We could probably beat them at chess too........
Probably not. Same brain size as infants. They had larger brain size as adults....
Fascinating article:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Neanderthals-were-too-smart-to-survive-15264.shtml
While many modern humans are bright and intellectually energetic, there is also that crowd which has become wasted by the cushiness of modern life. They don't participate but watch life unfurl on TV and movies and video games. They don't have to fend for their lives because of eternal stipends (initially from parents, then from employers).
Neanderthal man, OTOH, lived in a more violent world. Like animals in the wild, his brain had to be on perpetual "alert" or he would be killed by a competitor. He didn't have the luxury of "kicking back"...if he kicked back, he might end up as dinner.
Comparing the laziness of modern man to neanderthals might be best understood by watching cats.
A satiated house cat sleeps on its back in front of a roaring fire, large vulnerable abdomen exposed, with only distant dreams of chasing a mouse (his dreams most likely filled with images of chicken and tuna from a can...and the occasional treat of catnip from his adoring owner valet).
Yet a cat in the woods, particularly if hungry, is intense and never more alive in its observation. Adrenalin pumping in its veins constrained by nerves and muscles of steel. Eyes dilated, catching the slightest movement of the natural elements, ears rotating to absorb the vast array of sounds, and its brain humming to process this mountain of data and boil it down into a single nugget of truth.
And which cat would win a competition which calls for concentration of thought, processing of information, and blazing speed, balance, and pin-point accuracy of mobility?