Nature or nurture? Can anyone become a Grandmaster?

Dr. Robert Howard of the University of New South Wales in Australia is carrying out a study of chess skill in internationally rated players.

The study looks at effects of amount of practice, coaching and age of starting chess on chess skill and at chess players’ views about chess skill.  The study involves a short online survey. The survey is for anyone who has, or who ever has had, an FIDE rating.

The survey takes only about 5-10 minutes to complete. All responses are completely confidential. The survey is available in English, Spanish, Russian, and German at http://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/fidestudy/

To take part, you must know your exact FIDE ID number. ID numbers are posted on the FIDE website.

When the study is complete, a detailed description of the results will be presented on our website.