Quick qeustion

Because of technology and possibility of cheating is it illegal to listen to music while you play chess in an official fide tournament? I find I play much better while listening to some good music.

Originally posted by tomtom232
Because of technology and possibility of cheating is it illegal to listen to music while you play chess in an official fide tournament? I find I play much better while listening to some good music.

Now days I think it would look suspicious. You would have to check with the tournament director to see if he would allow it.

Originally posted by tomtom232
Because of technology and possibility of cheating is it illegal to listen to music while you play chess in an official fide tournament? I find I play much better while listening to some good music.

My pupils in school say that they work better when they listen to music but it's not true.

Many years ago my son (a very strong chess player) said the same about music and working / playing chess so I set up a little experiment (which is not totally scientific).

He played 25 blitz games on ICC whilst listening to music and 25 without music. His rating performance with music was 100-200 less than without...!

I also know from experience that when pupils do work that requires some thought the results with music are far worse.!!

Originally posted by tomtom232
Because of technology and possibility of cheating is it illegal to listen to music while you play chess in an official fide tournament? I find I play much better while listening to some good music.

I used to listen to music while I played years ago. I always had people complaining it was too loud. 😕

Originally posted by kingshill
My pupils in school say that they work better when they listen to music but it's not true.

Many years ago my son (a very strong chess player) said the same about music and working / playing chess so I set up a little experiment (which is not totally scientific).

He played 25 blitz games on ICC whilst listening to music and 25 without music. His rati ...[text shortened]... nce that when pupils do work that requires some thought the results with music are far worse.!!

This may be a case of him concentrating more on the music than the task. I find music that I listen to often makes my world "more silent" whereas the noises in the tournament hall are more distracting. I think music also awakens my creativity a bit more... I have been listening to music while playing on chess.com and have rose to my highest rating ever in live play.

"My pupils in school say that they work better when they listen to music but it's not true."

Agree - I teach chess at an all girls private school and boy do they love to talk while playing amongst themselves. I think a 100-200 lvl drop is probably true...although it certainly looks like a drop of a least one class (approx 300 points). Their level of concentration is much higher when forced to play in a real match.

It depends on what's going on.

I play my best in a perfectly quiet room, but if I am playing around some snot-nosed chair-dragging, sniffling, restive junior player, I'm putting in my headphones. For my mental balance and their physical safety.

Originally posted by tomtom232
Because of technology and possibility of cheating is it illegal to listen to music while you play chess in an official fide tournament? I find I play much better while listening to some good music.

A little bit of Jethro Tull or even Beethoven worked great before a difficult tournament game.😉