Scientific consensus contradicts this claim.

What's still open

What the evidence found 3 findings
Based on 6 sources:
Science Direct peer-reviewed View
ERIC Education Database institutional View
PMC peer-reviewed View
ChessBase news View
Sala & Gobet meta-analysis in Educational Psychology Review peer-reviewed
PMC - NIH peer-reviewed View
Based on 8 sources:
Purdue University Skill Learning and Performance Lab institutional View
PMC peer-reviewed View
PMC - National Institutes of Health peer-reviewed View
PMC - National Institutes of Health peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
Frontiers in Psychology peer-reviewed View
Frontiers in Psychology peer-reviewed View
University of Minnesota research publication institutional View
Based on 12 sources:
PMC peer-reviewed View
UChicago Voices institutional View
ResearchGate peer-reviewed View
Purdue University Skill Learning and Performance Lab institutional View
PMC peer-reviewed View
ResearchGate peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
ResearchGate meta-analysis on cognitive ability and chess skill peer-reviewed View
ScienceDirect study on chess player brain architecture peer-reviewed View
Cognitive Training: A Field in Search of a Phenomenon - PMC peer-reviewed View
Cognitive Training Does Not Enhance General Cognition peer-reviewed View
Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on ... - PMC peer-reviewed View
What research hasn't answered 3 gaps
Science Direct peer-reviewed View
ERIC Education Database institutional View
PMC peer-reviewed View
ChessBase news View
Sala & Gobet meta-analysis in Educational Psychology Review peer-reviewed
Science Direct peer-reviewed View
ERIC Education Database institutional View
PMC peer-reviewed View
ChessBase news View
Sala & Gobet meta-analysis in Educational Psychology Review peer-reviewed
Sources 18 findings
argumentation Unknown
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tree-leaf argumentation
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tree-leaf argumentation
2017 Sala argumentation
2016 Jerrim argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
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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.