Nature or nurture? Chess players have higher than average IQ

[duncan]

Sergey Karjakin is youngest ever grandmaster not polgar. although polgar did become a grandmaster before fischer

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... ng-them-up

In the 1960s, László Polgár was a Hungarian educational psychologist who had written several scientific papers on the effectiveness of practice in creating excellence. Explaining his passionate convictions to his future wife, Klara, she fell for him as well as his arguments. They chose chess for their experiment because it has an objective metric by which achievement can be measured. Neither were exceptional chess players.

As luck would have it, Klara gave birth to three daughters. There had been no female grandmasters and it was widely assumed that women were genetically incapable of the cognitive skills entailed in exceptional chess, and were consequently excluded from top tournaments.

Starting with his eldest daughter, Susan, Polgár was careful to treat it as a playful activity, turning it into a fantasy of dramatic wins and losses. Whereas Earl and Kultida Woods had coerced perfection from Tiger, the Polgárs encouraged enjoyment,

By the time Susan had turned five, she was excited by playing and spent hundreds of hours practising. She was entered into a local competition and treated it as fun, winning 10-0, causing a sensation.

Meanwhile, her younger sisters were intrigued and László allowed them to feel the pieces, seeing them as toys, with no formal tuition until they were five. Interviewed recently, all three girls described playing the game as something that they loved doing – it never felt like a chore. Instead of messing about playing Monopoly, netball or going to the local swimming pool, chess was just what the Polgár family enjoyed.

Sure enough, in 1991 the eldest daughter became the first female grandmaster. The second daughter had 10 straight wins against male grandmasters, a performance rated the fifth best in the history of chess. Her younger sister became a grandmaster at the age of 15, the youngest ever, of either gender.

Polgár understood that coercion was less valuable than small children’s need to enjoy fantasy play. Consequently, his daughters all seem to have grown into satiable, well-balanced people rather than success addicts.

A strong clue to the dynamics of the Polgár family comes from a fascinating footnote to the story. When the eldest daughter had been crowned as the first female grandmaster, a Dutch billionaire offered to pay for the Polgárs to adopt three boys from a developing nation to show that the experiment could be replicated. They turned him down, Kla
ra feeling they had made their point.

https://www.chess.com/blog/niqdin94/the ... -the-world


Sergey Karjakin became a Grandmaster at the age of 12 years, 7 months, the youngest ever.


wiki quote

They can't concentrate, they don't have stamina, and they aren't creative. They are all fish.

On women chess players, 1961 [1]

They're all weak, all women. They're stupid compared to men. They shouldn't play chess, you know. They're like beginners. They lose every single game against a man. There isn't a woman player in the world I can't give knight-odds to and still beat.

[Uri Blass]

Sergey Karjakin is youngest ever grandmaster not polgar. although polgar did become a grandmaster before fischer

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... ng-them-up

In the 1960s, László Polgár was a Hungarian educational psychologist who had written several scientific papers on the effectiveness of practice in creating excellence. Explaining his passionate convictions to his future wife, Klara, she fell for him as well as his arguments. They chose chess for their experiment because it has an objective metric by which achievement can be measured. Neither were exceptional chess players.

As luck would have it, Klara gave birth to three daughters. There had been no female grandmasters and it was widely assumed that women were genetically incapable of the cognitive skills entailed in exceptional chess, and were consequently excluded from top tournaments.

Starting with his eldest daughter, Susan, Polgár was careful to treat it as a playful activity, turning it into a fantasy of dramatic wins and losses. Whereas Earl and Kultida Woods had coerced perfection from Tiger, the Polgárs encouraged enjoyment,

By the time Susan had turned five, she was excited by playing and spent hundreds of hours practising. She was entered into a local competition and treated it as fun, winning 10-0, causing a sensation.

Meanwhile, her younger sisters were intrigued and László allowed them to feel the pieces, seeing them as toys, with no formal tuition until they were five. Interviewed recently, all three girls described playing the game as something that they loved doing – it never felt like a chore. Instead of messing about playing Monopoly, netball or going to the local swimming pool, chess was just what the Polgár family enjoyed.

Sure enough, in 1991 the eldest daughter became the first female grandmaster. The second daughter had 10 straight wins against male grandmasters, a performance rated the fifth best in the history of chess. Her younger sister became a grandmaster at the age of 15, the youngest ever, of either gender.

Polgár understood that coercion was less valuable than small children’s need to enjoy fantasy play. Consequently, his daughters all seem to have grown into satiable, well-balanced people rather than success addicts.

A strong clue to the dynamics of the Polgár family comes from a fascinating footnote to the story. When the eldest daughter had been crowned as the first female grandmaster, a Dutch billionaire offered to pay for the Polgárs to adopt three boys from a developing nation to show that the experiment could be replicated. They turned him down, Kla
ra feeling they had made their point.

https://www.chess.com/blog/niqdin94/the ... -the-world


Sergey Karjakin became a Grandmaster at the age of 12 years, 7 months, the youngest ever.


wiki quote

They can't concentrate, they don't have stamina, and they aren't creative. They are all fish.

On women chess players, 1961 [1]

They're all weak, all women. They're stupid compared to men. They shouldn't play chess, you know. They're like beginners. They lose every single game against a man. There isn't a woman player in the world I can't give knight-odds to and still beat.

From experience I can say it about most children who know the rules of chess.
They are all weak They are stupid compared to tournament players
They lose every single game against me even if I start without my queen.

For most classes in school of children who are 9 years old
All children in the class are going to lose every single game against me even if I start without my queen.