Chess grand masters use different parts of their brains than amateur palyers.

Professional chess players have long stumped fans with how they make killer moves so swiftly and intuitively , and a Japanese study published on Friday may have unlocked their secret .

Tracking blood flow into the brain to detect spikes of activity , researchers found that master players of shogi – a Japanese game similar to chess – use two regions of the brain to make critical moves . Unlike amateur players , who use the precuneus area of the parietallobe , professionals use the caudate nucleus in the center of the brain , said Keiji Tanaka at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute’s Cognitive Brain Mapping Laboratory .

Professionals are trained extensively for a long time , over 10 years , hours every day . This extensive training (may have )shifted the activity from the cerebral cortex to the caudate nucleus ,” the study’s lead author Tanaka said

“Amateurs use the precuneus only a third of the time (that professionals do),” Tanaka said .

The findings were published in the journal Science . Experts believe the caudate nucleus is responsible for switching bodily movements .

“Thecaudate nucleusis very well developed in rats and mice , while the cerebral cortex is very developed in primates by becoming expert , shogi masters start to use all parts of the brain ,” Tanaka said . Tanaka hoped the study would inspire research into developing the intuitive powers of the caudate nucleus .

Via Times of India