their test only measures up to top 1% for a very good reason, and that's the very big uncertainty when it comes to higher intelligence than average.

When it comes to chess, IQ may help slightly in some areas, but hard work beats intelligence any day of the week.

Whitedancingrockstar: "complete and utter nonsense"
No, it is not.
"Many countries also use many different scales, so 150 somewhere could only be in 120 range."
You are wrong. The testing person told me my score was quite rare, and they had lots of academic samples (the consulting company is well known).