Chess-Based Training Shows Early Promise in Alcohol Rehabilitation

The study tested whether structured chess activities could support people receiving rehabilitation for alcohol use disorder. The researchers were not studying competitive chess or trying to make participants better players. Instead, the sessions used chess-based tasks as cognitive training: activities intended to exercise mental skills such as attention, planning, memory, and self-control.

The trial was quasi-randomized, which means participants were assigned to groups using a method that was not a fully randomized clinical trial. This matters because differences between groups may sometimes reflect factors other than the training itself. The abstract does not describe the assignment method, participant characteristics, or the exact standard rehabilitation received by the comparison group.

People in the chess-based cognitive remediation training group attended 90-minute group sessions twice a week for six weeks, in addition to their regular rehabilitation. The comparison group received standard rehabilitation without the chess intervention.

Researchers assessed participants at the start of the study, after six weeks, and again on day 126. They measured cognitive skills, abstinence, cravings, subjective well-being, and how much participants liked the intervention.

Fifty-one participants completed the first two assessment points: 32 were allocated to the chess-training group and 19 to the comparison group. After six weeks, the chess-training group showed a modest improvement in sustained attention. Sustained attention is the ability to keep concentrating over a period of time.

The chess-training group also reported increased general life satisfaction at the six-week assessment. The study’s news coverage described this more broadly as improved quality of life. However, the journal abstract specifically reports general life satisfaction, and says the improvement was not maintained at the later follow-up.

At day 126, the researchers found no significant effects on short-term abstinence, cravings, or mood. In other words, this study did not show that chess-based training helped people stop drinking, reduced urges to drink, or improved mood at that follow-up point.

Participants appeared to find the sessions acceptable. Ratings of whether they would recommend the intervention increased over time. The researchers described the approach as feasible and low-cost as an add-on option during alcohol rehabilitation.

That is encouraging, but the evidence is still early. The study was small, and the abstract does not provide effect sizes, detailed participant information, or long-term outcomes beyond day 126. It also does not establish that the attention changes or early rise in life satisfaction would lead to better recovery outcomes.

Larger studies with fuller random assignment, clearer reporting of the comparison care, and longer follow-up would help show whether this kind of training has lasting value alongside established rehabilitation programs.