Cognitive expertise in the game of chess: Whats new since de Groot (1946)?

International audienceMore than thirty years ago, de Groot (1946,1965) then Chase and Simon (1973) showed that contrary to commonly held views chess experts do not have superior memory capacities, nor superior calculation ability compared to novices. In fact,the nature and organization of knowledge differentiate experts and novices. This paper provides a critical review of work conduced since these landmark studies on the >, namely chess expertise. After a reminder of de Groot and Chase and Simon's research and Chase and Simon's theoretical model of expertise in terms of >, we consider the limits of this model and recent empirical and theoretical developments. These developments emphasize the structure of knowledge representation in long term memory