Cognitive predictors of success for beginner chess players

Abstract

Introduction: To date, the beneficial effects of chess on memory, concentration, mental imagery, and other cognitive variables have been demonstrated. However, there are no studies examining how these cognitive skills affect chess performance. Aims: This paper aims to identify a set of psychological variables that predict success in beginner chess players. Materials and methods: The study involved 160 beginner chess players (98 boys, 62 girls) aged 7–10 years from different regions of Russia, mostly the Republic of Crimea. The following methods were used: the author’s method for evaluating speed and accuracy in chess decision-making (A. Alyokhina, V. Kolokoltsev, E. Rylskaya, G. Manuilov, A. Abdullin) and a set of standardized psychodiagnostic tests, including the Architect and Constructors test by T. Ogneva, Logic Tasks by A. Zak, the Matching Familiar Figures Test by J. Kagan, the Wechsler Picture Completion subtest, the Number Memory Test by E. Akhmedzhanova, a projective graphic method for assessing individual imagination characteristics, and the Toulouse-Pieron test. Statistical methods included descriptive statistics, calculation and comparison of mean values using Wilks’ Lambda, Spearman’s rank correlation, and discriminant analysis. The obtained data were processed using SPSS Statistics ver. 23.0 and MS Excel. Results: The study demonstrated seven predictors that most strongly influence chess performance (decision-making speed, number of level 2 errors, Wechsler subtest scores, mental imagery, accuracy, and sustained attention). Conclusion: The resulting predictive model enables the differentiation of beginner chess players by objective and subjective performance based on the psychodiagnostic assessment of their cognitive characteristics