Delancey Real Estate founder and chairman Jamie Ritblat takes an active interest in chess, with his company sponsoring the UK Schools’ Chess Challenge, the world’s largest children’s chess tournament. This article will explore the many cognitive benefits of chess and how the game helps business leaders to build and develop a comprehensive range of soft skills that are highly desirable in the corporate world.
Relying on strategic skills and intelligence, chess is a game that is associated with some of the world’s greatest minds. In addition to Oppenheimer and Einstein, chess was enjoyed by numerous other revered scientists, academics and intellectuals, including the likes of Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, Wolfgang Pauli, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Erwin Schrödinger, Stephen Hawking and more than 20 Nobel laureates in total.
At first glance, the world of entrepreneurship and the game of chess may seem worlds apart. However, those who have risen to prominence in both fields have drawn some strong parallels between them. Achieving the perfect balance of strategy and tactics is vital in both worlds, with both chess and business requiring a harmonious interplay to secure success.
Chess is a game of constant flux that demands adaptability and flexibility from players. Likewise in business, the tides of consumer behaviour, market trends and technological innovations are constantly shifting, placing the onus on business leaders to embrace change and pivot swiftly to remain relevant and competitive.
In addition to outstanding strategic abilities, succeeding in chess also demands planning, calculation, pattern recognition and the ability to make good trades and investments, all of which are aptitudes that are highly translatable to the world of business.
Chess calls for introspection, requiring players to identify their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of their adversary. Likewise in business, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis is crucial in terms of evaluating a company’s competitive position and developing strategic planning, enabling businesses to identify opportunities and risks that stem from their current position.
Chess players must look ahead, adopting an analytical approach, as without an action plan and long-term strategy they will place their pieces in jeopardy. Chess forces opponents to habitually step back and look at the bigger picture, an ability that is equally important in business.
Strategy is crucial in both chess and business. In chess, each opponent will have plans of their own, doing everything within their power to get ahead and achieve their desired outcome. Great chess players and savvy business leaders share an appreciation of the need for flexibility and adaptability, changing plans as and when the need arises.
If an opportunity to advance their position presents itself, both chess players and entrepreneurs will grasp it with both hands, and if a threat emerges, both will take care to guard against it. In the fast-paced world of business, adaptability is integral to the success of any enterprise. Similarly, chess also imparts the need for players to pivot where necessary.
As with many founders just embarking on their entrepreneurial journey, in chess, each player starts the game with limited resources. It is incumbent on the player to use resources to their best advantage. Great players know how to maximise the strength of each piece while simultaneously minimising their weaknesses. Critically, they recognise how to use their pieces in tandem, appreciating that a well-coordinated army can be leveraged to much more effect than the sum total of each unit.
As in entrepreneurship, every move counts in a game of chess. In both arenas success hinges largely on strategic decision-making, adaptability in the face of challenges and forward-thinking. Risk is inherent to both. In chess, players weigh the potential outcomes of each move while continually assessing the risks involved. Similarly, business leaders must navigate risk in the corporate world, be it uncertainties involved in launching new products, investing capital or entering a new market.
Entrepreneurs and chess players alike must make critical decisions under pressure. Whether its in the heat of an important business deal or a chess championship, clear-headed decision-making is crucial in both worlds. Just as chess players must remain calm and focused, relying on their expertise and instinct to guide decisions, so too must entrepreneurs, remaining composed under pressure and navigating challenges with clarity and confidence.
In the game of chess, victory demands patience and a keen focus on long-term outcomes. Similarly, entrepreneurship should be viewed as a marathon rather than a sprint, as no enterprise has ever reached the pinnacle of its industry overnight. Both chess players and business leaders must play the long game, remaining committed to their vision and persevering through setbacks while focusing on long-term success and sustainable growth.
In reality, the parallels between chess and entrepreneurship are striking. To achieve success in either arena requires immense foresight and adaptability, as well as keen strategic and decision-making skills. By applying the same mindset to business as that adopted in chess, business leaders better position themselves to navigate the challenges and complexities of the entrepreneurial landscape, enabling them to achieve success on their own terms.