They say that practice makes perfect, but this is not always the case - at least for chess players who wish to reach the masters level, according to the results of a recent study.

New research, which appears in an article in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, reveals that it takes more than hard work to earn the title of Grandmaster or International Master in chess. The researchers behind this study arrived at these results after collecting data from chess players in Argentina. Of these individuals, those who became masters did so after at least 3,000 hours of practice.

"But the thing is, of the people that achieved the master level, there are people that achieved it in 3,000 hours," said Fernand Gobet, a professor at Brunel University and co-author of the article. "Other people did, like, 30,000 hours and achieved the same level. And there are even people that practiced more than 30,000 hours and didn't achieve this."

The researchers feel that other factors play a role in shaping these players' abilities, including their IQ.

Chess players who are curious as to what role their intelligence plays in their mastery of the game may want to take an IQ test.