What are the benefits of learning to play chess as an adult (30s) if any? I played chess when I was a child, but never got into it seriously (I didn't know it was possible at that age). Nowadays I'm playing regularly as a hobby and I'm interested in how this can affect my performance in other aspects of my life (specially in my job as a mathematician and a computer scientist).

Now I know it is highly beneficial to play chess as a child but I wonder if there is any research showing any benefit from learning chess as an adult (it's obvious that professional players and even amateur players are intelligent and have developed amazing mental skills... but they usually start playing at an early age).

Also, what different approaches could an adult take to learn chess? (if there is any research about it).
The benefit I like the most (I'm almost 60) is that it prevents, or slows down the onset of,  Alzheimer's disease.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/24/opinion/checkmating-alzheimer-s.html

http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/can-playing-chess-prevent-alzheimers/?_php=true&amp;_type=blogs&amp;_r=0