chess and problem solving skills

5 Role of Chess Plays in Cognitive Development and Problem-Solving Skills

Introduction

Chess, often seen as a game of strategy and intellect, goes beyond just entertainment. The intricate complexities involved engage the mind in ways that far exceed mere entertainment. Studies show that chess can boost cognitive skills, enhance problem-solving abilities, and even raise IQ. Let’s explore the fascinating connection between this classic game and the developing mind.

Sharpens Your Thinking

Chess demands dynamic decision-making grounded in logical reasoning. Each move requires calculating angles of attack and defense while holding your opponent’s strategy in mind. This engages and strengthens skills like working memory, pattern recognition, and critical analysis. As a result, chess improves overall sharpness and acuity. In fact, research indicates that practicing chess enlarges areas of the brain devoted to visual memory, which drives improvement in processing and problem-solving. In children, regular play has been linked to higher academic performance in math, reading, and science. Clearly, the thinking encouraged by chess carries over into broader intellectual benefits.

Boosts Problem-Solving Abilities

The essence of chess lies in encountering obstacles and finding creative solutions. Each game presents unique puzzles to decode and advantages to leverage over your adversary. As such, chess offers a gym for exercising and sharpen your problem-solving skills.

The game constantly forces you to look beyond the obvious, broaden perspectives, and identify optimal solutions among alternatives. Research confirms that chess helps develop the frontal lobe, which handles complex cognition and evaluating new ideas. Mastering chess requires excelling in problem-solving at increasing levels of difficulty.

Teaches Discipline and Patience

Chess demands rigorous self-control and resilience. Impulsive reactions lead to poor moves and lost games; victory goes to the patient player. During matches, you must maintain total focus, often for hours, while remaining mentally flexible and open to new strategies as the game unfolds.

Regular practice instills discipline and emotional control. Children learn how to think before acting, manage frustration, and objectively review their own performance. These mental skills apply well to academic endeavors, social interactions, and coping with life’s challenges. Chess delivers a holistic workout that strengthens character and maturity.

Fosters Planning and Foresight

Chess is a game of anticipating multiple future possibilities. To excel, you must survey the board, envision how moves by you and your opponent can unfold, and plan accordingly. Every decision should further your strategic goals as the game progresses toward checkmate.

This ability to generate structured plans while holding hypotheticals in mind is integral to success in fields like business, research, and engineering. Studies indicate that online chess training  helps develop the frontal and parietal lobes responsible for planning and foresight. Kids who play chess have shown enhanced school performance in these areas.

Improves Your IQ

Measured IQ tends to intensify with chess mastery. One Venezuelan study reported that 4- to 17-year-olds who took chess lessons for 4 months showed remarkable average IQ gains of 19 points. Such intellectual acceleration appears unique to chess compared to other skill-building activities.

While the sport may simply attract innately talented individuals, research suggests chess itself strengthens neural connections and mental efficiency. Students who play chess have demonstrated higher IQ test results, especially in domains like spatial awareness and abstract reasoning. One study revealed that chess players had exponentially more powerful logical reasoning abilities.

The Takeaway

In conclusion, chess clearly develops cognitive abilities and enhances problem-solving skills. The mental discipline required in chess pays dividends in boosting concentration, visualization, orderly thinking, working memory, pattern recognition, and goal setting. By regularly practicing and playing chess, individuals can enjoy a range of lifelong cognitive benefits.

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Chess and Problem Solving: Sharpening Your Mind

Chess is not just a game; it is an activity that challenges your mind and enhances your problem-solving skills. In this article, we will explore the connection between chess and problem-solving and how playing this strategic game can have a positive impact on sharpening your mind. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced player, understanding the cognitive benefits of chess and incorporating it into your routine can help improve your critical thinking, decision-making, and analytical abilities. So, if you are ready to embark on a journey of mental growth and development, let’s delve into the world of chess and discover how it can boost your problem-solving capabilities.

The Benefits of Chess for Problem Solving

Improves critical thinking skills.

Chess is a game that requires players to think critically and make thoughtful decisions. By analyzing positions and evaluating potential moves, chess players develop their ability to think logically and strategically. This mental exercise helps improve critical thinking skills, enabling individuals to approach problems and challenges in a systematic and analytical manner.

Enhances pattern recognition

Chess is a game of patterns. Successful chess players are adept at recognizing and understanding various patterns on the chessboard. This skill transfers to problem-solving situations outside of the game as well. Through regular chess practice, individuals can enhance their pattern recognition abilities, enabling them to identify similarities and connections in different contexts. This heightened pattern recognition skill can be beneficial in various problem-solving scenarios, such as identifying trends, predicting outcomes, or finding creative solutions.

Fosters strategic planning

Chess is all about strategic planning. Players must consider short-term and long-term goals, formulate and adjust their plans accordingly, and anticipate their opponents’ moves. This constant exercise in strategic thinking fosters a mindset that is crucial for effective problem solving. Chess players learn to weigh different options, anticipate consequences, and develop strategies to overcome obstacles. These skills transfer beyond the chessboard, allowing individuals to approach problem-solving situations with a well-thought-out plan and the ability to adapt and adjust their strategies as needed.

In conclusion, engaging in chess as a means of problem-solving practice offers several benefits. It improves critical thinking skills, enhances pattern recognition abilities, and fosters strategic planning. By incorporating chess into one’s routine, individuals can sharpen their minds and cultivate valuable problem-solving skills that can be applied to various aspects of life.

Developing Problem-Solving Techniques through Chess

Analyzing positions and making decisions.

In the game of chess, players are constantly faced with the challenge of analyzing positions and making crucial decisions. Each move requires careful evaluation of the current situation on the board and the anticipation of potential future moves by the opponent. This process helps develop problem-solving techniques as players are forced to think critically, weigh different options, and assess the consequences of their decisions.

Analyzing positions involves considering various factors such as piece placement, pawn structure, king safety, and potential threats. By carefully assessing these elements, players can identify advantageous moves that can lead to a stronger position or material gain. This analytical thinking translates into real-life problem-solving skills by encouraging individuals to break down complex problems into smaller components and evaluate different approaches.

Identifying and solving chess problems

Chess is not just about playing against human opponents; it also offers a wealth of puzzles and problems that require critical thinking to solve. Chess problems can be in the form of tactical puzzles, where players need to find a sequence of moves to gain a significant advantage or checkmate the opponent’s king. Solving these problems enhances problem-solving abilities by challenging players to think creatively, consider alternative solutions, and anticipate potential obstacles.

Identifying chess problems involves recognizing patterns, calculating moves, and visualizing potential outcomes. This process trains the mind to look for hidden opportunities and consider unconventional strategies. By honing these skills in chess, individuals can apply them to real-life situations, improving their ability to identify problems, devise efficient solutions, and adapt their approach as needed.

Learning from mistakes and adapting strategies

Chess is a game of continuous learning, and making mistakes is an inevitable part of the process. However, what sets successful chess players apart is their ability to learn from these mistakes and adapt their strategies accordingly. Analyzing past games, reviewing critical positions, and understanding the reasons behind errors are crucial steps in improving problem-solving techniques.

By reflecting on their mistakes, chess players develop a growth mindset that emphasizes learning and improvement. They learn to identify weaknesses in their thinking process, detect recurring patterns of errors, and adjust their strategies to avoid similar pitfalls in the future. This adaptive thinking nurtures problem-solving skills by encouraging individuals to approach challenges with resilience, flexibility, and a willingness to reassess their approach when necessary.

Overall, chess serves as an excellent platform for developing problem-solving techniques. Through analyzing positions, solving chess problems, and learning from mistakes, players sharpen their minds and acquire valuable problem-solving skills that can be applied to various aspects of life.

Chess Tactics and Problem-Solving

Understanding tactical patterns.

In the game of chess, tactical patterns are essential for success. These patterns are specific combinations of moves that players can use to gain an advantage over their opponents. Understanding these patterns allows players to identify opportunities and make strategic decisions accordingly. Some common tactical patterns include forks, pins, skewers, and discovered attacks. By studying and recognizing these patterns, players can improve their problem-solving skills and make better moves on the chessboard.

Applying tactical knowledge in problem-solving

Chess is not just a game of strategy; it also requires problem-solving skills. Players must analyze the position, evaluate potential moves, and anticipate their opponent’s responses. By applying tactical knowledge acquired through studying patterns, players can effectively solve problems on the chessboard. They can identify weaknesses in their opponent’s position, find winning combinations, and create threats that force their opponent into unfavorable situations. Problem-solving in chess requires a combination of logical thinking, creativity, and the ability to calculate multiple moves ahead.

Utilizing chess puzzles for practice

Chess puzzles are an excellent tool for practicing and sharpening problem-solving skills. These puzzles present players with specific board positions and challenges them to find the best move or sequence of moves. By regularly solving chess puzzles, players can improve their tactical awareness, pattern recognition, and overall problem-solving abilities. Chess puzzles come in various difficulty levels, allowing players to gradually progress and challenge themselves. Additionally, solving puzzles can be an enjoyable and engaging way to enhance one’s chess skills outside of actual gameplay.

By understanding tactical patterns, applying tactical knowledge in problem-solving, and utilizing chess puzzles for practice, players can sharpen their minds and improve their overall chess gameplay. Developing strong problem-solving skills in chess not only enhances one’s performance on the board but also translates into improved critical thinking and decision-making abilities in various aspects of life.

In conclusion, chess is not just a game of strategy and competition; it is also a powerful tool for enhancing problem-solving skills and sharpening the mind. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned player, engaging in regular chess practice can improve your critical thinking abilities, decision-making skills, and overall mental agility. By analyzing complex positions, evaluating multiple possibilities, and devising effective plans, chess players develop a unique mindset that can be applied to various real-life situations. So, if you are looking for a fun and challenging way to boost your cognitive abilities, consider immersing yourself in the world of chess. Start honing your problem-solving skills today and witness the positive impact it can have on your mind.

What Skills Does Chess Develop? 13 Skills In Adults and Children

Chess is more than just a game to pass the time. Beyond its strategic battles on the checkered board, it has proven to be an invaluable tool for developing a wide range of skills that extend to other areas of life.

Whether you’re an adult seeking personal growth or you have a child embarking on a journey of discovery, there’s always something to gain from playing chess.

Let’s start with a brief overview of the skills that chess develops

Some of the skills that chess develops are critical thinking, problem-solving, strategic planning, decision-making, patience, concentration, pattern recognition, creativity, resilience, and emotional intelligence. These skills benefit adults and children and are invaluable in numerous areas of life.

Keep reading to learn more about the skills that chess develops and how these skills can be applied in other areas of your life.

What Skills Does Chess Develop?

Chess is a game that demands and nurtures a wide range of skills , both cognitive and emotional, for players of all ages. 

So, let’s delve into some of the key skills that chess develops for both adults and children:

Skills Developed in Adults

• Strategic Thinking: Adults refine their strategic thinking skills through chess, learning to plan and adapt long-term strategies to achieve their goals.
• Decision-Making: Chess improves decision-making skills in adults by teaching them to evaluate various options, weigh risks and benefits, and make calculated choices.
• Mental Stamina: Adults enhance their mental stamina as they engage in longer and more complex chess games, improving their ability to maintain focus and concentration over extended periods.
• Pattern Recognition: Adults develop pattern recognition skills in chess, enabling them to identify recurring tactical and strategic motifs, which helps them make quicker and more intuitive decisions.
• Psychological Resilience: Chess exposes adults to challenges and setbacks, fostering psychological resilience and the ability to bounce back from losses and setbacks.
• Stress Management: Chess can be an intense and competitive game. Adults learn to manage stress and pressure, staying composed and making sound decisions under difficult circumstances.

