Wednesday, May 23, 2007

The added benefits of chess training

From "Trial lawyer sees parallels in chess and litigation" at the Rocky Mountain (CO) News:
In 2001, I started teaching Robert Abrams chess. At that time, he was the successful founder of both Denver Stone and Tile and Muscle Builders, a land-development company.

Professionally, Abrams had a lifetime dream of becoming a trial lawyer.

He eagerly talks about "the chess thinking process" as a key element in completing the University of Denver's four-year night program in 2 1/2 years and immediately passing the Bar Exam. Today he is a trial lawyer at Cristiano Law, specializing in commercial litigation.

Abrams attributes passing the bar exam on his first attempt to his chess training. He says, "Todd's training in logical thinking, while under time pressure, is the reason I passed the bar. Just like in chess, there is only a limited amount of time to complete this complicated test. One must determine the candidate moves, not analyze all the possibilities, and always, always see the big picture. You cannot answer every question correctly, so why try? Pick your battles and prevail!"
Perhaps the ICC should offer a Bar Exam preparation course built around sessions of blitz!?

No comments: