Here is a foundation work linking chess and intelligence by two of the
foremost educational and psychological researchers of the C20th. //Phil
Innes

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Dr. Howard Gardner, in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of
Multiple
Intelligences, discussed chess as the primary example of spatial
intelligence. In private email, Dr. Gardner has acknowledged, "Skill in
chess probably depends on both logical, mathematical and spatial
intelligence; and since it is a competitive game, interpersonal
intelligence
is probably important as well." Dr. Gardner and other Harvard professors
were actively involved with the "Learn to Think Project" in Venezuela.
The
findings (based on a sample of the 4,266 second grade students) were
nothing
short of amazing: After a minimum of 4.5 months in the chess program,
most
students showed a significant gain in IQ. B.F. Skinner wrote, "There is
no
doubt that this project in its total form will be considered as one of the
greatest social experiments of this century."