Skills Developed in Children

• Cognitive Development: Chess stimulates cognitive skills in children, including critical thinking, logical reasoning, problem-solving, and analytical abilities.
• Memory and Visualization: Children enhance their memory and visualization skills as they mentally track and plan future moves, improving their overall cognitive capabilities.
• Concentration and Focus: Chess requires sustained attention and focus, helping children develop the ability to concentrate and ignore distractions, which can benefit their academic performance.
• Planning and Strategy: Chess teaches children to think ahead, formulate plans, and strategize, enhancing their ability to plan and strategize in academic, social, and personal settings.
• Patience and Delayed Gratification: Chess instills patience and delayed gratification in children, teaching them to think through decisions and wait for the right opportunity to make a move.
• Emotional Intelligence: Chess provides opportunities for children to manage their emotions, cope with winning and losing, and develop emotional intelligence, including self-control and empathy.
• Sportsmanship and Fair Play: Chess promotes sportsmanship and fair play, teaching children to respect opponents, adhere to rules, and handle both victories and defeats with grace and respect.

While there are overlapping skills developed in both adults and children through chess, the emphasis and level of complexity may differ. 

For instance, adults tend to focus on advanced strategies, resilience, and decision-making under pressure, while children primarily benefit from cognitive development, concentration, and foundational skills that lay the groundwork for future growth

Nonetheless, chess remains a valuable tool for skill development in both age groups, offering a multitude of cognitive, emotional, and social benefits.

How to Apply Chess Skills in Other Areas of Life?

The transferability of chess skills makes them valuable assets in academic pursuits, professional careers , personal relationships, and personal development.

Here’s how you can apply different skills developed from chess in other areas of your life:

• Critical Thinking: Apply critical thinking skills to analyze complex problems, evaluate multiple perspectives, and make informed decisions in academic, professional, and personal contexts.
• Problem-Solving: Utilize problem-solving skills to identify obstacles, develop effective strategies, and find innovative solutions to challenges in different areas of life.
• Strategic Planning: Transfer strategic planning skills to set goals, create long-term plans, and adapt strategies based on changing circumstances in business, career, and personal endeavors.
• Decision-Making: Use decision-making skills developed in chess to assess options, weigh risks and benefits, and make well-reasoned decisions in everyday situations.
• Patience and Resilience: Apply patience and resilience to stay focused, persist through setbacks, and maintain a positive mindset when facing challenges in various aspects of life.
• Concentration and Focus: Utilize enhanced concentration and focus to improve productivity, efficiency, and performance in academic, professional, and personal tasks.
• Pattern Recognition: Apply pattern recognition skills to identify recurring patterns, trends, and opportunities in different areas, such as finance, data analysis, and problem-solving.
• Creativity and Innovation: Transfer creative thinking abilities from chess to explore new perspectives, generate novel ideas, and find innovative solutions in diverse fields and endeavors.
• Emotional Intelligence: Utilize emotional intelligence to build positive relationships, handle conflicts, and exhibit respect, empathy, and grace in social interactions.
• Continuous Learning: Apply the mindset of continuous learning and improvement from chess to acquire new knowledge, adapt to changing circumstances, and embrace personal growth in all areas of life.

By consciously applying the skills you gained from playing, you can enhance their cognitive abilities, decision-making processes, problem-solving approaches, and overall effectiveness in various domains. 

How to Ensure Your Children Benefit from Chess?

Parents can play a crucial role in encouraging their children to pursue activities that help their development, such as chess.

So, here are some tips for parents to ensure their children benefit from playing chess :

• Introduce Chess Early: Start introducing chess to your children at an early age. Teach them the basic rules and encourage them to play casually, fostering interest and familiarity with the game.
• Provide Proper Instruction: Enroll your children in chess classes or find a chess coach who can provide structured instruction. This will help them learn essential chess skills, strategies, and techniques in a systematic manner.
• Encourage Regular Practice: Create a routine for your children to practice chess regularly. This could include playing against opponents of varying skill levels, solving chess puzzles, or engaging in online chess platforms or apps that offer practice resources.
• Foster a Supportive Environment: Create a positive and supportive environment for your children to play and learn chess. Encourage their efforts, praise their progress, and provide constructive feedback when necessary.
• Participate in Tournaments or Competitions: Encourage your children to participate in local chess tournaments or competitions. This will help them gain experience, test their skills against other players, and develop resilience in a competitive setting.
• Emphasize Learning from Mistakes: Teach your children to learn from their mistakes in chess. Encourage them to analyze their games, identify areas for improvement, and understand that setbacks are opportunities for growth.
• Connect Chess to Real-Life Situations: Help your children understand the connections between chess and real-life situations. Discuss how the skills they develop in chess, such as critical thinking or problem-solving, can be applied to academic subjects or everyday challenges.
• Provide Access to Resources: Ensure your children have access to chess resources such as books, online tutorials, videos, or chess software. These resources can supplement their learning, expose them to different strategies, and provide inspiration for improvement.
• Encourage Enjoyment and Balance: Lastly, emphasize the enjoyment of playing chess rather than focusing solely on winning. Encourage a healthy balance between chess and other activities, ensuring that your children have a well-rounded development.

By following these steps, you can maximize the benefits your children derive from chess and help them become better players.

Should Chess Be Taught in Schools?

Considering the numerous benefits that chess offers , teaching it in schools can have a profound positive impact on students’ cognitive, social, and emotional development.

First of all, chess is an accessible game that can be enjoyed by students of all backgrounds and abilities. It provides an inclusive platform for intellectual engagement that ensures equal participation among students.

Moreover, complements traditional academic subjects taught at skills and equips students with various skills that will become valuable for their success in all aspects of their life, not just at school. 

Studies have shown a positive correlation between chess and academic performance for students, as chess improves concentration, memory, and critical thinking, which can translate into improved performance in mathematics, reading comprehension, and problem-solving tasks.

Aside from academic performance, chess also teaches students important social skills such as sportsmanship and respect for others, and life skills such as resilience, patience, and perseverance, which are all crucial for personal growth and navigating challenges in their lives.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, chess is not merely a game but a powerful tool for personal development. 

Whether for children or adults, the skills acquired through chess can have a profound impact in various areas of life. From critical thinking and problem-solving to strategic planning and emotional intelligence, the benefits of chess extend far beyond the chessboard. 

By nurturing these skills and applying them in academic, professional, and personal contexts, individuals can enhance their decision-making abilities, navigate challenges with resilience, and approach life’s complexities with a strategic mindset. 

So, let us embrace the lessons that chess offers, encouraging its inclusion in schools, and empowering ourselves and our children to unlock the full potential of these valuable skills.

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A chess player and Coach that has been in loving and playing chess for 12+ Years, gotten my FIDE rating when I was about 16 years old and was my University's Champ and Coach for all 5 years spent there. I absolutely love the game of chess and really want to help others love it as much as I do and be better at it.

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• The Impact of Chess on Cognitive Development and Problem-Solving Skills

The Impact of Chess on Cognitive Development and Problem-Solving Skills  Blogs Home

• 20 Jul 2023

Chess, a game of strategy, wits, and endurance, has captivated players worldwide for centuries. The game's intriguing mix of simple rules and infinite complexity has made it an enduring symbol of intelligence and strategic thinking.

The origin of chess dates back to the 6th century, with roots in Northern India. Originally known as 'chaturanga', this game swiftly found favour within Persian society and progressively disseminated across the globe through routes of Islamic invasions, trade, and cultural exchanges. From the magnificent courts of vast empires to the simple surroundings of local town parks, chess has weathered the passage of time, now globally acknowledged as one of humanity's oldest strategic games.

Chess's international popularity is quite remarkable, surpassing boundaries, cultures, and languages. It's believed that hundreds of millions of individuals engage in chess, with over 605 million adults participating at least once annually. The game's global influence is manifested in diverse ways – ranging from children learning initial chess manoeuvres in classrooms, and competitive tournaments featuring grandmasters, to online platforms bridging chess aficionados from different parts of the planet.

But chess is more than just a game. Numerous research initiatives have indicated the beneficial impacts of chess on cognitive development and problem-solving capabilities, spotlighting its meaningful role beyond pure amusement. The game's status as a potent instrument for cognitive improvement has resulted in its comprehensive integration into global educational curricula, from primary schools to tertiary institutions and even adult learning programs.

From nurturing analytical thinking to enhancing memory and creativity, the effect of chess on cognitive growth is indeed captivating. Welcome to an exploration through the enchanting realm of chess, a game that transcends merely moving pieces on a board.

Cognitive Development

Cognitive development is the process that helps to develop and evolve our brains. It influences the capability of an individual to think, learn, understand, and do problem-solving. It is not limited to information absorption but comprehending the environment and developing meaningful interpretations.

Cognitive development theory was primarily established by the Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget. He proposed that as we grow, we pass through distinct stages of cognitive development, each characterized by unique ways of thinking and understanding. These stages - from sensory development in infancy to the ability to think abstractly and hypothetically in adolescence - highlight the remarkable transformation our cognitive skills undergo throughout our lives.

So, what is the importance of developing cognition? Cognition is the stepping stone of any individual’s learning and problem-solving skills. As our cognitive skills mature, we can enhance information processing, and work with complex ideas. It also improves decision-making, finding solutions to problems. These essential skills can be developed through a game of chess.

Imagine your brain as an intricate network, with each cognitive skill representing a node in this network. Learning and problem solving activities need help from the nodes. These activities demand the ability to recall data, understand the current situation, identify any solution, analyze these solutions, and use the most effective decision-making.

From the viewpoint of chess, each move you make is driven by the cognitive network. When you play chess, complex decisions like identifying the situation on the board, analyzing the movement of the opponents, and formulating the next step strategy involve the use of cognitive problem-solving.

Chess as a Mental Exercise

Chess, often regarded as the 'gymnasium of the mind,' offers an intriguing combination of mental tasks that exercise our cognitive muscles like few other activities can. Let's dive into the key aspects of this mental workout regimen and see how they contribute to cognitive development.

Strategic Thinking: Playing a game of chess is like telling a complex, evolving story where each move might echo throughout the rest of the narrative. This activity requires strategic planning, a cognitive task that stimulates our frontal lobes, the brain region associated with decision-making and problem-solving. Regular engagement in strategic thinking doesn't only refine our skills in planning and forecasting but also boosts our adaptability. We learn to adjust our strategies based on the fluctuating dynamics of the game.

Pattern Recognition: Chess is a game steeped in patterns, from the opening sequences of moves to the positioning of pieces on the board. Recognizing these patterns, understanding their implications, and predicting what they might lead to in the future turns to engaging our visual-spatial skills and memory, essential elements of cognitive development. This ability to recognize and understand patterns can translate into real-world problem-solving, where finding patterns can often lead to innovative solutions.

Decision Making: In chess, each move represents a decision, made after evaluating multiple possibilities and their potential outcomes. This process hones our decision-making skills , especially under conditions of uncertainty and pressure. It also enhances our ability to think ahead, evaluate risks, and foresee consequences, strengthening our executive functions that govern planning, focusing attention, remembering instructions, and juggling multiple tasks successfully.

Concentration: Chess is a game of focus and sustained attention. From tracking the movement of multiple pieces on the board to keeping an eye on the clock, chess demands and nurtures our ability to concentrate. Research indicates that concentration, like a muscle, can be strengthened over time, and the intense focus required in chess can lead to improvements in our ability to concentrate in other areas of life as well.

In essence, when we sit down to play a game of chess, we are not just indulging in a leisurely activity. We are participating in a full-fledged cognitive workout, flexing and strengthening our cognitive muscles. The game's inherent demand for strategic thinking, pattern recognition, decision-making, and concentration offers a potent mix of mental exercises that can spur cognitive development, and refine our problem-solving abilities. It's little wonder that chess continues to captivate and challenge us, even centuries after its inception.

Chess Enhances Problem-Solving Skills

In every walk of life, from academics and career to personal decisions and interactions, problem-solving is a vital skill. It is the ability to understand a situation or challenge, identify possible solutions, evaluate them, and finally, implement the most appropriate one. The beauty of problem-solving skills is their universality - regardless of the context, these skills remain central to overcoming obstacles and achieving goals.

Let's now explore how chess can boost problem-solving capabilities. Each chess match offers players a series of intricate situations, each necessitating a solution - the ideal move. To uncover this move, players must assess the position, predict potential opponent reactions, evaluate various strategies, and make a decision - all under the constraint of a steadily ticking clock.

This process closely mirrors real-life problem-solving. Just as a chess player looks at the whole board to strategize, successful problem solvers take a holistic view of challenges, considering all elements before determining a solution. Like a chess player who anticipates an opponent's moves, effective problem solvers predict potential obstacles and preemptively address them. And just as a chess player makes the final move, decisive problem solvers implement their chosen solutions with confidence.

Memory and Visualization: Engaging in a game of chess isn't merely a physical act of moving pieces on a board. A substantial part of the game unfolds in the mind's eye, leveraging memory and visualization skills - invisible tools that can be honed to near perfection through regular play.

A strong memory plays a vital role in chess. From remembering the rules and how each piece moves, to recalling past games and typical strategies, memory is a constant ally of the chess player. During a game, players must remember the sequence of moves that have led to the current position, enabling them to understand how the game has evolved and which strategies are working. This active engagement with memory during chess can lead to improvements in memory retention.

Visualization is another crucial cognitive skill that chess enhances. Visualizing isn't just about seeing the current state of the game board; it's about picturing future possibilities. Chess players must constantly imagine the potential outcomes of different moves, playing out these scenarios in their minds before deciding on their actual moves. This requires a robust ability to mentally manipulate images, a skill known as spatial visualization. Regular practice of chess, with its demand for continuous mental manipulation of the game board, can significantly enhance this skill.

Whether you're a seasoned player or a novice, each game of chess is an opportunity to polish these vital cognitive tools, equipping you for challenges beyond the chessboard.

Logical Reasoning: At its core, chess is a game of logic. It stimulates the use of deduction (deriving specific conclusions from general rules), induction (inferring general principles from specific instances), and inference (drawing conclusions based on reasoning). For instance, a player might deduce that an opponent's piece is in danger based on the positions of their own pieces. Similarly, a player could induce a strategy after observing recurring patterns in their opponent's moves. These logical principles, honed through chess, can significantly aid decision-making in real-life scenarios.

Creativity and Flexibility : Despite its grounding in logic, chess also promotes creativity. The game encourages players to think outside the box, adapt to changing circumstances, and explore alternative solutions. There's always more than one way to achieve checkmate, and the path you choose can be a testament to your creative thinking . This flexibility can translate into real-world problem-solving, where creative, unconventional solutions often lead to breakthroughs.

Psychological Benefits of Playing Chess

Beyond cognitive skills, chess offers numerous psychological benefits. The game helps improve self-confidence as players experience the rewards of strategic planning and problem-solving. It teaches patience and resilience, given that games can be long and outcomes are uncertain until the very end. Moreover, chess cultivates emotional control, as success often depends on maintaining calm under pressure. These traits, which contribute to mental resilience and emotional intelligence, are integral to overall cognitive development.

Educational Applications

Given its cognitive benefits, chess has found a place in educational curriculums worldwide. Incorporating chess into classroom activities can enhance cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills among students. It can also make learning more engaging, fostering skills such as focus, strategic thinking, and patience, which are beneficial for academic success.

Case Studies and Research

Multiple studies have highlighted the positive effects of chess on cognitive development. A study published in 2016 titled "Checkmate to Alzheimer's : Chess as a mental workout" discusses how chess can improve various cognitive functions. Another study by Robert Ferguson, "Chess in Education Research Summary," states that test scores improved by 17.3% for students regularly engaged in chess classes, compared with only 4.6% for children participating in other forms of "enrichment activities."

In summary, chess is a powerful tool for cognitive development and problem-solving. Its strategic, logical, creative, and psychological aspects offer a comprehensive workout for the mind. The benefits of chess extend beyond the game, influencing academic performance, decision-making, and emotional resilience. Many researches have underscored the positive impact of chess on our cognitive abilities. As we increasingly recognize these benefits, the promotion of chess education in society is not just about fostering future grandmasters, but also about empowering individuals with the cognitive and psychological tools to navigate the challenges of life. So, whether you're an avid chess player or a curious novice, every move on the chessboard is a step toward cognitive enhancement.

http://www.academiadesah.ro/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/checkmate_to_alzheimers.pdf

http://www.scholasticchess.mb.ca/docs/ciers.pdf

Shounak Roy

He finds pleasure in the hunt for knowledge, eagerly seeking to learn something new about anything that interests him. He describes himself as a simple and peaceful individual, always curious to delve deeper into various subjects. If he comes across someone with shared interests, he enjoys engaging in discussions and exchanging knowledge.

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Most people think playing chess makes you ‘smarter’, but the evidence isn’t clear on that

PhD Student, University of Southern Queensland

Researcher, University of Southern Queensland

Senior Lecturer (Foresight) and Director; Professional Studies, University of Southern Queensland

Disclosure statement

Graeme Gardiner, now retired, who has recently completed his Masters Research degree at the University of Southern Queensland, is a former President of the Australian Chess Federation (1999-2003) and founder and former owner of Gardiner Chess (2001-2015). He was also a staff member at Somerset College, where the main study was carried out, from 1989-2001. Graeme does regular voluntary work at the college, and occasional paid duties at inter-school chess tournaments.

Gail Ormsby and Luke van der Laan do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Southern Queensland provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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Chess has long been an important part of school culture. Many people believe chess has a range of cognitive benefits including improved memory, IQ, problem solving skills and concentration.

But there is very little evidence supporting these conclusions. We conducted two studies (still unpublished) that found educators and parents believe chess has many educational benefits. But children in our study who played chess did not show significant improvements in standardised test scores compared to children who didn’t play.

Read more: If machines can beat us at games, does it make them more intelligent than us?

Most people think chess improves learning

The first study looked at the perceptions of educators and parents regarding the benefits of playing chess.

In 2016, 314 participants – which included school principals, teachers, chess-coordinators and parents in parts of Queensland and NSW – filled out an anonymous, online survey.

Participants were asked to state how much they agreed or disagreed with 34 statements about the benefits of playing chess, such as: learning chess helps children develop critical thinking abilities.

Most participants either agreed or strongly agreed with most of the statements for chess benefits. For instance, almost 80% (249 out of 313) strongly agreed learning chess had educational benefits for children.

Another 87% (269 out of 310) strongly agreed learning chess helps children develop problem solving abilities. And 59% (184 out of 314) strongly agreed learning chess has benefits for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Children.

The survey also included a space for comments. Some comments from participants included:

Chess is a great activity for all children to be involved in. It is one of a number of activities that schools can offer that assist in the academic, social and emotional development of children.

One parent said:

Since starting classes [my son] has become a full-time student and is managing social situations a lot better than before. Chess has pushed him to think in different ways.​

But does it?

Previous studies that explored whether chess improves children’s cognitive abilities have had mixed results.

Some studies have found playing chess was linked to better thinking abilities. For instance, a significant 2012 New York study found that children in a group that had learnt either chess or music performed slightly better than children in the group who learnt neither.

But the study also noted the improvement in the chess group was not statistically significant.

Read more: How to use music to fine tune your child for school

A 2017 trial of more than 4,000 children in England found no evidence that chess instruction had any effect on children’s mathematics, reading or science test scores.

We wanted to test if there was, in fact, a positive correlation between learning to play chess and learners’ verbal, numerical and abstract (visual) reasoning skills. The study explored this in Year 1 to Year 5 students in a private school in Queensland.

In particular, the study examined whether a range of chess-related and non-chess related variables affected the standardised test scores of the chess group as compared to the control groups.

The study consisted of 203 students (with approval of their parents) who opted into the study. They made up four groups (based on the same approach as the 2012 New York study mentioned above). The groups were made of:

• 46 students who learnt to play chess
• 48 students who learnt to play music
• 37 students who learnt to play chess and music
• 72 students who neither learnt chess nor music

Weekly chess lessons were given to 83 students for six months: 24 from Year 1, 20 from Year 2, 8 from Year 3, 18 from Year 4 and 13 from year 5.

Weekly music lessons were given to 85 students for six months: 16 from year 1, 15 from year 2, 12 from year 3, 23 from year 4 and 19 from year 5.

We used standardised tests to measure whether there was any significant change in the scores of the different groups.

Year 1 and 2 students were tested using the Raven’s Progressive Matrices ( RPM ) tests, which are multiple-choice intelligence tests of abstract reasoning.

Grade 3, 4 and 5 students were tested using the ACER (Australian Council of Educational Research) General Ability Tests ( AGAT ), used to assess learners’ reasoning skills in three areas: verbal, numerical and abstract (visual).

There were small improvements in the standardised test scores of the chess and music groups but these were not statistically significant.

Read more: A good move to master maths? Check out these chess puzzles

Our findings don’t mean learning to play chess has no benefits for cognitive skills. There are many different types of thinking and measures of intelligence we do not yet fully understand. This is especially relevant in a world where conceptual thinking has become such a vital skill.

The different ways of thinking associated with the benefits of chess may include creative thinking, critical thinking, logical thinking, intuition, logical reasoning, systemic thinking, strategic thinking, foresight, convergent thinking, analytical thinking, problem solving and concentration.

Further research should aim to explore which type of thinking chess may improve, if we are to agree with the positive views of academics, educators, parents and players.

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10 Things Chess Does To Your Brain

Chess is often seen as a brain game for intellectually gifted people as it is exercises the brain. This brain game, popularized by World Chess Grandmaster Bobby Fischer in the 1950s and 1960s, is widely played by young and old people around the world today.

Unlike sports, playing chess will neither help the person build their biceps nor tone their abs, but it benefits the mental health for a very long time. Since many are at their homes now, several have also chosen to play this game as it can be played inside and does not need much physical contact.

Samir Becic,  the number one fitness trainer in America, recommends playing chess as the best brain exercise to play while social distancing as it gives numerous brain health benefits. Below is the top ten of these health benefits that people can get from playing chess.

Helps in recovering from a stroke or a disability

Remember the world's fastest human calculator Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash ? At age 5, he was hit by a truck and fractured his skull in which he needed multiple surgeries and was in a medically-induced coma to save his life. The doctors told his parents that the accident might cause cognitive impairment to Bhanu, and as a solution to keep his brain active, he started solving math problems, puzzles, and playing chess.

These brain-games helped him recover and kept his mind active. Playing chess not only develops the brain but also develops fine motor skills in people with a disability or who have suffered a stroke and other physical debilitating accidents. Chess can stimulate deep concentration and calm, which helps patients with anxiety to relax.

Improves memory

Playing chess can improve memory because of its complex rules that the players have to remember when making a move and also uses memory recall in avoiding previous mistakes or remembering the playing style of the opponent. Good chess players have an excellent memory. It can significantly improve a person's memory and verbal skills, as well.

Enhance reading skills

An oft-cited study in 1991 by Dr. Stuart Margulies  suggests that school students who participated in playing chess have a significant increase in their reading performance. Kids from a district where average kids were tested below the national average, who participated in a chess program, have increased their performance in reading.

Develops planning and foresight

The prefrontal cortex is the last part of the brain that develops during adolescence. That rea is responsible for rational thinking, self-control, judgment, and planning. Since chess requires strategic and critical thinking, the game helps in the development of the prefrontal cortex, which helps adolescents to make better choices in all areas of their life to keep them from making irresponsible and risky choices.

Improves problem-solving skills

When playing chess, the players must think fast, and their problem-solving skills must be on point because the opponent constantly changes the parameters. According to a 1992 study in New Brunswick conducted on 450 fifth-grade students, those who played chess have significantly higher scores on tests than those who did not play chess.

WOW: The Story of the World's Fastest Human Calculator and His Fractured Skull

Promotes creativity

Playing chess activates the right side of the brain responsible for creativity, which unleashes originality among players. In a four-year study of students had them play chess, use computers, and do other things once a week for 32 weeks to determine which activity sparked more creativity .

