Chess and nootropics/drugs

Has anyone tried using drugs/nootropics while playing chess or to improve their chess playing capabilities.

Nootropics can enhance both memory and mental processing, which would help chess among other things(college students use this for studying and tests)

some nootropics and drugs that may enhance chess (or are useful) are:

Adderall, ritalin, piracetam, oxiracetams (among other racetams), pyritinol, choline, nicotine, iodine, thiamine, caffeine, creatine(yes, the body building supplement), omega 3.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nootropic for a bigger list.

A lot are safe and show little to no side effects, and they can really help your chess learning and execution. the ones that help crystallized intelligence will help your remember all kinds of tactics, opening theory, and pattern recognitioned aspects for a long time, while the ones that affect fluid intelligence will help you ability to see tactics in complex positions, calculate more lines, be much much better at bullet and blitz, etc.

Any thoughts on chess and drugs? any experiences? i know a lot may simply just have taken a good nights sleep and a cup of coffee as their drug

For some of you old people, nootropics have been used to treat diseases that impair cognitive function. For those who suffer from old age, maybe you can research the nootropics that may emulate your youthful alertness, stamina, memory, and cognitive function.

I prefer studying the semi-Slav to improve my chess playing capabilities

you can take the nootropics to study the semi slav much more efficiently to more improve your chess playing capabilities.

I've experimented with a lot of compounds and formulas, even trying to mix my own (more work than it's worth). Now I just pop a couple of these capules before a study session. It's helps alot, the information just 'clicks' better. If that makes any sense.

http://www.amazon.com/Neurohancement-Labs-Optimal-Recall/dp/B004NM7WCK/

There's a good open source software called brain workshop that supposed to boost memory. It's based on sometin called N-back

http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/

Not to force the issue, but do you say the same thing for fish oil capsules and mult-ivitamins? Is there a line between a general health supplement and focused one?

Whether the marketing copy is accurate is a separate issue, I feel.

i read more on the product optimum recall. it seems to be relativly new (the newest formula april 2011). also it says for best results, start taking at least 10 days prior to event. that seems a little bit weird. also, it seems ppl get tolerant if they use it for prolonged use.

There is credible evidence for their efficacy. the only reason im hesitating is because some relativly new ones have been documented as very safe, currently. I dont know if some of the nootropics will have side effects in many years. (it is unlikely for some of them. a lot are actually used as treatments for diseases)

I don't think you have any evidence to back up yout assertion that ALL nootropics are "very" dangerous and that they can permanently mess up brain chemistry. research as of current has no indication of that, regardless of what your nature-loving intuition says.

Are people who drink coffee "desperate" to to improve their alertness, cognitive function, and attentiveness ? how bout protein and creatine supplement users for bodybuilding?

To achieve a goal, an efficient person uses more than just genetics and exercises (training chess, studying, etc). He realizes other factors such as a good nutrition, and a healthy body can go a long way in achieving his goal.

some of these nootropics are no more harmful than caffeine, and some less than that. For some technical definitions of nootropics, they must acutally be neuro protective (protects the brain). With proper research and regulation, nootropics seem like a worthwhile investment.

I personally think that it is sad that someone would turn to drugs to try to improve their chess!  Do you think if people continued down this path then random dope testing should be brought into the game, as in football, athletics, et al?

Adderall definitely enhances concentration in chess for me, the three times I've taken it. I get a "speedy" feeling in my body, but my focus is locked on whatever I care to do at that moment, whether it is separating my jewlry and meticulously cleaning every piece(something I've never done, or even thought about doing, accept on adderall), or playing speed-chess for 6 hours. The concentration level is very much enhanced.

Hmmm... "Doritos" or drugs? Ummm....Doritos aren't even food! I don't know what they are? Drugs are the best choice there

Most of the time, I feel like my brain/mind is working at a fraction of its potential and I am just "muddling along". I don't mean this in the sense of the famous (supposed) Einstein quote about people only using 10% of their brain capacity, which I think is a myth anyway. What I mean is that very occasionally my thinking shifts into a higher gear in which I am much more focused and organized in my thinking, with an ability to direct and manage my thoughts from a higher, "meta" level, which is normally absent. In this rare mode of thinking, I am able to solve problem, recall details, devise strategies, etc. seemingly much more efficiently and effortlessly. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to sustain this for more than 30 minutes or so at most and, as I said, it doesn't happen every day or even every week. It's kind of annoying to know what I am missing. I have to put up with cognitive impairment, relatively speaking, more or less all the time.  

Am I alone in experiencing this? Probably not, although it's not something I customarily ask people about.

I would love to be able to enter the improved state at will, or even - though it seems unlikely - to live permanently in this state (except when asleep). That is why I am interested in nootropics - though I have never taken anything 'stronger' than caffeine (in the form of coffee). I expect one day I will try Modafinil or similar, in the hope that it will bring on the 'super mode'. Or maybe I will find a way to switch into it naturally.

Any suggestions for natural 'booster' methods would be most welcome!

The way I play chess people must think I'm smoking crack!

I dont really understand why people commit the appeal to nature fallacies.

I don't understand the backlash, or why it is considered sad at all by so many people.

If you really must only want "natural" things which are no better or safer than "synthetic" ones, i think i know of some, or atleast help the brain in some way:

glucose: sugar. a teaspoon once in a while. not all at once, and not combined with a fatty source

Ginkgo Bilboa (and 150  other herbs that prevent cognitive decline)

Omega-3 (during pregnancy, but prolly after too. its healthy for the heart anyways. and it makes u happy)

B vitamins (sometimes linked, sometimes not. rebuilds neurons, used in treatment for sleep apnea-memory loss. more sensitive u are to caffeine, likely u are to b vitamins)

cholinergics, found in food and brain

blessed thistle

ginseng

rhodiola

vassopressin (released during sex)

green tea (extremly good for your health and releases theanine which increases brain's dopamine and serotonin levels.)

rather than modafinil, racetams such as piracetam and oxiracetam are considered safer in comparison as of current. adderall is prolly safer too.

for now, why not try to get a healthy diet?

Blueberries, tuna fish, sardines, green and earl gray tea, ginkgo and a multivitamin.  It wasn't possible for me to concentrate on chess without a cigarette so that finally tipped the scales and I was able to kick that horrible vice, nicotine.

But, I wouldn't take creepy pharmaceuticals.

Now, where's my Minor Threat album gone too.... 

 Try Eastern meditation or some sort of daily prayer.  The mind's form of rest and nourishment is sometimes different from sleep and substances.

umm i dont know how to relate any of it to chess but my mom lived next to a apartment witch apparently had a meth lab in it

smoking the king bishop before a match is a common ritual.

Thanks for the suggestion. It certainly sounds safer than pharmacology.

What is all this nonsense?  You should try a few glasses of whiskey and some cocaine.  It will do wonders for your "game."

^ the coca leaf has been used by our brothers and sisters in peru for 1000's of years as a mental enhancement however our prison industrial complex plus good old pharmaceutical companies insured that herbal remedies like cocaine and marijuana were outlawed in the 30's