His Research: "I knew there must be some difference beyond training and motivation," he says, and he started his inquiry while working under two professors at the University of Konstanz in Germany. He brought in top chess players, buddies from his previous life, and used magnetoencephalography (which measured the magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in their heads) to understand which parts of their brains they used the most while playing. "After some time, I found the difference," he says.
The game's grandmasters relied heavily on the frontal and parietal areas and much less on the temporal lobe; their breakdown was about 80/20. "We speculated that they were better able to store chunks of information (such as patterns or strategies) in their long-term memory while they were playing," says Amidzic, and then effortlessly shift it into their working memory.
The brain ratios did not change over time, despite additional training and tournaments. "I'm currently testing children to see if the proportion is established in childhood," he says. He's also studying young athletes; Amidzic is now in Brazil examining the cognitive abilities of would-be soccer stars. "At the very highest level, you must really understand and anticipate the game," he explains. The tests he has developed are available for a fee at his private research lab in Switzerland; they purportedly allow any aspiring chess player or volleyball star to gauge his chances of making it to the top.