The result shows that those kids who played chess scored higher than other groups. It also showed that these kids had achieved the highest scores in originality.

Prevents Alzheimer's

The brain must be continuously receiving enough workout as people age just like any body muscles to keep it healthy and fit. According to studies, people aged 75 and up who played brain-games, such as chess, are less likely to develop dementia than their non-playing counterparts.

A sedentary brain loses power, but a healthy mind prevents any diseases like Alzheimer's disease .

Increases IQ

A study of 4,000 students from Venezuela showed that playing  chess can significantly increase the IQ scores  of both boys and girls after four months of playing the brain-game. That means that it is possible to increase IQ by playing brain-games like chess.

Exercises both hemispheres of the brain

A study in Germany indicated that both left and right hemispheres are activated when chess players are asked to identify chess positions and geometric shapes. They have similar reaction times to the simple shapes, but they were using both sides of their brains to respond to the questions about the chess position quickly.

Stimulates brain growth

READ MORE:  Complete Set of Viking Chess Unearthed in Lincolnshire, Will Be up for Sale Next Week

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Does chess instruction improve mathematical problem-solving ability? Two experimental studies with an active control group

Giovanni sala.

Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Bedford Street South, Liverpool, L69 7ZA UK

Fernand Gobet

It has been proposed that playing chess enables children to improve their ability in mathematics. These claims have been recently evaluated in a meta-analysis (Sala & Gobet, 2016 , Educational Research Review, 18, 46–57), which indicated a significant effect in favor of the groups playing chess. However, the meta-analysis also showed that most of the reviewed studies used a poor experimental design (in particular, they lacked an active control group). We ran two experiments that used a three-group design including both an active and a passive control group, with a focus on mathematical ability. In the first experiment ( N = 233), a group of third and fourth graders was taught chess for 25 hours and tested on mathematical problem-solving tasks. Participants also filled in a questionnaire assessing their meta-cognitive ability for mathematics problems. The group playing chess was compared to an active control group (playing checkers) and a passive control group. The three groups showed no statistically significant difference in mathematical problem-solving or metacognitive abilities in the posttest. The second experiment ( N = 52) broadly used the same design, but the Oriental game of Go replaced checkers in the active control group. While the chess-treated group and the passive control group slightly outperformed the active control group with mathematical problem solving, the differences were not statistically significant. No differences were found with respect to metacognitive ability. These results suggest that the effects (if any) of chess instruction, when rigorously tested, are modest and that such interventions should not replace the traditional curriculum in mathematics.

Students’ poor achievement in mathematics has been the subject of debate both in the United States (Hanushek, Peterson, & Woessmann, 2012 ; Richland, Stigler, & Holyoak, 2012 ) and in Europe (Grek, 2009 ). Researchers and policy makers have investigated alternative methods and activities with the purpose of improving the effectiveness of mathematics teaching. One such activity is play. The rationale is that, because children are highly motivated to play, they could learn important concepts in mathematics (and other curricular domains) without realizing it, through implicit learning (Brousseau, 1997 ; Pelay, 2011 ); they could also acquire general cognitive skills such concentration and intelligence, which would positively affect their school results generally.

Several authors have argued that chess is an ideal game for educational purposes (Bart, 2014 ; Jerrim, Macmillan, Micklewright, Sawtell, & Wiggins, 2016 ; Kazemi, Yektayar, & Abad, 2012 ). Chess offers an optimal trade-off between complexity and simplicity, and the balance between tactics and strategy is ideal. It combines numerical, spatial, temporal, and combinatorial aspects. In addition, unlike games such as Awalé and Go, the diversity of pieces helps maintain attention—an important consideration with younger children. Altogether, these characteristics of chess may foster attention, problem solving, and self-monitoring of thinking (i.e., metacognition). Finally, there is some overlap between chess and mathematics (e.g., basic arithmetic with the value of the pieces, geometry of the board, piece movements), which is an obvious advantage when using chess to foster mathematical skills.

In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to validate these ideas empirically. Not only has chess instruction been included in the school curriculum in several countries, but several educational projects and studies involving chess are currently ongoing or have recently ended in Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Even the European Parliament has expressed its interest and positive opinion on teaching chess in schools as an educational tool (Binev, Attard-Montalto, Deva, Mauro, & Takkula, 2011 ). If successful, using chess in school for fostering academic achievement would shed considerable light on the question of skill acquisition and transfer (Mestre, 2005 ).

One psychological mechanism has been regularly proposed for explaining the putative effects of chess instruction: Being a cognitively demanding activity, chess improves pupils’ domain-general cognitive abilities (e.g., intelligence, attention, and reasoning), abilities that then transfer to other domains, and therefore benefits a wide set of non-chess-related skills (e.g., Bart, 2014 ). The idea is intuitive and attractive. This view of chess as a cognitive enhancer has been mentioned in popular newspapers in the United Kingdom (e.g., Garner, 2012 ) and was the key theoretical assumption of a recent large experimental study that took place in the United Kingdom (Jerrim et al., 2016 ).

Chess skill and cognitive ability

The literature on the link between chess skill and cognitive ability is certainly consistent with this mechanism. People engaged in intellectual activities often show superior cognitive ability compared to the general population (e.g., professional musicians; Ruthsatz, Detterman, Griscom, & Cirullo, 2008 ), and chess is no exception. A recent meta-analysis (Sala et al. 2017 ) reported that chess players outperformed nonchess players in several cognitive skills (e.g., planning, numerical ability, and reasoning). The difference between the two groups was approximatively half a standard deviation. Another meta-analysis (Burgoyne et al., 2016 ) found positive correlations between chess skill and cognitive abilities such as fluid intelligence, processing speed, short-term and working memory (WM), and comprehension knowledge.

However, the positive relationship between chess skill and cognitive ability does not necessarily imply that chess instruction enhances cognitive ability. An alternative explanation is that individuals with better cognitive ability are more likely to excel and engage in the game of chess. To establish causality, one needs to turn attention to studies where instruction is under experimental control. This is the province of educational psychology and in particular the study of transfer of skills. This literature is rather skeptical about the possibility that an activity such as chess improves cognition generally and leads to educational benefits in topics such as mathematics. This skepticism is reinforced by the literature on expertise, which has found that experts’ knowledge is highly specialized and thus unlikely to transfer to other domains. The following section briefly summarizes these two fields of research.

Skepticism: The question of far transfer and research into expertise

Transfer of learning occurs when a set of skills learned in one domain generalizes to one (or more) domains. It is customary to distinguish between near transfer, where transfer of learning occurs between tightly related domains (e.g., from geometry to calculus) and far transfer, where the source and target domains are only loosely related. The presumed enhancement of mathematical ability from chess instruction is a clear example of far transfer.

It has been proposed that transfer is a function of the degree to which two (or more) domains share common features (Thorndike & Woodworth, 1901 ). Thorndike and Woodworth’s ( 1901 ) common element theory thus predicts that while near transfer is often observed, far transfer occurs rarely. This theory has received strong support from different areas of research, where interventions that failed to obtain far-transfer effects have been documented. For example, several meta-analyses have shown that neither music instruction nor WM training enhances pupils’ cognitive ability or academic achievement (Melby-Lervåg, Redick, & Hulme, 2016 ; Sala & Gobet, 2017b , 2017c , in press ). Interestingly, all these meta-analyses reported near-zero overall effect sizes when the treatment groups were compared to active control groups. When transfer occurs, it is almost always near transfer only. For example, Oei and Patterson ( 2015 ) have suggested that action video-game training enhances only those cognitive abilities directly involved in the particular video game used during training.

Beyond research into far transfer, research into the psychology of expertise lends support to Thorndike and Woodworth’s ( 1901 ) theory. For example, transfer is only partial between subspecialties such as cardiology and neurology (Rikers, Schmidt, & Boshuizen, 2002 ) and types of specialization in chess, as operationalized by the openings (first moves of a game) played (Bilalić, McLeod, & Gobet, 2009 ). A likely explanation is that expert performance relies substantially on perceptual information (Gobet, 2016 ; Gobet & Simon, 1996 ; Sala & Gobet, 2017a ), and such information is hard to transfer to other domains. Consistent with this explanation, individuals acquire increasingly specific information as skill levels increase and, as a consequence, the probability that transfer will take place decreases considerably (Ericsson & Charness, 1994 ).

Is chess special? Empirical results and the lack of an active control group

Thus, the hypothesis according to which one can improve one’s achievement in a wide set of fields by engaging in cognitively demanding activities is not supported in most areas. In fact, the abovementioned examples of music training and WM training suggest that those activities (e.g., n -back tasks, playing a musical instrument) do not provide any general cognitive benefit or improvement in academic achievement. Reviewing the experiments where the effects of chess instruction have been experimentally studied suggests that chess is no exception.

A recent meta-analytic review (Sala & Gobet, 2016 ) has evaluated the available empirical evidence regarding the effects of chess instruction on pupils’ cognitive ability and academic achievement. In that meta-analysis, the overall effect size of chess instruction was modest, with g ¯ = 0.34. It was also found that the effect sizes about measures of mathematical ability and literacy were g ¯ = 0.38 and g ¯ = 0.25, respectively. Most importantly, that review pointed out that the poor experimental design used in almost all the reviewed studies does not allow one to draw any certain conclusion about the benefits of chess instruction. In particular, most interventions did not include an active control group to control for placebo effects. Potential elements able to trigger placebo effects include the state of attention and excitement induced by a novel activity, instructors’ motivation, and teachers’ expectations. Only one study (Fried & Ginsburg, n.d. ), which focused on visuospatial and perceptual abilities, included an active control group. This study showed no significant difference between the chess-treated, active, and passive control groups. Regrettably, Fried and Ginsburg’s (n.d.) experiment did not examine the effects of chess practice on pupils’ mathematical ability. Thus, that study cannot corroborate or refute any hypothesis about the effectiveness of chess instruction in enhancing mathematical ability.

Consistent with Sala and Gobet’s ( 2016 ) conclusion about the difficulty of far transfer, no effect of chess instruction was found in a recent large-scale study carried out by the Institute of Education, London, in the United Kingdom (Jerrim et al., 2016 ). A large sample of Year 5 pupils (9–10 years; N = 1,965) engaging in one year of chess instruction (ranging from 25 to 30 hours) were compared to a passive control group of peers ( N = 1,900). The classes were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions. Pretest measures consisted of Key Stage 1 public examinations covering mathematics, science, and literacy. Posttest measures, which were obtained 1 year after the end of the treatment, consisted of Key Stage 2 public examinations in the same fields. No difference was found between the two groups in any of the measures. While some aspects of the design could have been improved (e.g., absence of an active control group, absence of measures immediately after the end of the experiment, and possible ceiling effect; Sala, Foley, & Gobet, 2017 ), the study certainly had strengths (e.g., large sample and allocation of classes to condition by randomization) and the absence of any positive effect of chess instruction—not even placebo effects—supports the hypothesis that far transfer is difficult.

The present study

Given the importance of controlling for placebo effects reported in music and WM training (Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016 ; Sala & Gobet, 2017b , 2017c ), the lack of an active control group is undoubtedly the main flaw of the studies in the field of chess instruction (Gobet & Campitelli, 2006 ; Gobet, de Voogt, & Retschitzki, 2004 ; Sala et al., 2017 ). The two experiments presented in this article aim to correct this unsatisfactory state of affairs. In the first experiment, primary school children receiving a 30-hour chess course were administered a test of mathematical ability and compared to both an active control group, receiving instruction about checkers, and a passive control group. Along with the test of mathematical ability, the participants were given a questionnaire assessing metacognitive abilities. Metacognitive skills have been established to be one of the most important cognitive correlates of mathematical ability (Desoete & Roeyers, 2003 ; Veenman, Van Hout-Wolters, & Afflerbach, 2006 ). Since the self-monitoring of one’s thinking processes is essential in a game like chess (De Groot, 1965 ), playing chess may be associated with improvements in metacognitive ability.

