Chess, sudoku, crosswords, go: which games train your brain?
Among thinking and logic games for adults, none has demonstrated its superiority for “training your brain”. Studies associate all these pastimes (chess, cards, crosswords, puzzles) with better cognitive ageing, and one small trial even found crosswords more useful than computer brain-training games. The best game is the one you keep playing for a long time, with effort and, if possible, with other people.
Training your brain: a figurative expression for maintaining intellectual abilities through demanding activities. The brain is not a muscle: you mainly improve at what you train, and transfer to other abilities is limited.
Thinking and logic games for adults: what the studies say
The large cohorts almost never compare one game with another: they group games into categories (“board games”, “cognitive activities”, “active mental activities”). They converge on a favourable association, without being able to name a champion game.
- Wilson et al., JAMA, 2002: among 801 elderly members of religious orders, each point of cognitive activity (reading, games such as cards or draughts, crosswords, etc.) is associated with an Alzheimer’s risk reduced by about a third.
- Verghese et al., NEJM, 2003: among 469 people over 75, reading, board games, music and dancing are associated with less dementia.
- Dartigues et al., BMJ Open, 2013: in the PAQUID cohort, board games are associated with a 15% lower risk of dementia, a gap that disappears after adjustment for baseline cognitive state.
- Wu et al., JAMA Network Open, 2023: among 10,318 Australians, games, cards, chess, crosswords and puzzles are associated with a 9% reduced risk per level of frequency.
The only randomised trial that directly compares two types of games does not concern chess.
Devanand et al., 2022 · NEJM Evidence · DOI 10.1056/EVIDoa2200121
Computerized Games versus Crosswords Training in Mild Cognitive Impairment
- Who
- 107 people (mean age 71) with mild cognitive impairment
- Type
- Single-blind randomised trial, 78 weeks · level of evidence: Moderate (small trial)
- Result
- Online crosswords do better than computerised cognitive games on the ADAS-Cog scale at 12 and 78 weeks, with less brain atrophy on MRI.
- What the study does not say
- Small sample; no no-activity group; does not concern chess.
This result, which came as a surprise, suggests that familiar, demanding and enjoyed activities are worth at least as much as programmes designed to “train the brain”. It remains to be reproduced in larger groups.
Finally, the syntheses by Giovanni Sala and Fernand Gobet recall the general rule: you improve at what you practise, and transfer to remote abilities is rare (Sala and Gobet, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2017).
The comparison in one table
| Game | Functions mainly used | Social dimension | Studies available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chess | Planning, working memory, pattern recognition | Two players, at a club, online | Many on expertise; cohorts where it is included among the games |
| Go | Overall vision, territory evaluation, planning | Two players, clubs less common than for chess | A few imaging and expertise studies |
| Bridge | Card memory, probability calculation, coded communication | Four players, in partnership: very social | Included in the “card games” of the cohorts |
| Crosswords | Vocabulary, word retrieval, general knowledge | Mostly alone | Devanand randomised trial (2022); cohorts |
| Sudoku | Logic, working memory, attention | Alone | Included in the “puzzles” of the cohorts |
| Rummikub | Combinations, flexibility, simple arithmetic | 2 to 4 players, family | No specific study |
Game by game
Chess
Its strength: limitless depth and a difficulty that always adjusts to the opponent. You can keep learning all your life, playing at a club, online or with the family. Its weakness for an adult beginner: the learning curve, which can be discouraging in the first weeks. Studies on expertise show that what develops is mainly a memory and perception specific to the game (see chess and memory).
Go
Rules simpler than chess, immense strategic complexity. It calls for an overall view of the board. Clubs are less common, but online play is highly developed.
Bridge
Probably the most social of the thinking games: you play in partnership, with a partner you have to understand. It combines memory, calculation and communication. Bridge clubs include many retired players, which makes it a good way in against isolation.
Crosswords
Accessible, daily, inexpensive. They mainly train vocabulary and the retrieval of words from memory. They are what did better than the computerised games in the trial by Devanand and colleagues.
Sudoku
Pure logic, with no language or arithmetic. The risk is routine: grids of the same level end up being solved on autopilot. You have to step up the difficulty.
Rummikub
A family tile game, which requires you to constantly recombine runs and sets. Less deep than chess, but very sociable and accessible to several generations.
Le Palais des Échecs has drawn up its own selection of 7 board games to develop intelligence, and also offers other wooden thinking games besides chess.
What about brain-training apps?
“Brain training” programmes promise to make you more intelligent in a few minutes a day. Meta-analyses show that people mainly improve at the exercises themselves, with little effect on general abilities (Sala and Gobet, 2017). And the Devanand trial (2022) found crosswords more effective than a computerised games programme in people with mild cognitive impairment. These apps can be a pastime; they have no demonstrated advantage over a good old thinking game.
How to train your brain: 7 rules
- Choose a game you like: regularity over years counts for more than the intensity of a month.
- Look for the right level of difficulty: hard enough to force you to think, not so hard that it discourages.
- Learn something new: a variant, an opening, a new game from time to time.
- Play with others: conversation, shared defeat and mutual help also exercise the mind.
- Vary: a word game, a logic game, a strategy game call on different abilities.
- Move: physical activity is among the best-established prevention factors.
- Do not expect miracles: the main benefit of a game is the pleasure it gives.
To understand why these habits matter with age, read the page on cognitive reserve.
Frequently asked questions
Which games stimulate the brain?
Chess, go, bridge, crosswords, sudoku or Rummikub each call on different abilities. The studies name none as superior: the ideal is to vary your games and to choose ones you like enough to keep playing for a long time.
How do you train your brain?
By regularly doing demanding and novel activities, playing with others, staying physically active and sleeping enough. Studies associate these habits with better cognitive ageing, without being able to guarantee an effect.
Crosswords or chess: which is more effective?
No study compares them directly. Crosswords did better than computerised games in a trial of 107 people (Devanand et al., 2022); chess has not been tested in this way. They call on different abilities: vocabulary for one, planning for the other.