Cognitive Intervention With Go and Chess in Early and Subjective Cognitive Decline (Cognichess)

The goal of this clinical trial]is to evaluate if learning to play traditional board games could improve cognition in subjects with mild cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive decline. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Do Go and Chess improve cognition?
• Is a game better than the other? Is the effect of both games on cognition synergistic?
• Do Go and Chess improve quality of life?
• Do Go and Chess improve mood?
• Do Go and Chess improve lifestyle?

Participants will be randomized to one of four groups:

• Group intervention with Go, once a week, for 12 weeks
• Group intervention with Chess, once a week, for 12 weeks
• Group intervention with Go and Chess, twice a week, for 12 weeks
• Control group

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mild Cognitive Impairment; Subjective Cognitive Decline
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Go classes; Other: Chess classes

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Italy
  • Lombardy
    • Monza, Lombardy, Italy, 20900
      • Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or subjective cognitive decline
• Willingness to participate in the board games classes
• Living within 20-minute driving distance from the center
• Signed informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Prior knowledge of the the game rules (in case the subject knows one of the two, they can be randomized to the other one)
• Significant linguistic or sensory impairment (according to clinical judgment)
• Significant behavioral or psychiatric disturbances (according to clinical judgment)
• Significant medical comorbidities (according to clinical judgment)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control; Subjects randomized to no intervention for 12 weeks
Experimental: Go classes; Subjects randomized to a group intervention with Go lessons once a week for 12 weeks	Other: Go classes; Classes of board games (Go), performed in groups of 6-10 subjects, once a week
Experimental: Chess classes; Subjects randomized to a group intervention with Chess lessons once a week for 12 weeks	Other: Chess classes; Classes of board games (Chess), performed in groups of 6-10 subjects, once a week
Experimental: Go & Chess classes; Subjects randomized to a group intervention with Go and Chess lessons twice a week for 12 weeks	Other: Go classes; Classes of board games (Go), performed in groups of 6-10 subjects, once a week; Other: Chess classes; Classes of board games (Chess), performed in groups of 6-10 subjects, once a week

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
General cognition	Differences in Montreal Cognitive Assessment between groups [continuous scale, 0-30, higher scores indicate better performances]	12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Digit Span Forward	Differences in Digit Span Forward between groups [continuous scale, 0-9, higher scores indicate better performances]	12 weeks
Digit Span Backwards	Differences in Digit Span Backwards between groups [continuous scale, 0-9, higher scores indicate better performances]	12 weeks
Trail Making Test - part A	Differences in Trail Making Test - part A between groups [time to complete the task, min 0 seconds, max N/A, higher scores indicate worse performances]	12 weeks
Trail Making Test - part B	Differences in Trail Making Test - part B between groups [time to complete the task, min 0 seconds, max N/A, higher scores indicate worse performances]	12 weeks
Semantic fluency	Differences in Semantic fluency between groups [continuous scale, min 0, max N/A, higher scores indicate better performances]	12 weeks
Depression	Differences in geriatric depression scale scale between groups [continuous scale, min 0 max 15, higher scores indicate worse depression]	12 weeks
Lifestyle	Differences in simple lifestyle indicator questionnaire scale between groups [continuous scale, min 0 max 10, higher scores indicate healthier lifestyle]	12 weeks
Quality of life indicator	Differences in WHO Quality of life (WHO-QoL) scale between groups [continuous scale, min 0 max 100, higher scores indicate better quality of life]	12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Milano Bicocca
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lucio Tremolizzo, MD, PhD, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Pozzi FE, Spanio A, Gallo F, Isgro G, Remoli G, Magi A, Moscatelli E, Crisci E, Negro G, Appollonio I, Ferrarese C, Tremolizzo L. Cognitive and social intervention with Go and chess in early and subjective cognitive decline: The COGniChESs study results, with an updated meta-analysis. J Alzheimers Dis. 2026 Jan;109(2):747-756. doi: 10.1177/13872877251401481. Epub 2025 Dec 4.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 13, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 13, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): February 13, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 19, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 19, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): February 28, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 23, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Mild Cognitive Impairment; Subjective Cognitive Decline; Cognitive enhancement; Board games
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction
• Other Study ID Numbers: Cognichess

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No