Although some people don't even consider it a sport and don't take it seriously, chess is such a complex and useful activity. I started playing it professionally when I was 10 until I became 16 and I am quite certain that, doing it, positively shaped the way I am as a person. Here's how, explained in 2 different stories:
1 - Risk analysis & Decision making:
Aged 12 I took part in a big International tournament with people from all over the world and great prizes for the winners.
There were 7 rounds if I remember correctly (7 matches around 2 hours each) during a summer weekend.
In the first round I played against one of the toughest opponents in the tournament. An older player from London. After a long match, I ended up losing.
For that reason, if I wanted to end up winning a prize in the competition I couldn't lose any other game. "Luckily" I had a winning streak all the way until the final round, Game 7, like in basketball, would be the decisive match.
I had to play against a tough opponent, a player for Hungary. I was quite nervous because by that time I never had the chance to even compete for such a big prize. The last round started, the game would always be in an equal position, it was a very good match to be honest, after around 2 hours playing, we reached the endgame.
Here's when the key moment came in, my opponent, the Hungarian guy, offered me a draw. That was a difficult situation. If I accepted the draw offer, I would end up in the 3rd position, that would be amazing, I would've got the largest prize in my chess career as a 12 years old kid. If I rejected it, two things could happen, I could win the match which is of course amazing, 2nd position and $500, but I could also lose and go home empty-handed. So I started analyzing the situation and, specifically, the position, and I realized that even though it was a very equal position, I had a small advantage; my opponent had doubled pawns, making his position a little bit weaker.
I decided to reject the draw offer by trusting this small advantage and making use of it, I ended up winning the match 30 minutes later. I analysed the position, the risks involved and I made the right decision that led to the 2nd place and $500.
2 - Trusting your instinct:
When I was around 11, I used to participate in the Regional League by teams, with my local team. One day, we had to play one match in my hometown.
Just in case you are not familiar with it, team chess competitions are competitions in which each team member plays against another from the other team and the total of points add up to choose a winner team.
I just had to play one match that day and I was supposed to play against a very tough opponent who was around 40 (30 years older than me). I was playing with white I had studied this opponent together with my coach. He was supposed to play the "Sicilian Defense" I wanted to play with the "Grand Prix Attack" but my coach advised me not to do it.
Following his advice, I went with a different alternative, that I was less familiar with, perhaps for that reason, I ended up losing that game. Here's when the interesting part comes in, after the match, I became friends with my opponent and as I was talking to him, we decided to play another match in our free time. As you can probably guess, this time I decided to play the "Grand Prix Attack" instead. And guess what... I won, and by far... Another lesson learned...
As you can imagine, there are tons of stories and things chess can teach you but then this post would be way too long! If you want to know more, feel free to reach me out!
But I hope that the main takeaway from this post is that you should take chess seriously as it takes a lot of skills to play it but at the same time it can provide you with very important values for your career.