I remember an interview with Kasparov. He said something, I don't remember exactly... It was something like "The skills chess develops are very important for... playing chess"; as a way to say "if you're good in chess, that doesn't mean you're particularly smart or good in other areas too".
As someone who played chess competitively in my childhood and teens, chess helped me a lot about concentration, problem solving and decision taking. I also learned to win and lose and to have respect for other people due to the competition.
As a teacher in my adulthood, I was extremely impressed by knowing a high rated player that was very weak student, especially in logic.
I now agree deeply with Kasparov about the importance of the skills chess develops.