Influence of Educational Chess on Executive Functions Such as Cognitive Flexibility, Inhibition and Working Memory

Objective. Evaluate the influence that chess practice can have in an educational environment, on executive functions such as: cognitive flexibility, inhibition and working memory. Method. Sample composed of 301 boys and girls, aged between 10 and 14 years (M=11.7, SD=1.3), with 49% girls, 51% boys; Similarly, there was an experimental group (N=157) and a control group (N=144). For the evaluation, the BRIEF-2 questionnaire for behavioral evaluation of executive function was used. This instrument measures the different executive functions and the indices of behavioral regulation, emotional regulation, cognitive regulation and the global index of executive function. The pedagogical tool AJEDUCA (chess and education) was used, whose main objective is to facilitate the teaching of chess in the educational system. Results. The results showed a better performance of the boys and girls who practice chess, in the executive functions of inhibition, cognitive flexibility and working memory, with a statistically significant effect on the inhibition and flexibility scales; with the improvement of the results in favor of the experimental group in the family and in the school. Conclusion. Chess practice could improve the executive functions analyzed