In the second experiment, three fourth-grade classes were randomly chosen to take part either in a chess course, a Go (Baduk) course, or regular school activities. The pupils were pre- and posttested on the same tests of mathematical ability and metacognitive ability as in the first experiment.

Experiment 1

Participants.

A total of 233 third and fourth graders from eight Italian schools took part in this experiment only. The mean age was 8.50 years ( SD = 0.67 years). Parental consent was asked and obtained for all the participants.

A 6-item test was designed to test the pupils’ mathematical ability (range score 0–6). The items used were all from the IEA-TIMSS international survey among fourth graders (Mullis & Martin, 2013 ). These items were selected because they engage mathematical problem-solving ability. In fact, all the items required solving a mathematical problem starting from a given set of data. An example of the kind of mathematical problems used in IEA-TIMSS is shown in Fig.  1 .

An example of the kind of problems used in the test of mathematics

To assess participants’ metacognitive skills, we used the Italian version of Panaoura and Philippou’s ( 2007 ) questionnaire (15-item version; range score 15-75). Participants were given 45 minutes for completing the battery of tests.

A convenience assignment to the three conditions was used. The group playing chess was compared to an active control group (playing checkers) and a passive control group (doing regular school activities). The experimental group consisted of three classes (two third-grade classes and one fourth-grade class; N = 53), which attended 25 hours of chess lessons during school hours, 1 along with regular school activities. The active control group (placebo group) comprised four third-grade classes ( N = 82), which attended 25 hours of checkers lessons during school hours, along with regular school activities. Finally, the passive control group consisted of four classes (three third-grade classes and one fourth-grade class; N = 98), which attended regular school activities only.

The interventions were delivered by professional instructors from the Italian Chess Federation and the Italian Checkers Federation. The chess and checkers lessons followed a prearranged teaching protocol, which consisted of the basic rules of the games, tactical exercises, and playing complete games. Most of the activities focused on problem-solving situations, such as spotting the correct move, calculating the correct variation, and evaluating the advantages/weaknesses of a position. Also, it should be noted that the two courses (chess and checkers) did not introduce any mathematics-related topics, unless these were part of the games (e.g., in chess, a Bishop is worth three Pawns).

Mathematical ability

A univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to evaluate the role of group (independent variable), mathematics pretest scores (covariate), and age (covariate), in affecting mathematics postintervention scores (dependent variable). The results showed a significant effect of pretest scores, F (1, 228) = 58.14, p < .001, and age, F (1, 228) = 4.22, p = .041, but no significant effect of group, F (2, 228) = 0.39, p = .679. The descriptive statistics are summarized in Table ​ Table1 1 .

Mathematical ability scores in the three groups (Experiment 1 )

Note . Standard deviations are shown in brackets

Metacognitive ability

The same analysis (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the results in meta-cognitive ability. The results showed a significant effect of pretest scores, F (1, 228) = 82.50, p < .001, and age, F (1, 228) = 3.97, p = .047, but no significant effect of group, F (2, 228) = 0.62, p = .541. The descriptive statistics are summarized in Table ​ Table2 2 .

Metacognitive ability scores in the three groups (Experiment 1)

The results showed no significant differences between the three groups in mathematical ability or metacognitive ability.

Experiment 2

The second experiment 2 broadly used the same design but also differed in three ways. First, the classes were randomly assigned to the experimental conditions. Second, the active control group played the Oriental game of Go (Baduk) instead of checkers. Finally, chess and Go replaced part of the hours ( n = 15) originally dedicated to mathematics and sciences to directly compare the two games with the traditional methods of teaching mathematics and mathematics-related disciplines.

Fifty-two fourth graders in three classes of a primary school in Italy took part in this experiment. The mean age of the participants was 9.32 years ( SD = 0.32 years). Parental consent was asked and obtained for all the participants.

The same tests as those used in Experiment 1 were administered to the participants.

The three classes were randomly assigned to three groups. The first class attended 15 hours of chess lessons during school hours, along with regular school activities (experimental group). The second class attended regular school activities only (passive control group). Finally, the third class attended 15 hours of Go lessons during school hours, along with regular school activities (active control/placebo group).

Importantly, the two interventions—that is, chess and Go courses—substituted part of the hours originally devoted to mathematics and sciences. This way, we could compare the effectiveness of chess (and Go) instruction with the traditional didactics of teaching mathematics and mathematics-related disciplines, such as sciences. Like in Experiment 1 , the chess and Go lessons followed a prearranged teaching protocol. To rule out possible effects related to instructor behavior (e.g., Pygmalion effect), the chess and Go interventions were delivered by the same instructor, who was both a chess and Go trainer. The participants were pre- and posttested on mathematical ability and metacognition, once before the beginning of the intervention and once after the end.

No significant differences between the three groups were found in the pre-test scores, F (2, 51) = 1.03, p = .365. A univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to evaluate the role of group (independent variable) and mathematics pretest scores (covariate) in affecting mathematics postintervention scores (dependent variable). The results showed a significant effect of the covariate, F (1, 48) = 21.83, p < .001, and a significant effect of group, F (2, 48) = 3.37, p = .043. The pairwise comparisons showed that the control group outperformed the Go group ( p = .017), the chess group marginally outperformed the Go group ( p = .088), whereas no significant difference was found between the control and the chess group ( p = .487). A more conservative post hoc analysis (Bonferroni correction) showed only a marginal difference between the control group and the Go group ( p = .052). No other significant difference was found. The descriptive statistics are summarized in Table ​ Table3 3 .

Mathematical ability scores in the three groups (Experiment 2 )

Metacognitive skills

No significant differences between the three groups were found in the pretest scores, F (2, 51) = 0.49, p = .617. A univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to evaluate the role of group (independent variable) and metacognition pretest scores (covariate) in affecting metacognition postintervention scores (dependent variable). The results showed a significant effect of the covariate, F (1, 48) = 47.81, p < .001, and no significant effect of group, F (2, 48) = 0.37, p = .694. The pairwise comparisons showed no differences between the three groups. The descriptive statistics are summarized in Table ​ Table4 4 .

Metacognitive skill scores in the three groups (Experiment 2 )

The effects of chess instruction on mathematical problem-solving ability were minimal. Children seemed to benefit more from the traditional didactics than from chess and Go instruction. Regarding metacognitive skills, children did not seem to benefit from any advantage from the 15-hour chess course. In fact, the participants performed equally across the three groups, suggesting that metacognition does not represent the cognitive link between chess instruction and mathematical ability.

General discussion

The results of the two studies do not support the hypothesis according to which chess instruction benefits pupils’ mathematical ability. The effects of chess, if any, appear to be minimal and certainly too limited to provide any educational advantage over the traditional instructional methods. Thus, chess instruction seems to align with the results obtained in the fields of music instruction and WM training. In a broader perspective, our findings are in line with Thorndike and Woodworth’s ( 1901 ) common element theory and substantial research on expertise (Gobet, 2016 ) and education (Donovan, Bransford, & Pellegrino, 1999 ) in predicting no far-transfer effects.

Recommendations for future research

Given the small number of studies controlling for placebo effects, it is imperative to replicate and extend the experiments reported in the present article. Compared to the design we adopted, examples of possible ameliorations include full random assignment to the groups, measures of other cognitive constructs (e.g., intelligence and spatial cognition), and the manipulation of the duration of the chess interventions.

In addition, an interesting way to make chess instruction more effective could be to make links between mathematics and chess explicit. Possible examples comprise introducing the Cartesian graph to pupils with the chess board and illustrating the concept of block distance—as opposed to distance in Euclidean space—with the movement of the King (see Fig.  2 ). The inclusion of domain-specific information (e.g., mathematical problems) into chess courses curricula may be a simple way to get around the limits of far transfer to occur. One variation of this approach is to use not only chess but also other board games or even other types of games such as card games to teach specific mathematical concepts. For example, mancala games could be used for teaching the concept of modular arithmetic, card games for teaching elements of probability, and Nim games to teach the binary system of Boolean algebra (Rougetet, 2016 ).

Using chess to illustrate block-city distance and Euclidean distance. White draws the game by moving the King along the blue line, which allows him both to approach his Pawn (threatening promotion) and to catch the black Pawn. In chess, block city and Euclidean distances are equivalent (in this examples, six moves in both cases to reach the square where the two arrows meet). This position was composed by Richard Réti in 1921

Beyond chess, the results of the research on chess instruction have profound implications for our understanding of learning and transfer of skill. There is a stark contrast between the enthusiasm displayed by the chess community and the sobering results from research on transfer and expertise: While the former heralds the positive benefits of chess instruction, the latter consistently report data speaking against the occurrence of far transfer. When critically evaluated, the literature on chess instruction is consistent with other experimental studies on transfer, indicating that far transfer is very unlikely. The results of the two experiments presented in this paper are consistent with these conclusions.

Extrapolating from the research on chess and activities such as music and video-game playing, it is likely that the same difficulties in far transfer will be found with other kinds of games and play. To make the use of didactical games more effective, and given the difficulty of far transfer to occur, teachers and researchers should seriously consider the possibility of making explicit the link between playing games and the mathematical abilities the game is supposed to foster. Even so, it is worth reminding ourselves of French sociologist Roger Caillois’s ( 1957 ) discussion of the role of play in his article on the unity of play and diversity of games: “Faculties thus developed certainly profit by this supplementary training which is free, intense, pleasurable, inventive, and secure. But it is never the function of play itself to develop these faculties. The purpose of play is play” (p. 105).

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully thank all the principals and teachers involved in the studies. The authors also thank Daniele Berté, Alessandro Dominici, Sebastiano Paulesu, and Gionata Soletti for the valuable assistance in all the organizational aspects of the interventions.

1 The chess and checkers courses were implemented during school hours accordingly to the teachers’ availability. No particular discipline (e.g., mathematics) was systematically replaced by the courses.

2 The results of this experiment were published in Sala, Gobet, Trinchero, and Ventura ( 2016 ).

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Transferring skills learned playing chess to problem-solving in mathematics.

By Emily Sholtis & Anna Nicotera, Basis Policy Research.

Our synthesis of chess research demonstrated a link between students’ academic performance and chess instruction. Researchers Roberto Trinchero , professor at the University of Turin, and Giovanni Sala , a graduate student at the University of Liverpool, have taken the research a step further by investigating whether certain types of chess instruction are responsible for student gains.

In their 2016 article “Chess Training and Mathematical Problem-Solving: The Role of Teaching Heuristics in Transfer of Learning,” Trinchero and Sala studied a group of 931 Italian primary school students to see if they experienced a transfer of learning between the skills taught as part of chess instruction and those used in math classes. Transfer of learning refers to the students’ ability to apply skills learned in one domain to another. The researchers describe two types of transfer of learning: near and far. They find that chess is an example of a far transfer of learning meaning it is more difficult to extend skills learned playing the game to other areas.

Students in the study were split into three groups. The first was a control group where the students received no chess instruction. The second was a treatment group who received chess instruction from their classroom teachers during the school day. The third was another treatment group who learned chess, also during the school day, from experienced chess instructors who had been trained to use heuristic strategies. Heuristics are quick, simple problem-solving strategies that are often employed to handle ill-defined problems. Trinchero and Sala hypothesized that students who learned chess with heuristic strategies would be more likely to experience a transfer of learning that would result in better performance on a mathematics problem-solving assessment.

After only 15 hours of training, the students who learned heuristic strategies experienced significant growth in their mathematical problem-solving skills. Interestingly, neither the control group who did not participate in chess nor their peers who were exposed to chess through classroom instruction showed significant improvement.

Since chess has a far transfer of learning, exposing students to chess may not be enough to impact student learning in content areas, like math. However, the research suggests that there are instructional strategies that can be used to teach chess that will facilitate students making connections across subject areas. These findings are valuable, and could have an important impact of the development of chess curriculums and the implementation of in-school programming moving forward.

