Does Chess Instruction Enhance Mathematical Ability in Children? A Three-Group Design to Control for Placebo Effects

Pupils’ poor achievement in mathematics has recently been a concern in many Western countries. In order to address this issue, it has been proposed to teach chess in schools. However, in spite of optimistic claims, no convincing evidence of the academic benefits of chess instruction has ever been provided, because no study has ever controlled for possible placebo effects. In this experimental study, a three-group design (i.e., experimental, placebo, and control groups) was implemented to control for possible placebo effects. Measures of mathematical ability and metacognitive skills were taken before and after the treatment. We were interested in metacognitive skills because they have been claimed to be boosted by chess instruction, in turn positively influencing the enhancement of mathematical ability. The results show that the experimental group (participants attending a chess course) achieved better scores in mathematics than the placebo group (participants attending a Go course) but not than the control group (participants attending regular school lessons). With regard to metacognition, no differences were found between the three groups. These results suggest that some chess-related skills generalize to the mathematical domain, because the chess lessons compensated for the hours of school lessons lost, whereas the Go lessons did not. However, this transfer does not seem to be mediated by metacognitive skills, and thus appears to be too limited to offer educational advantages.