Introduction:

Chess is a sport and game that benefits different cognitive capacities in the infant stage due to its actions of moving pieces, game rules, decision making and problem solving.

Objective:

This article analyzes the benefit of chess in the working memory and planning of boys and girls between 7 and 11 years of age (M age = 9.00, SD = 1.08).

Method:

The design followed is of a comparative type with 30 chess players and 30 non-chess players.

Results:

Statistically significant differences were found in the comparisons between the groups in: Labyrinth of Porteus t (58) = 2.38, p = .02, d = .30; ENFEN t (58) = 3.53, p = .001, d = .42, Color paths t (58) = 2.26, p = .03, d = .28 and Ring Test t (58) = 2.35, p = .02, d = .29. In the Parent Observation Questionnaire, no significant differences were found.

Conclusions:

The results are discussed around previous research and underlining the positive impact that chess activity produces in the improvement of working memory and planning.