Ron, the chess player...

[moony_loony at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 192616

I agree. Ron is not a very bright character, but supposedly an excellent chess player. He also doesn't have the personality I would affiliate with a genius chess player.  This could have different reasons:
 

 1, Maybe he isn't as good at chess as we think? His opponents could have been really bad (Hermione and Harry), average, or just not as good as we thought (McGonagal's chess game). 
 

 2, He could have become this good at chess because he plays a lot and not because he is incredibly talented. This would also explain the lack of strategy or tactical thinking on Ron's part throughout the story.
 

 3, Or maybe, and this I think is far more probable, Ron's talent at chess was attributed randomly, because Rowling needed someone who could beat the giant chess board, and further she wanted to give Ron something he is good at. Most likely she never thought it really through.
 

 Frankly the only character that shows some intelligence and cunning throughout the seven books is Dumbledore (not counting intuitive intelligence (Harry) or booksmarts (Hermione)). Otherwise all characters seem to consist of dumb and dumber. 

 
 moony_loony




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