Chess

The game of chess has generated perhaps more scientific research than any other field of expertise, to the point that it has been called the Drosophila of cognitive psychology. There are several reasons for this state of affairs: Competitive chess players' skill levels are precisely measured by the Elo rating system, there is a large population of chess players, the chess environment enables [Page 130]elegant experimental manipulations, and research on chess psychology has benefited from cross-fertilization with research on computer chess and artificial intelligence.

Most chess players consider world champions such as Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, and Viswanathan Anand to be more gifted than their less successful peers. However, there are relatively few scientific studies on the link between talent and chess. Rather, research has focused ...