We analysed the association between chess skills and academic performance in primary school students. Additionally, we tested the potential mediating effect of fluid intelligence on this association. The sample consisted of 255 primary school students (48.2% girls), aged between 10 and 12 years, who had received instruction in chess. The students completed fluid intelligence measures and self-reported their chess play abilities. For the academic achievement measure, we accessed the students’ school records. Following mediation analysis, results indicated fluid intelligence to mediate the relationship between chess skills and academic performance in that students with high self-reported chess skills also had higher academic grades. We conclude that chess skills might be a reliable proxy measure of student academic achievement and fluid intelligence.

我们分析了国际象棋技巧与小学生学习成绩之间的关联。此外，我们测试了流体智力对这种关联的潜在介导作用。样本包括接受过国际象棋训练的255名小学生（48.2％的女孩），年龄在10至12岁之间。学生完成了流体智力测量并自我报告了他们的下象棋能力。对于学业成绩衡量指标，我们访问了学生的学校记录。经过调解分析后，结果表明流体智力可以调解国际象棋技巧与学业成绩之间的关系，因为自我报告的国际象棋技巧较高的学生也具有较高的学业成绩。我们得出的结论是，国际象棋技巧可能是衡量学生学习成绩和智力的可靠指标。