Recall of random and distorted chess positions: Implications for the theory of expertise
Open accessAbstract
This paper explores the question, important to the theory of expert performance, of the nature and number of chunks that chess experts hold in memory. It examines how memory contents determine players' abilities to reconstruct (1) positions from games, (2) positions distorted in various ways, and (3) random positions. Comparison of a computer simulation with a human experiment supports the usual estimate that chess Masters store some 50,000 chunks in memory. The observed impairment of recall when positions are modified by mirror image reflection implies that each chunk represents a specific pattern of pieces in specific location. A good account of the results of the experiments is given by the template theory proposed by Gobet and Simon (in press) as an extension of Chase and Simon's (1973b) initial chunking proposal, and in agreement with other recent proposals for modification of the chunking theory (Richman, Staszewski, & Simon, 1995) as applied to various recall tasks.
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Far transfer is an extremely rare occurrence due to the very nature of human cognition.
“More broadly, these results establish once again that far transfer – due to the very nature of human cognition – is an extremely rare occurrence (Gobet & Simon, 1996; Sala & Gobet, 2019).”
From Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Gobet & Simon, 1996
The General Discussion reports that reflecting chess positions impaired players’ recall and links this to location-specific memory chunks. That supports a narrower point about difficulty transferring recognition across altered chess positions, but the paper does not establish that far transfer is extremely rare across human cognition or attribute its rarity to the nature of cognition. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredNear transfer is notoriously much easier to achieve than far transfer.
“This type of near transfer is notoriously much easier to achieve (Gobet, 2016; Gobet & Simon, 1996).”
From Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Gobet & Simon, 1996
The Results (page unavailable) show that normal and horizontally mirrored chess positions were recalled better than vertically or centrally mirrored ones, supporting the narrower point that performance varies with the degree of change. The paper treats sensitivity to transformed stimuli as an aspect of transfer, but it does not establish the broad claim that near transfer is generally much easier to achieve than far transfer. (LLM, conf=0.78)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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Cites
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Chase, W. G., & Simon, H. A. (1973) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/0010-0285(73)90004-2 · Cited by 4,479 · see citing works
Self-citationA simulation of memory for chess positions
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Self-citationExpert Chess Memory: Revisiting the Chunking Hypothesis
Gobet, F., & Simon, H. A. (1998) · Memory · doi:10.1080/741942359 · Cited by 320 · cited 6× · see citing works
“Using the same computer apparatus and correcting latencies in the same way for mouse time, we have replicated elsewhere (Gobet & Simon, 1994) the main results of Chase and Simon's (1973b) copy and recall tasks, including the distributions of within-and between-chunk interpiece latencies and the…”
MethodResultInfluentialSelf-citationSTM capacity for Chinese words and idioms: Chunking and acoustical loop hypotheses
Zhang, G., & Simon, H. A. (1985) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/bf03197681 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
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Research works printed but not linked: 11
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Expert Chess Memory: Revisiting the Chunking Hypothesis
Gobet, F., & Simon, H. A. (1998) · Memory · doi:10.1080/741942359 · Cited by 320 · see citing works
Self-citationCognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis
Sala, G., & Gobet, F. (2020) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-020-01060-2 · Cited by 235 · see citing works
Self-citationRethinking expertise: a multifactorial gene–environment interaction model of expert performance.
Ullén, F., Hambrick, D. Z., & Mosing, M. A. (2016) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000033 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gobet, F., & Simon, H. A.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Simon, Herbert A.
- ORCID
- Gobet, Fernand
- Venue
- Memory & Cognition
- Published
- 1996-07
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 493-503
- ISSN
- 0090-502X (ISSN-L)
- 1532-5946
- OpenAlex
- W2101609260
- Cited by
- 176
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 11.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Memory & Cognition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Brunel University Research Archive (BURA) (Brunel University London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Sport Psychology and Performance
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Artificial Intelligence in Games
- Keywords
- chess expertise, chunking, memory retrieval, template theory, expert performance, chess masters
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Attention, Computer Simulation, Discrimination Learning, Female, Fixation, Ocular, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Orientation, Play and Playthings, Practice, Psychological, Problem Solving, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Mental Recall
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