How often do you hear “chess for business” or “poker for business”, as options to help you get better at entrepreneurship. Sadly, not that often, because people don’t realise just how valuable both of these games are to entrepreneurs.
Chess and poker are both considered to be strategic games, but require very different skillsets.
They’re both games that are popular with the entrepreneur crowd for very different reasons.
Poker is seen as sexier – founders arrange home games as a social event and gain a lot of kudos from outsmarting other founders. Plus, there’s often money on the table, quite literally. And we all know how much entrepreneurs love making money… especially when everyone else knows they’ve made money!
Then there’s chess. Since the Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, there’s more people playing chess than ever now. And it’s suddenly seen to be a lot “cooler”. People will play against their friends as a test of their intelligence.
As an International Chess Master who started playing poker internationally a couple of years ago, I have been intrigued with the depths of both of these games and how beneficial they truly can be as an entrepreneur.
Chess for Entrepreneurship
Whenever you see a post about business strategy, there’s often a chess set used as a picture. Chess players are seen to be the ultimate strategists. Which is why my strategy services are so popular eh!
So many of the skills I’ve learned through playing chess are absolute essentials for business. And they’re often the skills that are overlooked too.
Long-term planning:
People are often too fixated on short-term wins in business – they want that dopamine hit, the quick fix etc. But if you do that in chess, your opponent will be able to exploit all your weaknesses and destroy you long-term.
That’s pretty much how many businesses die. Their competitors think long-term and they only think short-term.
And the science backs this up – studies in Cognitive Science have shown that expert chess players develop enhanced pattern recognition and long-term thinking through something called “chunking”, where they learn to quickly group pieces into meaningful strategic clusters. We just call it pattern recognition, but the scientists have an actual name for it!
It’s that kind of high-level planning that translates well to anticipating trends and making strategic decisions in business.
Entrepreneurs forget that having a vision, anticipating market trends and being ready for challenges that pop up are essential when running a business. Dealing with things as they come up is a recipe for disaster in chess and in business.
Problem Solving:
Sometimes being a business owner feels like you’re constantly solving problems. Chess is a constant puzzle and a tough opponent will always throw unexpected curveballs your way.
So, being able to think on your feet, adapt to unpredictable situations and solve issues you didn’t expect are all skills that you learn from chess but are necessary in business too.
Patience & Discipline:
I think this is one of the skills I learned the most. Impulsivity does NOT do well for you in chess. Whilst it can be seen as a good thing in business, it can also be detrimental. Success doesn’t happen overnight, and having the patience and discipline to show up every day even when things go wrong and work hard for the long-term results is what truly successful entrepreneurs do.
Decision-Making:
Every day, you have multiple decisions to make as a business owner. And often, you’re making them alone. In chess, you’re all alone, faced with decisions on every single move. One wrong move could make or break your game.
In professional situations, you’re often under time pressure too, meaning you have to learn to weigh your options and make quick-informed decisions. A must-have skill for any entrepreneur.
Poker And Entrepreneurship
One of the biggest differences with poker is that there’s incomplete information – you don’t know what cards your opponents hold.
In chess, you can see all their pieces – you just don’t know how they’re going to move them.
In business, you don’t always have all the facts, and outcomes aren’t predictable. Your competitors are certainly not telling you all the information about their businesses either!
With this and the level of psychology involved in poker, alongside understanding probability, managing risks and reading people, I think poker is one of the best games that entrepreneurs can play.
I started playing poker purely to learn skills that I thought I was weak in when it comes to entrepreneurship. Here are just some of the skills that entrepreneurs say they’ve got better at after playing poker:
Risk Management:
In poker, you constantly have to weigh the risk and rewards when going for a bet. There’s a lot of maths involved, as well as psychology. In entrepreneurship, you need to assess when the right time to take a big leap is, or when it’s better to play it safe.
In fact, research published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making found that experienced poker players outperform non-players in tasks requiring probabilistic reasoning and calibrated risk-taking. These are the exact kinds of decisions founders make daily – assessing market risk, investment timing, or product launch viability.
Emotional Intelligence:
Poker is all about reading people- people you often don’t know anything about. Body language, speech play – you constantly have to pick up on subtle cues to gain more information. This is a great skill to have when in a pitch situation or whenever you need to read the room.
Plus, it can really do you wonders in any situation where you’re undergoing negotiations or team management!
Adaptability and Flexibility:
Poker requires you to be agile and adaptable – things can change very drastically and you need to be able to change strategies on the fly while keeping a cool head.
Entrepreneurs also need this same ability to pivot when market conditions shift, but many people cannot let go of something that they feel connected to even if it’s the right thing to do. You get yourself into serious trouble if you try to do this in poker!
Is chess or poker better for entrepreneurship?
Both chess and poker have unique perks that can boost your entrepreneurial skillset. Chess can give you a sturdy strategic foundation, while poker offers the flexibility and psychological savvy needed to handle uncertainty.
The best entrepreneurs have a mix of skills. Now, imagine combining the strategic mindset from chess, with the psychological insights from poker.
The reality is that not everyone is going to be lucky enough to possess both of the skills. So, it depends on where your strengths lie.
I’d actually say try to learn the game where you develop your weakest skills so you can become a more all-rounded entrepreneur.
If you can learn enough of both games, you’ll enjoy skills like:
Balanced Decision-Making:
- Using chess strategies for long-term goals and poker instincts to handle immediate challenges.
Comprehensive Risk Assessment:
- Employing chess-like foresight to anticipate the risks and then poker-like agility to tackle them head-on.
Enhanced Negotiation Tactics:
- Blending chess patience and discipline with poker’s emotional intelligence and bluffing finesse.
I play both games and I love them both. I teach the skills I learn from both these games to entrepreneurs all over the world and they love it.
But find out what’s right for you. Not everyone will love both. Some may like neither! But just realise that both games have a lot to offer and can really help you with your business strategy!