Scientific Data About Chess

This week, I intend to share articles about chess in particular. The reason why I did not collect all of these articles in a single article is that I think platform users will have difficulty reading if there is a very long article. Because, if I gathered all the chess-related topics in one article, this article would probably have at least 10 thousand words. That's why I decided to create a series of articles by explaining the sub-headings in different articles. Today's post will be the second post in this series.

Chess and Science

Is it just an urban legend that the chess game improves intelligence?

While some studies claim that chess does not have a significant effect on human development, some studies claim that chess is a game that improves mathematics and multi-dimensional thinking.

If both claims are supported by scientific research, which one of them will we accept as true and shape our thoughts about chess?

Chess is undoubtedly one of the most successful intelligence and strategy games invented by humanity. The way to play this strategy-based game well is undoubtedly to be a mentally active individual.

While playing chess, some cognitive skills such as working memory, fluent intelligence, attention, concentration, positioning and the ability of the individual to use these processes effectively develop. These competencies and abilities also contribute to the individual's mathematical performance.

According to a study conducted by two scientists named Smith and Cage, in 2006, it was determined that chess education given to students living in low socioeconomic conditions in the US state of Louisiana enabled these students to make significant improvements in mathematics and non-verbal cognitive skills.

Trichero, another scientist, also examined the effects of chess training on elementary school students' math skills in a study he conducted in 2013. The result of this research showed that the mathematics test scores of the chess playing group increased significantly. In addition, it was determined that the students who took longer hours of chess lessons were more successful in mathematics than the students who took less hours.

However, different research results showed that students who took chess lessons improved more in problem solving than students who took sports lessons.

According to all these studies, playing chess has a really active role in the development of non-verbal cognitive skills, while providing the development of mathematical intelligence. In addition, chess players who need the ability to think strategically can make progress in being forward-thinking and calculating probabilities.

As you know, each new move made while playing chess recreates the situation on the chessboard and you must position yourself according to this new situation. Seeing possibilities is not just about seeing a move, it's about perceiving possible positions.

Taking all these into account, we can conclude that while there are many data showing that chess has a positive effect on academic achievement in different ways, there is no research result showing that it has a negative effect.

Therefore, it may be a good idea to use chess to support students' education.

So, what is your opinion on this?

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