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10 Best Mobile Games to Help Sharpen your Mind

When we think about playing games, learning a new skill doesn’t always spring to mind.

Yet, if the lockdown has taught us one thing, it was to make the most of what we have. It presented a golden opportunity where we got enough time to keep our minds razor-sharp.

And quizzes, puzzles, and other online games can help our brains “workout” and make it sharp. Yes, just bodily workouts are not enough; your brain must exercise too to improve its efficiency.

Although restrictions have now eased, there’s no reason why we should stop playing online games to hone our brains. They’re entertaining, can be played by any age group, and, best of all, they’re usually free.

That said, let’s talk about some of the best online brain games to help you improve your brain’s capacity, memory, focus, and enjoy its long-term benefits in your life.

Why Online Games?

There are plenty of positives to online gaming. Most notably, they often present an opportunity to increase personal wellness and productivity and can be played wherever you are and whenever you want. Not to mention, they lift our mood and help us unwind, no matter what’s our age.

Also, just like physical exercises keep our bodies strong, brain games, including online ones, can potentially sharpen our memories and keep our brains healthy and active. This is especially true for games involving critical thinking and problem-solving.

So, let’s explore the top 10 online games to hone your mental power.

Nintendo Brain Age

This is a puzzle video game inspired by the research of a notable Japanese neuroscientist Dr. Kawashima. His studies assessed the impact of performing some mathematical exercises and reading on brain stimulation. The game was devised to energize and improve memory and concentration skills.

The advantage of Nintendo Brain Age is that you can choose the games to play, so there’s tons of variety here. Nintendo suggests playing one or more of the eight main kinds of games for around five minutes a day for the best results.

However, to ensure you don’t over-train your brain in just one area, you’re only permitted to play each of the below once a day; that way, your brain gets an all-over workout! The eight games are:

• Devilish Blocks
• Devilish Calculations
• Devilish Cups
• Devilish Listening
• Devilish Mice
• Devilish Pairs
• Devilish Reading
• Devilish Shapes

Now, suppose you want to rest your brain after playing any of the above games. In that case, the game also includes a relaxation mode where you can match colors and music. You can also interact and compete with other players.

This review wouldn’t be complete without referencing a few of the classics, of which Sudoku is one of the undisputed kings. It’s an excellent brain teaser to help improve focus, concentration, and logic skills.

For beginners, Sudoku is a logic-based game, where you place numbers from 1-9 only once in each box, line, or column inside a 9×9 grid.

There are tons of options here. You can either play it via a web browser or from one of the many Sudoku apps found in the Google Play and Apple Store. With this particular Sudoku , you have access to 5,000+ Sudoku brain puzzles across different difficulty levels.

You can also access player tips if you’ve never played it before and are intimidated by the idea of playing a numerical game. However, if playing with numbers is a daunting prospect, imagine the numbers were replaced by letters or symbols. Now, you’ll soon see that it’s not a numbers game; instead, it’s a game that promotes logic and powers of deduction.

Another gem in the world of online gaming is Solitaire . This 52-card game is also sometimes known as “patience” or “cable” and is both a relaxing and stimulating pastime that you can play alone for hours.

Here’s what happens: The pack of cards is shuffled, and cards are distributed face down into seven columns. The first column on the left-hand side has one card, and each subsequent column is dealt with an additional card. This is called a tableau. Next, the last card in each pile is turned over facing up.

Players draw and play the remaining cards from a stockpile and put unused cards in a waste pile. Once all the cards are turned over, the cards that haven’t been moved to the tableau or foundation can be redrawn from the stockpile in the same order.

The objective here is to transfer all the cards from their starting positions to four foundations in running order and suit. You can play over 500 versions of free, online solitaire games, including Spider on Solitaired.com . Fear not; the website is also mobile-friendly, so you can play while you’re on the go too!

Solitaired.com provides helpful explanations of the game’s rules and a brief outline of how to play. In addition, they include video clips with tips and strategies to help you play the game more effectively.

Not to mention, you can restart current games, undo actions, do a random card shuffle, and select only winnable games. You can also choose from differing difficulty levels with Turn 1 and Turn 3 card options and test yourself by timing how many moves it takes you to win a game and how long.

Brain it On!

This game is available via web browsers or Android and iOS apps. This Canadian-developed physics puzzle game offers different types of brain-busting challenges and puzzles that you can play and compete with your friends.

According to the Brain it On! website, new puzzles are being added all the time, and there are different ways to solve each puzzle. Brain it On! asks you to solve different puzzles by drawing on your screen to create various objects.

Its purpose is to encourage you to think outside the box and create shapes through trial and error to solve the problem. You’re timed as you play, and you can earn up to three stars as you complete each level, depending on how long the puzzle took you to solve and how many moves you made.

In common with all our suggested online games to sharpen your mental skills, Brain it On! is also free to play and download.

Here you have access to 60+ brain training games designed to improve your memory, attention span, flexibility, problem-solving, processing speed. All games can be adapted to your skill level and age, and the games adjust to your real-time performance.

So, as you improve, the games become more challenging. Also, as you play, Lumosity interprets your game scores and offers comments and insights into your cognitive skills. That way, you learn how to improve your brain skills while still having fun. It’s cool, right?

Luminosity also includes verbal, math, and mindfulness training. You can complete daily exercises and track your progress. It can also be played through your web browser or via an app downloaded from the Apple Store or Google Play.

However, Luminosity isn’t free. Accessing all 58 games will cost you $59.95 a year or $299.95 for a lifetime subscription.

Peak Braining Training

This award-winning app offers 45+ brain training games that you can access via Google Play or the iOS app store.

The app combines technology, neuroscience, and, most importantly, fun to provide games across six categories to help you improve your memory, attention span, problem-solving, language skills, mental agility, and more.

You receive feedback after each game, and you can either play it alone or with friends. In addition, you can track your progress by receiving insights and statistics and comparing how you fare against other players of your age and profession.

There’s also a free version where you receive a few random games a day and basic insights, but you can only play one game a day. Whereas the paid-for version gives you access to six daily games and costs $35.09 per year.

Chess is a wonderful game that helps players develop foresight, sportsmanship, and perseverance. It can sharpen thinking skills and help young ones understand mathematical concepts more deeply.

In addition, chess can help improve cognitive skills, attention span, memory capacity, problem-solving, logical thinking, and it comes with other related benefits.

You see, chess involves all the goodies to improve your mental skills, which explains its worldwide popularity. Chess.com is an excellent site you can hop into and play it online. Hundreds and thousands of players play online on this website due to its awesome offerings.

You have two options – play the games online with a person or play with customizable training bots. They have a wide number of games to choose from, including different types of chess, puzzles, chess for kids , and other variants.

Over 20 million people have joined Chess.com for many reasons. You can play FREE in its incredibly fast browser interface without Flash or download requirements. You can also take up the Diamond Membership for $100/year to enjoy it more.

But if you don’t know how to play chess, they also help you learn it with training tools having 1500+ videos, 50k+ puzzles, articles, and more. Chess.com also offers advanced opening theory, exclusive interviews, in-depth analysis of best tournaments, analysis for member games using the leading chess engine – Stockfish.

Designed for Apple users, Brainwell is a cool app that you can install and play 50+ brain games daily. It includes puzzles, teasers, memory games, mind tests, and more. These games will help you improve your memory, attention span, focus, and IQ.

Brainwell has over 1 million downloads and is loved by adults and kids alike. It can train problem-solving, attention, visual skills, and language. Here, you can face challenging exercises to sharpen your mind using games designed with neuroscience knowledge.

Furthermore, Brainwell offers a performance tracking feature that gives you a Brain Factor score to help you measure your daily performance with tests and quizzes. You can even connect it with your social profiles and share the scores, challenge others, compare scores, and analyze your rank after each game.

You can play it for free, which includes 3 games/day. Upgrade it to become a subscriber and access all the 50+ games, and explore the benefits. The app works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, so you can challenge your brain anytime, anywhere.

Play awesome games online with Brainturk , which is available on all devices where you want to play it on your mobile or computer with any operating system. It provides 40+ games and meditation techniques based on neuroplasticity principles.

The games help you improve attention span, language skills, focus, short and long-term cognitive memory and offer tools to address psychological barriers restricting your brain.  Just give them your 5 minutes daily and see how your brain capacity improves.

In fact, these games are used by clinics and neuropsychological researchers. Brainturk’s games are engaging and fun to help you strengthen your brain muscles and speed memory, focus, and stimulate your brain.

They have included 40+ games such as Complex Working Memory, Flanker task, Dual N-Back, Corsi block, Stroop task, picture back, Tower of London, tracking objects, revised space fortress, math games, etc. So, explore these and sharpen your brain and benefit in both your personal and professional lives.

BrainGymmer

BrainGymmer works like a gym where you can exercise your mind and make it sharp and flexible to face challenges and solve them smartly. Played by 300k+ users, this online game site turns science into fun by working with neuroscientists and creating challenging yet fun games to feed your brain.

Just spare 10 minutes daily to keep your mind in shape and see the improvements in your daily cognitive skills such as concentration, face recognition, short-term memory, and mathematics. These games are easy to learn and include a quick tutorial with step-by-step instructions.

For each game, there is some score calculated based on the difficulty level. The score is based on accuracy and speed of solving exercises. BrainGymmer has games to train all the major five spheres of your cognitive skills – memory, thinking speed, attention, logical reasoning, and perception. These games are formed based on proven psychological tests and tasks.

BrainGymmer doesn’t need you to download the game; just play it on your browser. It supports a browser, including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. In addition, you can also play games on both mobiles and computers.

Online games are a great way to sharpen our cognitive abilities and challenge ourselves while having fun.

So, are you ready to sharpen your mind?

There you have it!

We hope the above online games help you sharpen your mental skills. You have both free and paid options available; so, start with the free ones and gradually move to the paid ones to unlock more options and let your brain be stronger and sharper.

Courses to learn game development .

AI achieves silver-medal standard solving International Mathematical Olympiad problems

AlphaProof and AlphaGeometry teams

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Breakthrough models AlphaProof and AlphaGeometry 2 solve advanced reasoning problems in mathematics

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) with advanced mathematical reasoning has the potential to unlock new frontiers in science and technology.

We’ve made great progress building AI systems that help mathematicians discover new insights , novel algorithms and answers to open problems . But current AI systems still struggle with solving general math problems because of limitations in reasoning skills and training data.

Today, we present AlphaProof, a new reinforcement-learning based system for formal math reasoning, and AlphaGeometry 2, an improved version of our geometry-solving system . Together, these systems solved four out of six problems from this year’s International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), achieving the same level as a silver medalist in the competition for the first time.

Breakthrough AI performance solving complex math problems

The IMO is the oldest, largest and most prestigious competition for young mathematicians, held annually since 1959.

Each year, elite pre-college mathematicians train, sometimes for thousands of hours, to solve six exceptionally difficult problems in algebra, combinatorics, geometry and number theory. Many of the winners of the Fields Medal , one of the highest honors for mathematicians, have represented their country at the IMO.

More recently, the annual IMO competition has also become widely recognised as a grand challenge in machine learning and an aspirational benchmark for measuring an AI system’s advanced mathematical reasoning capabilities.

This year, we applied our combined AI system to the competition problems, provided by the IMO organizers. Our solutions were scored according to the IMO’s point-awarding rules by prominent mathematicians Prof Sir Timothy Gowers , an IMO gold medalist and Fields Medal winner, and Dr Joseph Myers , a two-time IMO gold medalist and Chair of the IMO 2024 Problem Selection Committee.

“ The fact that the program can come up with a non-obvious construction like this is very impressive, and well beyond what I thought was state of the art.

Prof Sir Timothy Gowers, IMO gold medalist and Fields Medal winner

First, the problems were manually translated into formal mathematical language for our systems to understand. In the official competition, students submit answers in two sessions of 4.5 hours each. Our systems solved one problem within minutes and took up to three days to solve the others.

