Intelligence plays a significant role in determining chess skill read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/840-intelligence-plays-a-significant-role-in-determining-chess-skill

Intelligence plays a significant role in determining chess skill, indicates a comprehensive new study.

Researchers from Michigan State University provides some of the most conclusive evidence to date that cognitive ability is linked to skilled performance.

Chess is probably the single most studied domains in research on expertise, yet the evidence for the relationship between chess skill and cognitive ability is mixed.

MSU's Alexander Burgoyne, lead author of the study said, "we analyzed a half-century worth of research on intelligence and chess skill and found that cognitive ability contributes meaningfully to individual differences in chess skill." The findings examine the origins of skill in domains such as chess, music and sports.

When it comes to expertise, training and practice certainly are a piece of the puzzle, said Hambrick, MSU professor of psychology. But this study shows that, for chess at least, intelligence is another piece of the puzzle.

For the in-depth study, known as a meta-analysis, researchers considered nearly 2,300 scholarly articles on chess skill, looking specifically for studies that included a measure of cognitive ability and chess skill. The last sample included 19 studies with about 1,800 total participants.

The meta-analysis represents the first attempt to systematically investigate the best available scientific evidence for the link between intellect and chess skill.

The study found that intelligence linked to chess skill for the overall sample, but particularly among young chess players and those at lower levels of skill, because the upper-level players represent a winnowed distribution of cognitive ability.

Hambrick explains that, a genius can become a skilled chess player relatively easy, because a person with average intelligence may take longer. So the idea is, practice more and develop more skills and knowledge about the game to avoid limitations in cognitive ability. This might be true for chess, but not for all activities.