To 3D or not to 3D? Cognitive Demands of 2D and 3D Online Chess

<title>Abstract</title> Chess is a universally known game of logic and strategy and has served as a hallmark not only for human, but also artificial intelligence. However, transitioning the game to the digital age has introduced multiple options and opinions on how a chess board should be displayed on computer screens. Here, we ask whether presenting a chess layout from above in 2D or from a player’s perspective in 3D impacts perception and comprehension of the displayed positions. In a high-powered online study we found that check and non-check positions were discriminated faster when presented in 2D rather than in 3D mode. As participants overwhelmingly reported more familiarity with 2D settings, we argue that this advantage is based on training effects. Moreover, this advantage was largely independent of the temporal overlap with performing another unrelated reaction task, which suggests that the 3D disadvantage arises from a lengthening of capacity-limited information processing stages. Yet, we show in a more fine-grained analysis based on the Reverse Impact Overadditivity (RIO) logic we introduce here, that a superior perceptual (precentral) processing of 3D layouts may explain the data pattern.