AlphaProof solved two algebra problems and one number theory problem by determining the answer and proving it was correct. This included the hardest problem in the competition, solved by only five contestants at this year’s IMO. AlphaGeometry 2 proved the geometry problem, while the two combinatorics problems remained unsolved.

Each of the six problems can earn seven points, with a total maximum of 42. Our system achieved a final score of 28 points, earning a perfect score on each problem solved — equivalent to the top end of the silver-medal category . This year, the gold-medal threshold starts at 29 points, and was achieved by 58 of 609 contestants at the official competition.

Graph showing performance of our AI system relative to human competitors at IMO 2024. We earned 28 out of 42 total points, achieving the same level as a silver medalist in the competition.

AlphaProof: a formal approach to reasoning

AlphaProof is a system that trains itself to prove mathematical statements in the formal language Lean . It couples a pre-trained language model with the AlphaZero reinforcement learning algorithm, which previously taught itself how to master the games of chess, shogi and Go.

Formal languages offer the critical advantage that proofs involving mathematical reasoning can be formally verified for correctness. Their use in machine learning has, however, previously been constrained by the very limited amount of human-written data available.

In contrast, natural language based approaches can hallucinate plausible but incorrect intermediate reasoning steps and solutions, despite having access to orders of magnitudes more data. We established a bridge between these two complementary spheres by fine-tuning a Gemini model to automatically translate natural language problem statements into formal statements, creating a large library of formal problems of varying difficulty.

When presented with a problem, AlphaProof generates solution candidates and then proves or disproves them by searching over possible proof steps in Lean. Each proof that was found and verified is used to reinforce AlphaProof’s language model, enhancing its ability to solve subsequent, more challenging problems.

We trained AlphaProof for the IMO by proving or disproving millions of problems, covering a wide range of difficulties and mathematical topic areas over a period of weeks leading up to the competition. The training loop was also applied during the contest, reinforcing proofs of self-generated variations of the contest problems until a full solution could be found.

Process infographic of AlphaProof’s reinforcement learning training loop: Around one million informal math problems are translated into a formal math language by a formalizer network. Then a solver network searches for proofs or disproofs of the problems, progressively training itself via the AlphaZero algorithm to solve more challenging problems.

A more competitive AlphaGeometry 2

AlphaGeometry 2 is a significantly improved version of AlphaGeometry . It’s a neuro-symbolic hybrid system in which the language model was based on Gemini and trained from scratch on an order of magnitude more synthetic data than its predecessor. This helped the model tackle much more challenging geometry problems, including problems about movements of objects and equations of angles, ratio or distances.

AlphaGeometry 2 employs a symbolic engine that is two orders of magnitude faster than its predecessor. When presented with a new problem, a novel knowledge-sharing mechanism is used to enable advanced combinations of different search trees to tackle more complex problems.

Before this year’s competition, AlphaGeometry 2 could solve 83% of all historical IMO geometry problems from the past 25 years, compared to the 53% rate achieved by its predecessor. For IMO 2024, AlphaGeometry 2 solved Problem 4 within 19 seconds after receiving its formalization.

Illustration of Problem 4, which asks to prove the sum of ∠KIL and ∠XPY equals 180°. AlphaGeometry 2 proposed to construct E, a point on the line BI so that ∠AEB = 90°. Point E helps give purpose to the midpoint L of AB, creating many pairs of similar triangles such as ABE ~ YBI and ALE ~ IPC needed to prove the conclusion.

New frontiers in mathematical reasoning

As part of our IMO work, we also experimented with a natural language reasoning system, built upon Gemini and our latest research to enable advanced problem-solving skills. This system doesn’t require the problems to be translated into a formal language and could be combined with other AI systems. We also tested this approach on this year’s IMO problems and the results showed great promise.

Our teams are continuing to explore multiple AI approaches for advancing mathematical reasoning and plan to release more technical details on AlphaProof soon.

We’re excited for a future in which mathematicians work with AI tools to explore hypotheses, try bold new approaches to solving long-standing problems and quickly complete time-consuming elements of proofs — and where AI systems like Gemini become more capable at math and broader reasoning.

Green applies problem-solving skills to service

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Every year during awards season we hear talk of artistic types who have been named EGOTs for taking home the coveted combo of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Headlines scream, commentators gush because it is not easy to be good at so many things. 

If the academic world had a similar designation, Dr. Joe Green’s name would be right at the top of the list. During his career at Ohio State Lima, he has earned all the teaching, research and scholarly awards we have to offer, some of them twice. At Ohio State Lima’s 2024 Academic Celebration, he added the Outstanding Service Award, which recognizes individuals who demonstrate and support the Buckeye idea of care for others, as well as carrying out the mission of the university on an ongoing basis. 

Green's approach to service is similar to the approach to general problem solving he developed as one of 11 kids. To stand out, you had to do more than come up with a good idea, you had to take action. 

“Seeing things that could be improved is easy,” Green said. “Everybody notices things that could be improved, but taking the next step and trying to come up with a constructive solution that's doable and not just wishful, that is more complicated.”

Green has taken action to spread his service out from Ohio State Lima to include his hometown of Bellevue and the entire state of Ohio. During his time as faculty assembly president he helped develop a process for faculty and staff to evaluate administrators on our campus, a more detailed and layered process than any of us could have expected. Over the years, he and his colleagues have developed a cognitive-based approach to smoking cessation that includes hypnosis, mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches. The latest iteration was piloted at Ohio State Lima and included campus and community members.  His ongoing efforts in his home community as president of the Gridiron Foundation support both the school and town and have resulted in an improved and expanded athletic complex, a more beautiful downtown, and a growing endowment for scholarships for high school students.

Research mentor

Green applies the idea of turning abstract ideas into concrete action and knowledge to research and teaching as well. He models turning curiosity about a subject into a research question that you can collect empirical data on to strengthen the argument for or against its validity. As students in his classroom learn to how to do it as well, Green sees their confidence grow. 

“That's all part of the goal of higher education is to instill greater confidence and assertiveness and willingness to insist upon good scientific evidence for claims that are being made as opposed to just accepting positions because a person in authority has stated them,” Green said.  

Green realizes that he could do research more quickly and more efficiently if he wasn’t a mentor, but he is a mentor anyway. He has been in his undergraduates’ shoes and knows what it takes to help them become better students, researchers and community citizens. 

“I was fortunate enough to have great mentors during my academic career and throughout my life more broadly,” Green said. “Having someone to take the time to explain is invaluable.”

Teaching has never become routine for Green in his 31 years at Ohio State. He preps for each lecture like it is a mini-performance with a lesson plan as the script and the ability to adjust to the students’ needs and questions as they develop. 

“I try to script my lectures out to some extent,” Green said. “Once I get into the classroom, it's like improv because you never know where it's going to go or what questions are going to come out or what topics students are going to be interested in on a given day.”

While he sees the utility of offering online and hybrid classes, he misses a fully in person teaching load. It is easier to engage and hold the class in a live setting. It is a workout both mentally and physically. 

“The biggest thing I miss about not being in a physical classroom is I used to get all my steps in every time I taught because I pace. Part of it was intentional,” Green said. “I want to change the site line that students are looking at. I want to change the volume level. I want to change the source of where my voice is coming from so going from the back of the class to the middle of the class to the front of the class to the left to the right, approaching students when they ask questions.”

Dr. Joe Green is a professor of psychology at The Ohio State University at Lima. In the course of his career he has earned the prestigious Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching (2004), Outstanding Scholar Award (2022 and 2015), Faculty Award for Sustained Student Mentorship (2022 and 2017) and the Teaching Excellence Award (2011). 

Photo captions (from top): Dr. Joe Green on the Quad at Ohio State Lima, Archie Griffin and Joe Green strike a Heisman pose when Griffin surprised Green with the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2004. 

Eight fail-safe ways to build business students’ problem-solving skills

The volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) nature of business environments prompt employers to look for creative and agile graduates

Manju Meenakshy

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How to become an administrator – and why you should, school visits are a triple-win for academics, schools and society, why visible senior leadership in sustainability matters, why the search for research funding is like romance.

As academics, we most often focus on imparting discipline-based knowledge and achieving learning outcomes. While dissemination of knowledge fulfils higher education’s inherent purpose, we have a responsibility to support businesses and economies by preparing job-ready graduates. 

With the ubiquitous demand for work-ready talent, at the macro level colleges should include mandatory internships and research projects in the curriculum to align the programme learning outcomes with industry requirements. However, at the micro level, each facilitator needs to do their best to embed appropriate mechanisms within their courses to foster skills that enhance employability . This will ensure that the course learning outcomes address the needs of the recruiters. The following are a few approaches that educators can use to enhance problem-solving skill sets in students. 

Teaching through case studies

Integrating case studies into your teaching helps students develop problem-identification and problem-solving skills. You can source cases by subscribing to case publishing sites such as Harvard Business Publishing, the Case Centre, WARC and others. These sites allow you to use multiple filters based on subject matter, popularity, availability of supplementary material and other criteria, which can make the selection easier. You can also create your own cases by modifying contemporary news stories to bring in dilemmas that the students need to solve. For example, you can amend a story on store closures of a clothing brand into a case situation where students need to suggest ways to turn the business around.

Incorporating live projects into classes

A live project is a real-world business challenge that corporate houses set students to enable them to get first-hand experience of the kinds of projects they might be asked to take part in in the workplace. For example, a company wanting to check consumer perceptions and attitudes towards its newly launched fruit drink might recruit college students to find this out. Based on students’ insights and research, the company might devise a pricing or packaging strategy for the new drink. 

Fast-moving consumer goods (fmcg) companies are always in need of market research for their brands, so reaching out and partnering with one of these would be a good strategy if you wanted to incorporate live projects into your teaching. 

• Resource collection: Getting students workplace-ready
• Show off students’ employability with e-portfolios
• Sharpen your students’ interview skills

Encouraging students to take microcredentials

Microcredentials are short-duration courses that can aid students in handling critical situations in the workplace. Coursera, Edx and Udemy are among many providers of these. Encouraging students to enrol on courses about creative problem solving and critical thinking, data analysis and data visualisation will help them enhance vital employability skills. Offering them additional marks for completing these courses provides an incentive.

Organising guest lectures 

Inviting industry practitioners to guest lecture at your university will give students valuable insights into real-world business challenges and possible solutions. Reach out to your alumni network to find people who might be interested in imparting their knowledge and experience to current students. 

Running simulations 

Incorporating simulation games into your classes is an engaging way to encourage students to problem solve in real-time. A game scenario might involve students making decisions on the price they will charge for a product, the amount of commission they will give their traders and expenses allocated for promotions, among others, with each combination chosen resulting in an increase or decrease in profit or market share. By playing several rounds students get to understand the consequences of their decisions and get better at choosing the best way forward. 

If you’re looking for inspiration, Harvard Business Publishing offers several simulation packages that you can subscribe to and MIT Sloan offers a free simulation experience with its Platform Wars game.

Setting research tasks

Working on research articles and cases in collaboration with faculty helps students identify problems and possible solutions. For example, a faculty member and a student can jointly study the corporate social responsibility programme of a particular firm and, based on data collection from beneficiaries of the programme, they can suggest modifications to the investment to increase the value for the beneficiaries.

Offering international exposure and networking opportunities

Faculty could encourage students to join international organisations such as AIESEC or the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) so that they can access global quality internships and projects that can expose them to global perspectives and work practices.

Ensuring you have an effective evaluation process

An important aspect of building these skills in your students is ensuring you have a watertight evaluation process in place. An example of grading rubrics could be: 

• Inadequate: cannot find practical solutions
• Satisfactory: can identify possible solutions with help
• Proficient: can independently identify and evaluate workable solutions 
• Excellent: can teach peers to identify and evaluate workable solutions. 

Incorporating these strategies will help you mirror workplace environments and empower students to strive for successful futures. 

