Alcohol and Chess

Originally posted by Maxacre42
on a another note, I think training drunk could make you improve faster. Like running in the mountains to get fitter, or sprint training with parachutes. If drinking makes chess harder, when you'll play sober, you'll have improved faster 😉

I've heard it argued that drinking kills off the weak, sickly brain cells and that only the strong ones survive. Who wants a brain full of weak brain cells? Not me!

Originally posted by Fat Lady
I've heard it argued that drinking kills off the weak, sickly brain cells and that only the strong ones survive. Who wants a brain full of weak brain cells? Not me!

For me that would be an improvement

the bottom line-

either you can be a talented chess player, or a talented alcoholic. both are very challenging and time consuming so trying to accel at both is not possible 🙂

Tkachiev is a contemporary example who would like to excel at both though. And rest assured he isn't the only one 😉

Originally posted by heinzkat
Tkachiev is a contemporary example who would like to excel at both though. And rest assured he isn't the only one 😉

Im not sure Alekhines or Tals true drinking skills.
I mean, they might have been IM level but I think a beerfest tournament might of killed their rating. 😉

Originally posted by Automaton
How can we find a way for these two to work together?
Anything can be trained.
Anything is possible.

How can I play better while being intoxicated?
Chess drives me to drink...and I'm not even good at chess!!

There must be a way to train my brain to play better when I am drunk.

Any ideas?

I have had a beer or a glass of wine before a round in OTB, and I think it helped, partly because I normally move too fast, and the alcohol (I think) slowed me down just enough to focus better. I've only done it a handful of times, though, so my "evidence" is anecdotal.

Paul

Come to Club 108.

Our whole club is based around the concept!

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
I have had a beer or a glass of wine before a round in OTB, and I think it helped, partly because I normally move too fast, and the alcohol (I think) slowed me down just enough to focus better. I've only done it a handful of times, though, so my "evidence" is anecdotal.

Paul

I have yet to lose an OTB rated game when I drink a glass of wine before it begins.

I generally drink 2 or 3 pints before a game, and get one to take to the board with me - I find it kills off my OCD and stops me checking and re-checking when I know a move is right. How much I drink after the game depends on the result 😉

Originally posted by Borgov
How much I drink after the game depends on the result 😉

Absolutely, a win is cause for celebration - lots to drink, a loss is cause for commiseration - lots to drink, a draw means everyone got some pointage - lots to drink!

I think the earlier suggestion to train your chess skills while drinking might be good. There's such a thing a situational learning. This means that your ability to perform trained tasks is better when the situation characteristics while performing are similar to the situation characteristics while training.
Take into account that this doesn't mean that you'll chess will be better than player sober.
An example:
Two persons learn to solve a puzzle. person 1 learns to do this with the puzzle at the bottom of a swimming pool, person 2 on land.
time for solving the puzzle
in under-water condition= person 1: 64 seconds, person 2: 80 seconds
in land-condition: person 1: 32 seconds, person 2: 28 seconds.

Your best option might be to make your opponents promise they will be under influence of alcohol as well while playing against you.

By all accounts, Joseph Henry Blackburne (he of the Shilling Gambit) was positively fueled by booze. He actually went on record as saying that whiskey helped his chess play.

Borgov's post about alcohol and the OCD of rechecking moves piques my curiosity. Going to have to give this a real try and see how it works as I suffer from the same affliction.

Originally posted by Ichibanov
By all accounts, Joseph Henry Blackburne (he of the Shilling Gambit) was positively fueled by booze. He actually went on record as saying that whiskey helped his chess play.

Borgov's post about alcohol and the OCD of rechecking moves piques my curiosity. Going to have to give this a real try and see how it works as I suffer from the same affliction.

There are some quite funny stories about Blackburne’s drinking - I once read a piece on him in Chess Monthly - he was giving a simultaneous at a college (which was how he mainly generated his income) his opponent had a large glass of whiskey beside him, as Blackburne was leaving the board to move onto the next, he picked up his opponent's glass and downed it in one. Blackburne was later quoted as jokingly saying “He left it en prize and I took it en passant!”

However Blackburne also had a reputation for turning nasty in drink - even going so far as to punch Wilhelm Steinitz (who was practically a midget) in the face, after getting into a drunken argument during a game analysis.

I think there is definitely something to be said for getting a bit of a cider-buzz (or whatever’s your poison!) before the game starts. It certainly makes me move with more confidence - apart from an appalling loss last week (maybe I wasn’t pissed enough! 😉) I’ve found myself winning a lot this season and having time to spare, to pop out for a couple of cigarettes during the game.