Objectives: The new executive functions of the brain approach and empowering these functions through education and complementary treatments like play-therapy and music-therapy can be promising for curing a lot of disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity and learning disorders, and even depression. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of chess practice for executive functions of students with mathematical learning disorders. Materials and Methods: In the present quasiexperimental research 20, fourth and fifth grade students with mathematical learning disorders were chosen by convenience sampling (clients of the Learning Disorders Center of Ilam) in the 1392-1393 (2013-2014) academic year. Then, they were randomly divided into control and experimental groups. All participants were evaluated by executive functions tests: Tower of London (Morris, Stead, Ahmad, Tone, 1993), continuous performance (Rosvold, Mirski, Sarason, Branson, and Beck, 1965), Stroop cards (Stroop, 1935), and Kay-Mat mathematical test (Connolly, 1988). Afterwards, the experimental group participated in chess classes for one year (two, one-hour sessions per week). Upon completion, the executive functions of all participants were assessed again. After a two-month interval, the follow-up test was also performed. Results: The pre-test and post-test results were analyzed using the dependent t-test, and a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores was observed. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, chess practice improves the executive functions of the brain. These findings can be applied in neurological interventions, education and treatment.

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