Cognitive Science Insights into Chess Thinking with Prof. Christopher Chabris

Invisible Gorilla:    • selective attention test  
The Door Study (Change Blindness):    • The "Door" Study  
https://www.chabris.com/
Their Study on Overconfidence in Chess Players: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/yd5...
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00:00 Intro
02:48 Enters Dr. Christopher Chabris
06:15 Inattentional and Change Blindness
18:38 Checklists
21:26 Categorizing and Labeling Things
22:59 Visual Crowding
24:36 Blunder-Check
30:23 Cognitive Biases and Decision Making in Chess
38:30 Sunk Cost Fallacy
42:01 Truth Bias
43:45 Trusting Authority
50:53 Practical Decision Making
54:37 Overconfidence in Chess
1:00:27 The Dunning-Kruger Effect
1:12:07 The Illusion of Memory and Its Impact on Chess
1:14:20 Causal Attribution and Learning from Mistakes
1:19:39 The Role of Engines in Chess Analysis
01:29:46 Scientific Studies Involving Chess

In this episode, I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Christopher Chabris—a cognitive scientist, bestselling author, and chess candidate master—whose groundbreaking work on attention, decision-making, and cognitive biases has deeply shaped our understanding of the mind. Known especially for The Invisible Gorilla experiment, which exposed the phenomenon of inattentional blindness, Chris shares insights on how these cognitive limitations directly affect our chess decisions. We discuss how chess players often miss threats that are right in front of them due to selective attention, and how ideas like gradual change blindness can lead to missed information even under careful observation.

We then explore how these principles translate into practical advice for chess improvement. Chris discusses metacognitive tools like checklists and conscious blunder checks as remedies for attentional blind spots. We reflect on the power of naming patterns—like “sniper bishop” or “loose pieces”—to aid memory and pattern recognition, and how habits of structured thinking can eventually become automatic. We also connect this to broader life patterns: why multitasking reduces performance and how expertise shapes perception.

Finally, we dive into Chris's recent scientific study on overconfidence in chess players. Analyzing data from hundreds of players, they discovered that most chess players believe they’re underrated, especially lower-rated players—a real-world instance of the Dunning-Kruger effect. We unpack how confirmation bias, sunk cost fallacy, truth bias and motivated reasoning influence not just how we play chess, but also how we evaluate our own skill level. Chris shares powerful reminders that chess is fundamentally a game of decision-making under uncertainty—and that metacognitive awareness, realistic self-assessment, and embracing discomfort are key to long-term growth in both chess and life.

keywords: cognitive science, chess, metacognition, attention, cognitive biases, decision making, change blindness, inattentional blindness, learning strategies, memory, cognitive biases, confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, sunk cost fallacy, overconfidence, truth bias, chess decision making, authority trust, uncertainty, Dunning-Kruger effect, chess, overconfidence, Dunning-Kruger effect, memory, skill assessment, causal attribution, chess engines, learning, cognitive bias, player ratings, chess, psychological resilience, tactics, scientific experiments, chess ambitions, cognitive science, performance, skill, learning, expertise