The role of domain-specific practice, handedness, and starting age in chess.

Abstract

The respective roles of the environment and innate talent have been a recurrent question for research into expertise. The authors investigated markers of talent, environment, and critical period for the acquisition of expert performance in chess. Argentinian chess players (N = 104), ranging from weak amateurs to grandmasters, completed a questionnaire measuring variables including individual and group practice, starting age, and handedness. The study reaffirms the importance of practice for reaching high levels of performance, but it also indicates a large variability: The slower player needed 8 times as much practice to reach master level than the faster player. Additional results show a correlation between skill and starting age and indicate that players are more likely to be mixed-handed than individuals in the general population; however, there was no correlation between handedness and skill within the sample of chess players. Together, these results suggest that practice is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the acquisition of expertise, that some additional factors may differentiate chessplayers and nonchessplayers, and that starting age of practice is important.

Development of design expertise by architecture students

“…As some studies have indicated, practice is not the only sufficient condition for reaching high levels of expertise. In Gobet and Campitelli's (2007) study of chess players, a strong correlation was found between chess skill and number of hours of practice. However, the high variability in the number of hours of deliberate practice of between 3,000 and 24,000 hours is an indication that other factors may be responsible for the acquisition of expertise in chess.…”

A bridge too far

“…First, while deliberate practice does have a critical role to play in some areas of expertise, notably chess and music, it is not the sole determinant of success that popular treatises (Gladwell 2008) promise. There is in fact enormous variation in time to master even in well studied areas like chess (Gobet and Campitelli 2003). And while some studies have indicated that general aptitude is not a significant predictor of performance, other studies contradict this.…”

The acquisition of pedagogical expertise in dance : a constraints-led approach

“…For example, a range from 3 016hr to 23 608hr (SD 5 538hr) in total practice accumulated, was verified for chess (Gobet & Campitelli, 2007). Furthermore, variability concerning practice time could additionally be identified in other sports.…”

“…When considering years of experience, previous research has suggested that expertise is attained over a period of ten years of practice (Ericsson, et al, 1993) or 10 000 hr (Ericsson, Prietula, & Cokely, 2007); however, studies in chess have shown that the attainment of expertise, concerning the number of hours of practice, may significantly vary (Gobet & Campitelli, 2007). For example, a range from 3 016hr to 23 608hr (SD 5 538hr) in total practice accumulated, was verified for chess (Gobet & Campitelli, 2007).…”

“…For instance, in skeleton, four athletes from a group of twenty six attained an elite level of expertise over a period of fourteen months (Bullock et al, 2009). To sum, the data analysed (Bullock, et al, 2009;Gobet & Campitelli, 2007) suggested that the attainment of expertise depends on the type of activity and on individual performance; thus, it can be concluded that the amount of deliberate practice can vary significantly for each individual (Tucker & Collins, 2012).…”