Manju Meenakshy is an assistant professor (marketing) and co-chairperson (MBA – marketing) at T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter .

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The Case for College in the Era of Online Learning

• Robert Walker

In-person education provides valuable experiences, opportunities, and skills that can’t be replicated online.

Does pursuing a college education still make sense in the age of online learning and AI — when we have access to information for free via the internet? The problem with this question is that it frames college as an information gatekeeper, misunderstanding much of its value. For many, higher education institutions offer more than that: a transformative journey where students can network and develop transferable soft skills that require teamwork and repetition. You can maximize your college experience by leaning into these opportunities while simultaneously staying up to date with the latest technological trends. By being agile, networking vigorously, cultivating problem-solving skills, and seeking learning opportunities in the real world while in school, you can prepare yourself for a successful career.

Today, we have access to more information than ever before. YouTube and TikTok can provide us with in-depth learning opportunities for free — from professional development tips to AI tutorials . In more recent years, large language models like ChatGPT and Gemini have shown they can answer almost any question that comes to mind with an increasing level of accuracy .

• RW Robert Walker is the director of high school admissions at University of Advancing Technology. Walker has over 12 years of in-depth experience in recruitment and technology, has a genuine passion helping others achieve their educations dream,s and holds advanced degrees in technology leadership and cyber security.  

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Program Profile: Social Decision Making/Problem Solving Program

Evidence Rating: Promising | One study

Program Summary

This is a prevention program targeted at middle school students, which is designed to reduce stressors by teaching coping and decision-making skills. The program is rated Promising. Students who participated in the intervention demonstrated a statistically significant greater level of coping skills to reduce stressors, compared with students who did not receive any intervention.

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

Program Description

Program goals.

The Social Decision Making/Problem Solving (SDM) program, originally known as the Improving Social Awareness-Social Problem Solving Program, was developed in 1979 as a collaborative effort among professionals from a wide variety of disciplines, including teachers and school administrators of Middlesex Borough, N.J.; psychologists and researchers from the Department of Psychology at Rutgers University; and the Community Mental Health Center at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The program's ultimate goal was to prevent violence, substance abuse, and related problem behaviors by teaching social, emotional, and decision-making skills that students would utilize throughout their lives.

Program Theory

The SDM program uses an extended version of the Interpersonal Cognitive Problem-Solving (ICPS) framework. The ICPS framework is founded on the belief that interpersonal cognitive problem-solving skills are an essential component of one’s adjustment throughout his or her life. Proponents of the ICPS framework argue that through means-ends thinking (a central aspect of the ICPS framework), individuals choose how to interpret and respond to problematic situations they encounter (Elisa 1986). Drawing on the ICPS framework and other research, the SDM program emphasizes that even though a child’s behavior and peer acceptance are influenced by numerous factors, there are specific behaviors that can predict acceptance or rejection within a peer group. The SDM program enhances these specific behaviors through the training and practice of important social and decision-making skills throughout the program’s curriculum.

Program Components

Given its preventive aim, the SDM program seeks to alleviate the stress that arises during the elementary to middle school transition (stress that can disrupt or interfere with the development of expected academic achievements and interpersonal behaviors). In an effort to lessen this stress, students in the SDM program are asked to:

• Focus on their feelings and the feelings of others in problematic situations
• Think about their goals and develop solutions to achieve these goals, while also keeping in mind potential consequences
• Focus on how they would implement their solutions
• Develop confidence in their ability to overcome problematic situations, while also understanding that even the best solutions do not always lead to resolutions

The SDM program takes place during the school year and is structured around a specific curriculum. The curriculum includes three sets of social-problem solving skills: interpersonal sensitivity, means-ends thinking, and planning and anticipation. Interpersonal sensitivity focuses on an individual’s feelings in problematic situations, articulating those feelings, and developing a goal for the situation. Means-ends thinking strives to develop alternate ways to reach an individual’s goal in the situation, while also developing consequences for each goal. Finally, planning and anticipation focuses on carrying out the solution, anticipating potential obstacles, and using the knowledge gained from the present situation to plan for the future.

The SDM program is organized into three phases: the readiness phase, the instructional phase, and the application phase. The readiness phase focuses on developing students’ self-control skills, as well as their group participation and social awareness skills. The instructional phase includes an eight-step problem-solving procedure and stresses the importance of initiative in producing positive resolutions, both of which take place during the first half of the year. Finally, the application phase, which takes place during the second half of the school year, utilizes the skills developed during the instructional phase and integrates them into the students’ social and affective realms.

The readiness phase has two specific units that are taught to students: a self-control unit and an improving social awareness unit. Within the self-control unit, students are taught the personal skills that impact their ability to self-regulate, control their emotions, and communicate. Specially, this unit stresses the importance of listening, following directions, and taking turns. The social awareness unit teaches students the skills necessary to function effectively within a group. Within the social awareness unit, students are taught characteristics that are accepted by others, such as positivity and appreciation. Overall, both units not only introduce these skills, but assist students with applying these skills in real-life situations (Bruene–Butler 1997).

The instructional phase of the program consists of 20 lessons, conducted twice a week, averaging about 40 minutes per lesson. The first two lessons discuss problem situations and the importance of developing skills to handle these situations more easily. The next 16 lessons consist of two lessons on each of the eight problem-solving skill areas. The final two lessons provide children the opportunity to utilize these problem-solving skills in a specific situation. Each lesson is conducted by a teacher using a scripted curriculum. The main goal of this phase is for students to develop decision-making and problem-solving processes, while understanding that these processes can be applied to a variety of situations.

The application phase of the program consists of two main parts. First, teachers are instructed to mediate conflicts between students by facilitating children’s problem-solving thinking rather than intervening and providing their own solution; this is known as life space intervention. Secondly, teachers incorporate the problem-solving skills into the everyday classroom curriculum. For example, students record problem situations they encountered, skills they used in the situation, and how the situation turned out. The class then discusses the situation and focuses on how there are certain skills that help in various situations. The application lessons are held approximately once a week and teachers are encouraged to use the life space intervention as often as needed.

Evaluation Outcomes

Elias and colleagues (1986) found that students in the Social Decision Making/Problem Solving (SDM) program demonstrated stronger coping skills to deal with middle school stressors, compared with students who received no intervention. This difference was statistically significant.

Evaluation Methodology

To assess the effectiveness of the Social Decision Making/Problem Solving (SDM) program, Elias and colleagues (1986) used a quasi-experimental design to measure the program’s impact when children were faced with a stressful life event. Three levels of the intervention were compared:

• Children receiving the full SDM program (the instructional phase occurred from October to December 1979, and the application phase occurred from January to May 1980)
• Children receiving the instructional phase only (which occurred from January to May 1980)
• Children who entered middle school in the previous year (1978–1979) without having received any portion of the intervention

The CrimeSolutions review of this study focused on the difference between the children who received the full SDM program and the children who received no intervention. The study was conducted in a primarily blue-collar, multiethnic town in central New Jersey. Specially, the study participants included 158 fifth graders (80 boys and 78 girls) from all four of the town’s elementary schools, whose parents provided parental permission, all of which tested 1 year above grade level on standardized tests. The study used a delayed control design, with two of the elementary schools beginning with the instructional phase at the beginning of the school year, and the other two schools implementing the instructional phase only in the second half of the year. The study noted that no significant differences were found among the four elementary schools used in the study.

The effectiveness of the SDM program was investigated using the Survey of Middle School Stressors, which measured the children’s transition from elementary to middle school. This assessment included several parts. During the first part of the assessment, students were asked questions about their feelings towards middle school and their ability to adjust. In the second part of the assessment, students were asked to rate their middle school on a 7-point scale of adjectives, such as interesting to boring, or afraid to unafraid. Finally, during the third part of the assessment students were presented with 28 situations that typically lead to distress or upset feelings, such as forgetting a locker combination or finding their way around a larger school. The students were then asked to rate whether each stressor was not a problem, a small problem, a medium problem, or a large problem since starting middle school. Overall, the Survey of Middle School Stressors provided a summary of two categories: Problem Frequency , defined as the number of stressors rated as small, medium, or large problems; and Problem Intensity , which included the number of stressors labeled as large problems. Study authors also conducted analyses to determine the difference between students who received only the instructional portion of the intervention and students who received no intervention.

Other Information (Including Subgroup Findings)

Comparative Research

Elias and colleagues (1986) also conducted analyses to determine the differences between students who received the instructional portion only of the Social Decision Making/Problem Solving (SDM) program and students who received no intervention. Students who received partial intervention demonstrated greater coping skills regarding middle school stressors, compared with students who received no intervention. This difference was statistically significant.

CrimeSolutions doe not consider comparative research learn more about how CrimeSolutions treats comparative effectiveness research .

Evidence-Base (Studies Reviewed)

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

Elias, Maurice J., Michael Gara, Michael Ubriaco, Peggy A. Rothbaum, John F. Clabby, and Thomas Schuyler. 1986. “Impact of a Preventive Social Problem Solving Intervention on Children’s Coping with Middle-School Stressors.” American Journal of Community Psychology 14(3):259–75.

Additional References

Elias, Maurice J., Michael Gara, Thomas Schuyler, Leslie R. Branden-Muller, and Michael A. Sayette. 1991. “The Promotion of Social Competence: Longitudinal Study of a Preventive School-Based Program.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 61(3):409–17. (This study was reviewed but did not meet CrimeSolutions criteria for inclusion in the overall program rating.)

Bruene–Butler, Linda, June Hampson, Maurice J. Elias, John F. Clabby, Jr., and Thomas F. Schuyler. 1997. “The Improving Social Awareness, Social Problem–Solving Project.” In George W. Albee and Thomas P. Gullotta (eds.). Primary Prevention Works. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage, 239–67.

Elias, Maurice J. and Roger P. Weissberg. 2000. “Primary Prevention: Educational Approaches to Enhance Social and Emotional Learning. Journal of School Health 70(5):186–90.

Elias, Maurice J., Roger P. Weissberg, Kenneth A. Dodge, J. David Hawkins, Philip C. Kendall, Leonard A. Jason, Cheryl L. Perry, Mary Jane Rotheram–Borus, and Joseph E. Zins. 1994. “The School-Based Promotion of Social Competence: Theory, Research, and Practice.” In Robert J. Haggerty, Lonnie R. Sherrod, Norman Garmezy, and Michael Rutter (eds.). Stress, Risk, Resilience in Children and Adolescents. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, 268–316.

Elias, Maurice J. and John F. Clabby. 1988. “Teaching Social Decision Making.” Educational Leadership 45(6):52–55.

Elias, Maurice J., Linda Bruene-Butler, Lisa Blum, and Thomas Schuyler.  1997. “How to Launch a Social & Emotional Learning Program.” Educational Leadership 54(8):15–19.

Related Practices

Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:

Designed to foster the development of five interrelated sets of cognitive, affective, and behavioral competencies, in order to provide a foundation for better adjustment and academic performance in students, which can result in more positive social behaviors, fewer conduct problems, and less emotional distress. The practice was rated Effective in reducing students’ conduct problems and emotional stress.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

This practice involves the promotion of social and social-cognitive competencies to prevent future antisocial behavior. The practice is rated Effective for preventing overall antisocial behavior, aggression, delinquency, oppositional and disruptive behaviors, and general antisocial behavior.

Why might a practice's outcome ratings differ from the ratings of specific programs encompassed by that practice?

Age: 9 - 11

Gender: Male, Female

Race/Ethnicity: Black, American Indians/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, White, Other

Geography: Suburban

Setting (Delivery): School

Program Type: Classroom Curricula, Conflict Resolution/Interpersonal Skills, Leadership and Youth Development, School/Classroom Environment

Current Program Status: Active

151 Centennial Avenue, Suite 1140 NJ 08854 United States

53 Avenue E,Tillett Hall NJ 08854-8040 United States

151 Centennial Ave. Suite 1140 NJ 08901 United States