Can learning to play the game of chess increase your child's IQ? Does chess teach children critical and creative thinking skills as well as improving math problem-solving skills, reading skills, and memory. Reseach indicates it may. The "Chess in Education Research Summary" compiled by Dr. Robert Ferguson quotes John Artise (of Chess and Education) as stating: "Visual stimuli tend to improve memory more than any other stimuli; . . . chess is definitely an excellent memory exerciser the effects of which are transferable to other subjects where memory is necessary."