#19 - Concept Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=13369)

The correct answer choice is (D)

At the end of the second paragraph, the author provides that chess players have an extraordinary memory for chess configurations—but only if they match what can normally be expected in a chess game. The implication: such players do not exhibit the same sort of extraordinary memory with regard to configurations that are not typical of chess games.

Answer choice (A): The passage does not mention moves that are typical of other games, so this choice fails the Fact Test and can be ruled out of contention.

Answer choice (B): The author says nothing about complex moves lacking spatial components, so this choice cannot be confirmed by the stimulus and cannot be the right answer to this Must Be True question.

Answer choice (C): Superior chess players, the author provides, have extraordinary memory with regard to standard chess configurations. There is no basis to conclude that such players would lack memory with regard to chess games that were not particularly challenging. Since this stimulus provides no support for this choice, it cannot be the right answer.

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. As prephrased above, with regard to non-standard chess configurations, superior chess players would not still exhibit the same sort of extraordinary memory.

Answer choice (E): The author does not discuss the memories of superior chess players with regard to logical analysis absent competition, so this choice cannot be confirmed by the stimulus, fails the Fact Test, and cannot be their correct answer choice to this Must Be True question.

[reop6780]

The correct answer is D while I chose A.

chess players are mentioned in line 32-35. As far as I understand it, it states that if the configurations are not typical of chess games, they do not have exceptional memories.

Answer A provides an situation that are not chess in which chess players do not have to have good memories. (except for the case that those games have configuration that are typical of chess games)

Isn't D exactly the situation that chess players should display exceptional memories?

[Lucas Moreau]

Hello, reop,

You may have misread the passage a little bit. It's okay! This passage is a little thick in places. I want to draw your attention to the line in question:

"Similarly, superior chess players have exceptional memory for configurations of chess pieces, but only if those configurations are typical of chess games."

This is stating that superior chess players do not have exceptional memory for certain configurations of chess pieces, not of pieces from other games. For instance, superior chess players would not have exceptional memory of an arrangement of pieces that could not possibly be arrived at in regular play, like having several kings on the board or pieces appearing on spots they cannot.

Hope that helps,
Lucas Moreau

[reop6780]

Thank you, Lucas!

[al_godnessmary]

Hm, okay, I guess I see the point of D. But is it just me or is that really, almost obscenely subtle? I can't imagine that anyone would, 4 times out of 5, recognize that "some kinds of arrangements" refers to "random" or "not necessarily in accordance to the rules of chess" arrangements!

[MikeRov25]

Hello, reop,

You may have misread the passage a little bit. It's okay! This passage is a little thick in places. I want to draw your attention to the line in question:

"Similarly, superior chess players have exceptional memory for configurations of chess pieces, but only if those configurations are typical of chess games."

This is stating that superior chess players do not have exceptional memory for certain configurations of chess pieces, not of pieces from other games. For instance, superior chess players would not have exceptional memory of an arrangement of pieces that could not possibly be arrived at in regular play, like having several kings on the board or pieces appearing on spots they cannot.

Hope that helps,
Lucas Moreau

How are we supposed to infer that from the passage? It seems almost impossible to say that you are going to have two kings, etc.

[Claire Horan]

Hi MikeRov25,

It would definitely be impossible to imagine every possible situation of typical or atypical configurations. Fortunately, the LSAT does not require that type of imaginative process! Instead, the answer choices posit specific examples and you must apply the more general content to these examples. So, you do not want to read the choice about having two kings as say to yourself, "The passage doesn't mention that, so it can't be correct." Instead, the thought process should be more like, "Having two kings? That is against the rules of chess. How would a chess player's memory deal with that? Does anything in the passage address this question? Hmm...it says superior chess players do not exceptional memories when configurations are not 'typical.' Having two kings would definitely not be typical, so the stimulus suggests chess players would not be exceptional at remembering in that situation." You won't be able to guess the specific situations, and that's okay. Just take your time and apply the general rules to the novel scenarios given in the answer choices.

[bli2016]

Hi, I had an issue with this problem (I similarly chose A) because the sentence in lines 32-35 ("Similarly...are typical of chess games") led me to believe that the chess players have exceptional memory for configurations typical of chess games, and therefore would not have exceptional memory for configurations of other games. Could you help me dissect this sentence in detail so that I can understand why the sentence's scope is only for chess games and unrelated to other games? Thanks!

[Kristina Moen]

Hi bli,

Here's the full sentence: "Similarly, superior chess players have exceptional memory for configurations of chess pieces, but only if those configurations are typical of chess games." So clearly they had exceptional memory for some configurations and did not have exceptional memory for other configurations. However, we're not told if those other configurations are typical of other games. Only that they are not typical of chess. The configurations that they did not remember could very well be random. This makes answer choice (D) correct: some kinds of arrangements of chess pieces.

I will also add that we are told about chess players' memory for configurations of chess pieces, not sequences of moves.

[ChristianDV]

I'm just going to insert my interpretation of this question here to potentially help others who may come across it. So, I like others, picked A because I thought that since the operative sentence of this question (line 32-35) only states that chess players have exceptional memory when it comes to chess, that therefore meant they did not have exceptional memory of anything outside of chess. But look at this fact more closely. It is only referring to chess, so how can we know anything about their memory when it comes to any other games? Maybe there memory transfers over to games similar to chess in some way - we simply don't know. This is why it is demonstrably wrong. D, on the other hand, is factually correct, for "some kinds of arrangements of chess pieces" can be an arrangement of pieces that is not typical of chess games. There are configurations of chess pieces that are and are not typical of chess games; the amount of configurations that are not typical, however big or small, are invariably "some".