Cognitive psychology: its role in learning and practicing the royal game

Cognitive psychology studies the mental processes underlying perception, memory, language, reasoning, and decision-making.

Applied to chess, it allows us to understand how players think, learn, and solve problems over the board. In this context, chess becomes an ideal laboratory for observing two fundamental types of thinking:

Convergent thinking, which seeks a precise, logical, and determined solution—such as finding the best move in a tactical position.

Divergent thinking, which explores multiple possibilities, ideas, or plans—such as evaluating structures or imagining long-term strategic plans.

Both types of thinking coexist and alternate constantly during a game.



Cognitive psychology has identified at least seven key teachings in this area:

1. Pattern Recognition
Expert players do not calculate move by move from scratch; instead, they recognize familiar configurations, such as mating nets, defensive schemes, or pawn structures. This quick recognition activates convergent thinking, which allows them to find effective moves with little conscious effort. However, when the pattern is not evident, divergent thinking is activated to explore less conventional options.

2. Memory and Chunking
Experts do not memorize thousands of positions literally; rather, they organize information into "chunks" or meaningful units that group strategic and tactical elements. This mental organization allows quick and selective access to long-term memory and is fundamental both for creativity (divergent) and precision (convergent) in play.

3. Selective Attention
Chess teaches us to focus on what is essential and filter out the irrelevant. This directed attention is a key mechanism of convergent thinking, as it helps concentrate mental resources on solving the most urgent problem. At the same time, flexible attention—shifting focus when necessary—is a way of activating divergent thinking in search of new ideas.

4. Calculation and Visualization
Players develop the ability to mentally imagine future positions and sequences of moves, which requires a combination of both types of thinking: divergent to imagine several possibilities, and convergent to select the most suitable one. This capacity is trained through tactical exercises, deep analysis, and deliberate practice.

5. Decision-Making Under Pressure
Chess forces players to decide under time constraints, stress, and ambiguous conditions. Here, cognitive psychology explores how players alternate between intuitive (fast, divergent) and analytical (slow, convergent) processes. Grandmasters often rely on their intuition to rule out many moves and then rationally verify the most promising ones.

6. Development of Expertise
Expertise is not based solely on talent, but on thousands of hours of deliberate practice, during which the player analyzes games, solves problems, reflects on mistakes, and improves understanding. This development involves both the expansion of divergent thinking (more ideas, more plans, more creativity) and the refinement of convergent thinking (greater precision, more mental efficiency).

7. Metacognition and Thought Control
Expert players learn to observe and regulate their own thinking: when to calculate and when not to, when to doubt a move, when to go back or change plans. This metacognitive awareness is what allows them to modulate the use of divergent and convergent thinking according to the moment of the game. They don’t just think well—they think about how they are thinking.

In summary, cognitive psychology teaches that chess is a constant dance between free exploration (divergent) and decisive precision (convergent). The player becomes a mental tightrope walker, capable of generating ideas and then evaluating them rigorously, of imagining possible paths and then walking the best one with resolve. In this oscillation, chess reveals not only how we think... but how we could think better.

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