The reason Jews are disproportionately good at chess, is sad to the nth degree, basically they never integrated with the populations they emigrated to, after being forced to leave Israel by Hadrian.IM Jack Rudd wrote:It's an interesting theory, and one which would be worth studying. Another plausible theory is that chess has developed during eras where anti-Semitism has been common, which might make it harder for Jewish people to make it in other fields - and thus encourage them to try to make their name in chess.Robert Dale wrote:I have read that there is a disproprtionate number of Jewish people amongst top chessplayers. Has that been statistically proven, and if so, any offers on the reasons? Culture? Genetics? I have heard it suggested that the Jewish method of studying the Torah (meticulous analysis, examining every word) is very "chess-like". Any takers for that theory?
So because of the psychology of 'in group' and 'out group' they became persecuted and way before the 'holocaust', got persecuted and sometimes got
murdered, basically survival genes were selected for, the Jews that did survive, passed those genes on via inbreeding, it is possible these genes were involved with the ability to play chess.
The ability to play chess, involves an ability for logic, an ability for survival, involves an ability for logic, no matter how ruthless your tribe is to the next tribe and its alternative cultural practices.