I typically try to not get involved in tournaments while drinking though casual games at the local pub are so much better with a Guiness and some Jameson's (or so I have been told the next day).
Does alcohol improve chess performance or destroy it?
Sort:
Oldest
I'm of the belief that while chess may make your drinking better, the converse is not true.
How true you are there.
I can dig up a quote but in Kasparov's "On my Great Predecessors" when he covers Alekhine, he blames overdrinking as the reason why Alekhine lost his crown.
Noting, of course, that there is a distinction between drinking and overdrinking.
Estragon wrote:
Alcohol does kill brain cells. But think of it this way: when the leopards stalk the herd of gazelles, they take the ones which are too slow or weak to keep up. Over time, the herd becomes stronger as its weaker members are removed from the gene pool.
Think of drinking as thinning the herd in your head. Cheers!
This is a great theory with just one deficit: it does not comply with the facts. Brain cells unfortunately do not multiply at a rate comparable to deer. So drinking is more comparable to hunting deer to extinction...
Outstanding record when my opponent takes me up on free drinks( mines water).many times i pick up easy wins as they sleep off the time clock.Intoxication does affect chess games .
Nov 8, 2012
0
#29
TheGrobe wrote:
Noting, of course, that there is a distinction between drinking and overdrinking.
That difference seems imperceptible to the teetotalers who infest this forum.
Before every tournament, I make sure to drink at least one bottle of whiskey.
AdamRinkleff wrote:
Before every tournament, I make sure to drink at least one bottle of whiskey.
How many bottles do you drink before starting a Forum Thread?
Nov 8, 2012
0
#32
I think it varies widely with the individual.For me one beer and i play not quite as sound but more aggressive and my results seem to be about the same. Two beers and i can see a definite drop off in my performance.I will be the first to admit i am a light-weight when it comes to drinking.
I do better insults when I have the drink taken.
The Sober are the Weak.
I get drunk pretty easily, so have "a few drinks" leaves me useless at chess. I envy those who can do both! xD
TheGrobe wrote:
I have a rule: No playing or posting in the forums when intoxicated.
There are many good reasons for this rule.
some editing done.
i'm sure i count at least 12 by now Grobe.
OldHastonian wrote:
How many bottles do you drink before starting a Forum Thread?
; o Quit trolling.
Drinking makes me not give a sh#t if I lose, and happy as hell if I win.
Just look up the effects of alcohol, and apply them to a situation where such effects would matter. Yes, such effects would matter in chess 
. Maybe it would make you too stupid to be nervous or something, but I personally wouldn't even waste time hypothesizing that it would improve your play.
Elubas wrote:
Just look up the effects of alcohol, and apply them to a situation where such effects would matter. Yes, such effects would matter in chess . Maybe it would make you too stupid to be nervous or something, but I personally wouldn't even waste time hypothesizing that it would improve your play.
I know, refer to post #43.
No, I don't think alcohol effects chess playing, my chess coach is a pioneer and he doesn't drink and he's a master chess player , he's been to chess championships , won lots of tournaments and he challenges us so much and he plays better and he tells me that if your under the influences of alcohol while playing chess you'll play really really bad :) so i'd say no alcohol ...