Chess Training for Improving Executive Functions and Invasion Game Tactical Behavior of College Student Athletes: A Preliminary Investigation

Background: Within team sports, players' ability to inhibit inappropriate behavioral responses and flexibly adapt to upcoming challenges relates significantly to their game performance. As such, there have been calls for cognitively fostering programs to form the basis of game teaching and coaching practice. However, only few studies have tested so far the effects of purposefully designed perceptual-cognitive interventions on players' tactical performance. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a chess-based intervention designed to train invasion-game athletes' executive functions (EFs) could positively impact their tactical game behaviors. Methods: Twenty-six invasion-game athletes, 19 to 20 years old (M = 20.58, SD = 1.74) participated in the study and were randomly assigned to a chess group (ChG) (n = 13) and a control group (CG) (n = 13). The ChG participated in a 10-week chess training program designed to foster EFs, while the CG received no special treatment. Pre-and-post measures were completed using: (a) core EF tests and (b) the game performance assessment instrument. Results: After the intervention, the ChG group showed improvement in working memory and selective attention (cool EFs; higher memory span, fewer errors on incongruent stimuli), as well as decision-making and flexibility in passing (tactical behaviors; more appropriate passes, variety in passes), whereas no such changes were recorded for the CG. Further, there were no differential changes in cognitive flexibility and affective decision making (cool and hot EFs), as well as support, originality and fluency in passing (tactical behaviors) for the two groups as a function of time. Conclusion: By embracing the idea of situated cognition, the current study provides some initial evidence for the linkage between perceptual-cognitive training and team sport performance, suggesting that EFs--as fundamental cognitive processes--can be trained to work in conjunction with the cognitive components of game performance within sport settings. The results of this work are discussed in the context of cognitive and game teaching research, extending current knowledge and understanding of how lab-based and sport training methods can be effectively combined and delivered.