Improve Your Brain Simply by Playing Chess

Keeping your body fit is easy enough to do if you have the motivation, book some sessions at the local gym, hire a personal trainer, or get your running shoes on and pound the streets. However, there is another part of us that also needs training and exercise if it's to keep fit and active, but is often neglected. Our brains also need stimulation if we're to remain alert and mentally agile as we get older, and to avoid forgetfulness and diseases like Alzheimer's.

You can test your brain and teach it to learn new abilities and skills, just as you increase the number of miles you run or push-ups achieved. Brain fitness workouts for the mind help you absorb more information at a faster rate, plus aid the capability to carry out a varied number of jobs simultaneously. Improve the way your brain functions by playing games that can help with memory, problem solving, speed, flexibility and attention.

Brainteasers like crossword puzzles, word searches and brainteasers all facilitate an improvement in concentration and memory, and have been proven to boost brain reflection speed, this is the speed at which your brain reacts to something it sees. There are lots of websites online where you can test brain function to see if you are above average, and they make for a great mental workout!

Get yourself a folding chess set and play against yourself if you can't find a partner to challenge. There have been various studies to try and prove that the game can increase brain power, and many have shown that those who do play demonstrate a higher level of intellect. A set like the Isle of Lewis chess set is a beautiful item and makes the game even more interesting to play simply because of the intricately carved and interesting figures.

Exercising the brain can offset all kinds of diseases too, for instance it's said to help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's. Just as the body seizes up in old age and is helped by regular exercise, even if it's just a stroll around the park every day, so the brain needs to be kept stimulated to stop it losing its potency. Muscles atrophy when not used, so do the cells in the brain. This is one of the reasons why it's so popular amongst the elderly, a gentle form of exercise as it can be played sitting down but keeps the mental faculties alert!

The problem most people have as they age is that they start to get forgetful, one of the most important skills when playing is to remember past moves made by opponents, and also recollect which moves you made that led to a victory, or a defeat. It's great for improving memory skills and also helps with organizational skills as they are both important factors in winning.

Learning any new skill effectively causes dendrites to grow; these are like antennas as they pick up signals from other brain cells and create new channels in the brain. They don't stop growing once you know the rules either, growth continues due to the interaction with people and challenging activities that come with thinking of strategies and tactics. Glass chess sets are stunning to look at and beautiful to play on.

The right side of the brain controls creativity and stimulating it helps increase your level of creativity - and chess is one way to achieve this stimulation. It can also aid you to think faster, having to change tactics when facing an opponent takes quick thinking and concentration as parameters are constantly changing during a game.

If you have a teenager at home then it might be worth making an effort to interest them in strategy games as it helps develop the prefrontal cortex. This is the area responsible for planning, judgment, and self-control which is the last to mature in adolescents and the reason why so many teenagers get into trouble during these troubled years. Buy them a fantasy folding folding chess set for a birthday or other occasion and help them avoid making any immature mistakes.

The main buyer at chesssets.co.uk since it was established, James Bennett benefits from his position as he meets plenty of people to challenge to the game, being a Grandmaster dragon chess set himself. Searching for first-class glass chess set is ideal for him as he has been playing since he was a child. Chesssets.co.uk has been in business since 2011 and have steadily seen sales rise as the game gains popularity. With offices in Somerset, they focus on delivering supreme chess merchandise from abroad, including Europe and India, to consumers. United with the JDS group they are an online company only, and their employees are professionals, enthusiastic chess players themselves and keen to bring excellent products at reasonable prices to the UK.