I've been top of my class from high school to grad school, but Chess continues to elude me, even though my father is a competitive player. Eventually boredom sets in, and I just start killing things whether it's a sound strategy or not. Dad says I'd rather be exciting than victorious.

This brand-new troper abolutely loves chess, and has a high IQ. Honestly, I couldn't care less about the 'Smart' part.

This troper is considered quite smart by some, but never got the hang of chess. I sometimes play it against the computer, just to lose 95% of the time.

My dad seems pretty aware of this trope--He has been playing chess since he was a child (and usually wins, but he's no professional). His IQ hasn't been measured, but he is a MagnificentBastard so I bet is above average.

This troper averts this. He has a pretty high IQ, can run circles around his family when it comes to math, and so far is the only one in his family with a university degree. They can kick his ass in chess. This probably just proves more than anything that there is so not just one type of "smart".

This troper gets all As and does play chess... he just loses too often.

Plays Chess, check. Is smart, Check not genius but gifted. Is good at chess, Nope. Good at MagicTheGathering, very much so.

This troper can be described as a genius, and he has a high IQ.. However he loathes chess. It's never really caught his eye, and always loses when he plays it.

This one has been informed of having a high IQ (albeit one has not dared ask what the scores actually ''were''), yet finds chess a singularly boring game - one can make the argument that chess is a solvable game in a mathematical sense, although admittedly this one lacks both talent and patience for the game. This creates an interesting juxtaposition, as this one strives to become a mathematician.

In my experience, people who are exceptional at chess are usually smart but not particularly. The real geniuses are too busy working at whatever it is they're geniuses at to get good at chess.