Scientific consensus contradicts this claim.

What's still open

What the evidence found 3 findings
Based on 11 sources:
PMC (PubMed Central) peer-reviewed View
ResearchGate peer-reviewed View
FRBE-KBSB-KSB Chess Federation Blog institutional View
American Council on Science and Health institutional View
Purdue University Skill Learning and Performance Lab peer-reviewed View
ChessBase news View
ScienceDaily news View
PubMed study on chess training effectiveness peer-reviewed View
ResearchGate pilot study peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
Harvard Gazette institutional View
Based on 10 sources:
PMC - NIH peer-reviewed View
UChicago Voices institutional View
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health institutional View
International Psychogeriatrics peer-reviewed View
World Chess news View
Effectiveness of a chess-training program for improving cognition peer-reviewed View
Cognitive and social intervention with Go and chess in early and subjective cognitive decline peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
Uppsala University institutional View
Brain Mechanisms journal systematic review peer-reviewed View
Based on 12 sources:
PMC - NIH peer-reviewed View
Harvard School of Public Health institutional View
UChicago Voices institutional View
Firth et al., NeuroImage (2018) - Effects of aerobic exercise on hippocampal volume in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis peer-reviewed
University of Luxembourg dissertation institutional View
ICCM 2020 Proceedings peer-reviewed View
Neuroscience Year - Springer Nature peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
Finnish Brain Health Institute institutional View
Pearson Assessments institutional View
PMC/NCBI peer-reviewed View
CEGA Berkeley institutional View
What research hasn't answered 3 gaps
PMC (PubMed Central) peer-reviewed View
ResearchGate peer-reviewed View
FRBE-KBSB-KSB Chess Federation Blog institutional View
American Council on Science and Health institutional View
Purdue University Skill Learning and Performance Lab peer-reviewed View
PMC - NIH peer-reviewed View
Harvard School of Public Health institutional View
UChicago Voices institutional View
Firth et al., NeuroImage (2018) - Effects of aerobic exercise on hippocampal volume in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis peer-reviewed
Szuhany et al., Depression and Anxiety (2015) - A meta-analytic review of the effects of exercise on brain-derived neurotrophic factor peer-reviewed
Sources 18 findings
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
argumentation Unknown
argumentation Unknown
argumentation Unknown
Push back on this read

Think the evidence is read wrong? Present your counter-evidence and we'll evaluate it against the 40 sources behind this analysis.

Related questions
Is IQ genetic or environmental? Are learning styles real? Is brainstorming in groups effective? Do people become more conservative with age?

Heard something that sounds off?

Generated by reaso.ai's editorial pipeline: claim restated, scientific consensus classified via 3-run majority vote, 18 findings enriched with attribution and study type, narrative written in neutral voice. No individual researcher has signed off on this specific analysis — see methodology for how the pipeline works. Built with Claude Sonnet by Anthropic. Updated April 16, 2026. How we do this →

Written by AI. Sources are linked for verification.