← Habit Directory

Play Chess

Description

Chess is a classic game of strategy and a highly competitive sport. It promotes the development of thinking, strategy, planning, and decision-making skills. It is a great game to strengthen your mental skills.

Possible Benefits

May enhance your cognitive function
May improve your reasoning
May improve your sharpness
May protect from dementia
May boost your memory
May improve creativity
May improve confidence

Required Equipment

Chess board and pieces

How to Do It

If you are a beginner, it is best to get a tutor, take some classes, or learn the rules and moves on your own.

Join a chess club and/or play with friends regularly.

Why it works

Chess implies a high activation of the prefrontal cortex, which is in charge of planning, decision making, reasoning, among others.
It stimulates the ability of simulation, that is to say, to be able to imagine different scenarios in the mind and to take decisions from it.
By requiring you to hold information about the opponent's moves and possible strategies, it strengthens your memory.

Time Commitment

50-90 minutes per game

Suggested Frequency

Once per week

Time of Day

Any

Possible Side Effects

None known.

Tips

To make it more fun and challenging, use a chess clock.
Be sure to refine your strategies to improve your skill in the game.
When you have strengthened your strategies, enter competitions.

Planning abilities and chess: a comparison of chess and non-chess players on the Tower of London task. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16848944/
Chess Practice as a Protective Factor in Dementia. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6617066/
Chess as a Behavioral Model for Cognitive Skill Research: Review of Blindfold Chess by Eliot Hearst and John Knott. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2972788/
Chess Players Increase the Theta Power Spectrum When the Difficulty of the Opponent Increases: An EEG Study. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6981879/
Secret of the Masters: Young Chess Players Show Advanced Visual Perspective Taking. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6821682/
The Effects of Chess Instruction on Pupils' Cognitive and Academic Skills: State of the Art and Theoretical Challenges. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5322219/