I would think it would be a interesting measure.  I remember in the TV show "The West Wing" there as a number of scenes in the later seasons about how they were monitoring the President who has MS with it.  

I don't know if that was based on actual medical studies.

You might find some inroads with the Brain Age video games as well - again don't know if their is any medical study.

Students in the chess group made reliably greater improvements than the average student in the country and the average student in the school district, who both showed no gain

Fernand Gobet & Guillermo Campitelli (2005), Educational benefits of chess instruction: A critical review, University of Nottingham

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=63&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCcQFjACODw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brunel.ac.uk%2F~hsstffg%2Fpreprints%2Fchess_and_education.PDF&ei=Wa4HVb_0LtjdauvYgdgB&usg=AFQjCNGOMunivx9wt3igIB0P6BJSWAiYgg

Thank you for all of your inputs!  However, in response to Yarnold.  I am chiefly concerned with performance over time, rather than considering chess itself as diagnostic.  Really, I am concerned with how the player adapts over time and how it might indicate increasing or declining cognitive capacity.

Ah thank you for the thoughtful response!  I feel I have much to learn from you!  Perhaps another, less complex game might be more well suited for this sort of study?

Dear Nicholas

I think in this particular patient chess has worked wonderfully, as you suggested; but again as Paul suggests, it may be different with another one. I understand that keeping the brain active, may be by any means, is important in preventing the development of Alzheimers; they may be important in recover too. Less complex board games such as chinese checkers (and other regional ones), puzzles, etc., depending on the individuals likes and dislikes should be useful.

Narayanan Bhattathiri

The most important fact is that Nicholas gave quality attention in in sufficient quantity which worked well. Finding the time and having the inclination to do so is getting rare in these fast paced days

Narayanan

You are too kind Bhattathiri!  I only wish I had more companions in this field of study!

Dear Nicholas,

Don't wish for that, carry along, alone, but you are not lonely. Most of us, including me, live in a shell, believing that what we do is the most important thing, which may not be so, and feeling sort of 'bit...y' that others fail to understand us!

Your name is related to Santa Claus, isn't that so? Being a Santa Claus for Old people is as good as being one for children.

Just keep it up. I sometimes wish that if only I were so, but somehow I am not; only I hope one day I will be so, and by that time I will be too old.

Narayanan

Ah, Bhattathiri,

    Intelligence and wisdom are both uplifting and isolating burdens.  The more one cares for subjects of knowledge, the less one is able to find friends to relate with.  Nonetheless, I would rather be friendless and understanding than ignorant and popular!

  But on the subject of Saint Nicholas, I do owe my name to this holy legacy.  I was born into the Eastern Orthodox tradition.  Although I am currently an agnostic, I am always humbled that my name is owed to such a great saint.

Dear Nicholas

An extension of Pauls thoughts

If the body of any animal can be considered as a Universe, each of this universe starts with a Big Bang (I mean ejaculation of the sperm); this non-being unites with another non-being, and the Dualism becomes a Cosmic Egg, each a Universe in its own right.  In a way it is the beginning of space and time, matter and energy (without an observer, there are no observations, is't it?)., and Physics too began with this Big Bang. In a nutshell, metaPhysics is actually metaBiology;  Along with the DNA of sperm and ovum, a little of Soul, a purified bit, also entered; with links to all previous ancestors. Thus in some of there is bit of the Soul of Santa Claus and in others a bit of other ancients; who they are is any bodies guess. And these bits ultimately guide us and decides what kind of persons we are, regardless of the circustances of our growth.

Narayanan Bhattathiri

There are a large number of education games geared for getting students to learn. These have existed for a long time, but have gotten more interest with computer games. There are a lot of people working on whether "games" can provide fair, reliable, and valid assessments (these are the three requirements laid down in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing). So, in relation to your chess games I would think that a lot of people would consider chess a good measure of some cognitive skills.

It would not be a valid study.  Why?  PRACTICE EFFECTS.  This is why I no longer use the MMSE for assessing memory in older adults.  People who have been tested repeatedly will do better on it, thus invalidating their results.  I modify the MMSE or give another assessment and modity it.  I always modify them.  Once, I was testing a man and he gave me the results before I asked him the question.  Jan Vinita White, PhD Gerontologist

Fair point, I was thinking along similar lines.  However, is chess not always a game which is constantly modifying itself?  Only in the rare circumstances are two games ever played the same.  Although practice will certainly improve a players performance over time, I feel that the game employs many strategic insights which utilize abstract concepts and foresight not used in more formulaic games. 

Also, I would like to distinguish between memory and 'cognitive adaptability'.  Procedural performance and adaptive strategy are inherently different, or so I believe.

Chess is a gymnasium of mind - Blaise Pascal

Since this game is not sensitive to cultural and educational variability, I’d refrain from trying to using it as a measurement tool. Besides it is not a good practice to use the intervention as a measurement tool. Such as, if the individual is practicing (playing) the game then this is considered the treatment. Therefore you will need to use a sensitive (and validated) tool to capture your treatment effects.

Brain gaming is a hot area.  There are innumerous (mostly technology based) gaming approaches available in the market.  Some even present with some evidence to support its usability.

WHOA that is profound! From what you report, I would infer that board games cannot be used as a qualitative measure of cognitive decline, much to my surprise. Alzheimer's is a weird disease, that's for sure.

You are certainly on to something there. If I could rain grant money I would totally give you some to find out more. If the patient does, in fact, improve, then it would definitely elude to there being different areas of the brain used in problem solving and such that are not be affected by Alzheimer's. Then again, perhaps not every case of Alzheimer's is the same and different parts of the brain are affected in different people. I haven't studied it myself so maybe that is a stupid idea, but either way you should definitely get a cognitive scientist on that one.

Perhaps you could even unlock some lost memories this way.

thanks for your kind words! I do look forward to researching this further.  Speaking of accessing different areas of the brain and Alzheimer patients, music has been used to good effect for this purpose.  A clip worth checking out from a documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyZQf0p73QM

Yes, Alzheimer's is a "weird" disease.  We do not know the cause.  Therefore, we do not know the cure. Comparing the brain to a computer, people with AD have no "save" button.  Memory is not "lost" but dormant in the hard drive.  That is why they can go to church and sing the songs they knew from childhood and young adulthood.  I see that people in this forum are providing a lot of misinformation about AD.  Too bad.  There is so much misinformation out there and why are we adding to it here?   I suggest retaining academic humility. Let's not comment on topics unrelated to our area of expertise.  Just sayin.  Jan Vinita White, PhD, gerontologist.  

White, while we may not all be as educated as yourself on the matter, we certainly do look forward towards you enlightening us.  Although we come from many academic fields, I do believe we all posses the right to inquiry and speculation on subjects we would wish to learn more of.  By demonstrating our 'misinformed views' here, we can benefit from experts such as yourself and others to help correct our views.  Furthermore, Alzheimer patients are a very personal matter.  They can be our grandparents, close family members and close loved ones.  People in such a position will not have the benefit of detachment from the issue at hand, hence, many of us might have views not represented by the objective scientific research.

Dear Nicholas and Jan Vinita

Nicholas is very right in a way. When your loved one gets, being objective, factual, scholarly etc., (though they do have place in usual circumstances) becomes misplaced. That is why people go for alternate modalities, even black magic. This is more often when it is a disease of the mind. In a way it is a failure of modern Science, more so when even Scientists have to clutch at any straw floating in the air.

Narayanan