From the August 2006 Scientific American Magazine | 4 comments

The Expert Mind ( Preview )

Studies of the mental processes of chess grandmasters have revealed clues to how people become experts in other fields as well

By Philip E. Ross

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Brain Activity in Chess Masters
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White's Winning Move
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A Grandmaster's Memory
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Podcast: The Expert Mind and the Interplanetary Bicycle Ride
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Lessons from Chess

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August
2006 Issue
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A man walks along the inside of a circle of chess tables, glancing at each for two or three seconds before making his move. On the outer rim, dozens of amateurs sit pondering their replies until he completes the circuit. The year is 1909, the man is Jos� Ra�l Capablanca of Cuba, and the result is a whitewash: 28 wins in as many games. The exhibition was part of a tour in which Capablanca won 168 games in a row.

How did he play so well, so quickly? And how far ahead could he calculate under such constraints? "I see only one move ahead," Capablanca is said to have answered, "but it is always the correct one."

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