Wouldn’t it be great to be able to know someone’s next move and beat them to it? It’s the key to winning a game of chess, negotiating a deal, or winning a round of poker. It makes us better at the tasks at hand, but it may also be that we were better at these skills in the first place.
According to research, expertise lays the groundwork when it comes to thinking farther ahead. The more skill you have in something like chess, the better equipped you are to think steps farther ahead when compared to a novice. In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers found that participants are better able to think multiple moves ahead because they have a better handle on the game. In essence, you can teach yourself to think farther ahead.
How To Assess the Ability to Think Ahead
Lead study author Bas van Opheusden, who is himself an avid chess player, wanted to choose a methodology that could accurately assess how far participants were able to think ahead. Using board games like chess has typically been more difficult because study participants might not know the rules of the game or how to play it. Instead, researchers used a game called “four-in-a-row” to gauge abilities. Think of it as a game of tic-tac-toe but with an added row.
