> Personally as a kid I was often "sent" to these competitions but never bothered to prepare for them at all. I stupidly assumed it was a pure IQ play. I think

> Personally as a kid I was often "sent" to these competitions but never bothered to prepare for them at all. I stupidly assumed it was a pure IQ play. I think this is the biggest disconnect between perception and reality of intellectual competitions (debate, math, chess, whatever). In reality, they require just as much practice to succeed as any other sport.