Pal Benko Personality Type, MBTI

Pal Benko personality type is INTP, but I've found in practice that almost anyone can learn to play this style, although it takes a few years and the right teacher. The first thing to realize is that you are not playing someone else's game. Of course you can learn that way, but it will never feel quite right. Your style will be heavily colored by your personality. You can learn the rules and use them, but you will have to discard a lot of the personality coloring to do so. This is especially important since the rules are very clear in theory, but there are a lot of subtleties. If you are an INTP, you have a natural bent toward introspection and logic. You will make a much better chess player if you are willing to let go of that tendency in the first years of your chess playing career. It is hard for most people to let go of their ideas about good moves in a game, but it is crucial for the best chess players. If you are not willing to do this, then you are going to have a hard time getting to the top level. Naturally you will still have ideas, but they won't be as strong as they might otherwise be.