Can Playing Chess Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?

Eric Gaillard/Reuters French chess players regard their opponents in Russia.

Chess can be diverting, amusing, engrossing, perplexing, exasperating, infuriating, and a few other things. But is it good for your mental health?
A 2003 study at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx found some evidence that playing challenging mental games can stave off dementia. While the study was encouraging, it was not conclusive. More studies were needed.
Evidently, there is one underway involving French and Russian chess players. The photographs shown here, which were taken Tuesday in La Guade, France, are from a match over the Internet involving some of those players that is part of the final stage of the study. There was no information on when the results might be published.
One thing of note: While chess may be good for the mind, it evidently does not warm the body, judging by the attire of one of the participants below.