I've said before that chess is, in actuality, a giant math problem.  This is true, but I also said humanity has not come close to solving it.  Because of this, chess seems to be more of a mental martial art right now than a math problem.

Martial arts stresses the importance of discipline.  Most people, when hearing the term "martial arts", think first about "fighting", then about "discipline".  Really, it's the same way with chess.  Chess is a brutal fight, not between two bodies, but two minds or mentalities.  Probably the more similar aspect of chess and martial arts is the discipline aspect.  Martial arts is tremendously disciplined.  Practitioners dedicate themselves to training in their art, whether it be Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi Chuan, Jiu Jitsu, etc etc.  Chess has many "schools" of thought which chess players dedicate themselves to training in.  To name a few of those schools: aggressive, defensive, unorthodox, universal, tactical, or positional.  Chess players study for extremely long periods of time trying to improve their game, and they all set their sights high.  In some ways, chess is almost a quest for self-improvement.

The main difference between chess and martial arts is how one approaches such a battle.  When two Karate practitioners get ready to spar, odds are they are not doing very much conscious thinking.  When they train, they build up their technique until it becomes imbedded in their "muscle memory".  Much of a fight is based on instinct rather than foresight and calculation.  But in a sense chess can also be that way.  When we come to grip with the terms of the game and are good enough to play generally stable chess, we are taught to "trust our intuition".  I prefer to say "Trust your seemer."  Most people dismiss chess as a game, a war of pure calculation power.  But there is a deeper essence of chess.  It requires learning the techniques and principles to develop a feel for the game, until you can find a move and it just seems right to you, even if you don't know necessarily how (this was often the basis for Tal's brilliant sacrifices).  Instinct can often be just as valuable a tool in chess as it can be in the martial arts.  So what can we learn from this?

"Trust your calculation, and you'll never plan ahead.  Trust your feelings, and you'll be double-minded.  Trust your seemer, and you'll win game after game after game."

Thanks for reading!

edsnotofthisworld