A little forgetfulness is a normal part of getting older, but keeping your brain active helps it stay sharp. And you don’t need pricey classes to do it. Chances are, you’re already doing brain-boosting activities, like your regular chess game or crossword routine.
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In fact, a recent study found that older adults who engage in mentally stimulating activities such as chess have a lower risk of developing dementia—and the more often they play, the greater the benefit.
The Brain Benefits of a Regular Game of Chess
If you play chess, you know it’s an intellectual duel. Beyond the thrill of strategy and the satisfaction of calling “checkmate,” the game trains your mind to stay agile, focused, and analytical — skills that serve you well beyond the board.
A 2023 study published in JAMA Network Open followed more than 10,000 healthy older adults, average age 73, for over a decade. Researchers found that those who frequently participated (weekly or more) in mentally engaging activities such as chess, card games, or crosswords had a 9% lower risk of developing dementia.
These findings build on earlier evidence. In a 2021 study, older adults who joined a 12-week chess program (two one-hour sessions per week) showed sharper thinking skills, including better language, abstract reasoning, and calculation.
They also improved at switching between tasks, sustaining focus, and making accurate decisions under pressure—the kind of mental agility chess naturally trains through strategy, planning, and problem-solving.
Another study shows that long-term chess players have stronger visuospatial skills, the ability to judge shapes, distances, and spatial relationships, and more specialized neural networks. These networks link visual processing, attention, and reasoning, suggesting that years of play may fine-tune the brain’s ability to manage complex thinking.
That matters because many of these abilities, processing speed, working memory, decision-making, and inhibitory control, are the very skills most vulnerable to age-related decline.
Alzheimer’s disease mainly affects the limbic system and brain areas involved in learning, memory, emotion, judgment, language, and executive function, the very regions that shape how we think and remember. Activities that regularly challenge those areas may help protect or delay the onset of cognitive decline.
And if you’ve been playing for years, you may reap even more benefits. One study found that older adults who regularly engaged in leisure mind games, such as chess, poker, or even virtual reality games, for at least six months showed more sustained cognitive improvements than those who played in shorter, intensive bursts.
Building Your Cognitive Reserve
But how can a simple board game protect the brain?
While Alzheimer’s is often seen as biologically “determined,” with certain genes increasing a person’s risk, lifestyle and environmental factors play a powerful role, too.
Mentally stimulating activities, higher education, and lifelong learning appear to build what scientists call a cognitive reserve.
Dr. Thomas Holland, a clinician-researcher at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Nifty50+ that “cognitive reserve refers to the brain’s ability to tolerate age-related changes, disease pathology, or injury without showing significant decline in function.”
Holland explained that mentally challenging activities help protect against dementia because they “enhance cognitive reserve, cognitive resilience, and neuroplasticity [the brain’s ability to rewire]”—mechanisms that allow the brain to adapt and recover with age. He added that engaging in complex mental tasks promotes new neural connections and creates “alternative pathways the brain can recruit if primary routes are damaged.”
Each time you challenge your mind, whether through school, work, or leisure, you strengthen your brain’s networks, creating backup pathways that keep it functioning longer. It’s rooted in the principle that “neurons that fire together, wire together.” That is, the more we use certain brain circuits, the stronger and more efficient they become.
And it’s never too late to start. Dr. Holland noted that “continued learning, social engagement, physical activity, and mentally demanding tasks can all reinforce this reserve,” adding that the brain stays malleable throughout life—and that keeping it challenged at any age helps support long-term cognitive health.
How Does Chess Strengthen the Brain
When it comes to exercise, you know you’re hitting your goal once you’re a little out of breath.
But what counts as a workout for your brain? It’s similar—look for activities that challenge you and “push you beyond your comfort zone,” explained Dr. Holland.
“When your brain works hard to learn something new, it strengthens and forms new neural connections, much like muscles adapt to physical exercise,” he added. These all help your brain stay resilient against the changes of aging.
Chess also engages the whole person—mind, body, and social connection. “Chess is a holistically stimulating activity,” says Cherry Mae Gabuyo, an occupational therapy (OT) gerontologist.
“It challenges the mind through strategy and memory, demands physical focus and postural control, and encourages social interaction, whether you’re playing with friends or strangers. It also teaches acceptance, humility, and patience in both victory and defeat.”
“When your brain works hard to learn something new, it strengthens and forms new neural connections, much like muscles adapt to physical exercise.” — Dr. Thomas Holland, a clinician-researcher at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, told Nifty 50+
Alternatives to Chess
This news may make chess enthusiasts smile, but it could intimidate others. If you’ve never played chess and the idea feels daunting, take heart—there are plenty of other ways to keep your brain active.
Holland said that greater cognitive gains come from activities that continually challenge you—learning a new language, mastering an instrument, developing a skill, or even practicing tasks with your non-dominant hand. “One aspect I enjoy suggesting is taking community college courses or classes on topics that truly interest you,” he added.
The key, he said, is engagement: when an activity is enjoyable and meaningful, you’re more likely to stick with it, giving your brain the consistent stimulation it needs to stay adaptable.
And if you’re worried about learning something new, don’t be. The American Psychological Association notes that older adults are just as capable as younger people of learning new skills.
And chess isn’t the only way to sharpen your mind, either. Games like Mahjong, Go, bridge, and sudoku offer similar cognitive challenges through strategy and pattern recognition. Holland said that the most beneficial activities are those that are “novel, complex, and personally engaging.”
If competition isn’t your thing, other pastimes still count. In the 2023 JAMA Network Open study, literacy activities such as journaling or writing letters were linked to an even greater reduction in dementia risk (about 11% lower). Creative pursuits like painting, drawing, woodworking, or metalwork also offered protective effects, while “passive” mental activities—reading, listening to music, or following a favorite TV series—were tied to modest benefits.
“These kinds of stimulating activities also allow older adults to reconnect with meaningful memories—hobbies, relationships, and moments from the past,” Gabuyo adds. “That sense of reconnection helps them maintain confidence, reduce loneliness, and continue to embrace life.”
If you’re already drinking your water and getting your steps in, make sure your brain gets its workout, too. A regular game of chess—or any mentally engaging pastime—might be one of the easiest ways to help keep dementia at bay.
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