Question: Continuing from our chat earlier, did the idea of improving your mindfulness influence your interest in chess and would you recommend it as a possible treatment for any psychological illness such as stress or depression?

Stephen Baillargeon answered on 14 Jun 2018:

I actually didn’t realize until I was already a little addicted that chess might help me with mindfulness. I would recommend getting into it if you’re willing to really get deep into it. When you learn different moves and the history behind strategies, learn the names of all great chess players of history, and pick a strategy that you feel reflects who you are, your confidence, and your assertivity, then I think it could have similar psychological effects to any other art form. Chess is unique in this sense because it actually has a really complex history, unlike games like billiards or connect four, or even alternative versions of chess with different rules. And the history is important because when you see yourself as a small part of a giant community if chess players that has lived for hundreds of years, you can see yourself as something like a cell. If the body survives, the death of a cell is insignificant and that can help you have less of a fear of your own death, which is at the root if many anxieties and biases.