I'd be more than happy to participate in further studies involving consumption of any palatable alcoholic beverage: beer, wine, cognac...
Has anyone mentioned marijuana yet?
Yes, but let's leave the more controversial subjects for a different thread... possibly on a different forum... We are here to probe the darkness, bring light to the masses and answer that all important scientific truth, how does 3 pints of beer affect your chess playing ability...
I'm pretty sure that this site uses Glicko, not Elo. I think the idea is that Elo was pre common computer, and Glicko leads to more rapid reevaluation of ratings.
Confusion.
"Elo" (from the creator of the system, Arpad Elo) refers to a scale of ratings, adjusted so that the difference of ratings between to players corresponds to the probability of a win for either via some mathematical law (in this case, a logistic law if I remember well). Said otherwise, it is a theoretical measure of one's ability, in a game where random factors impact the outcome sigificantly (even at 400 rating points difference, the lower rated player will win a significant number of games).
"Glicko" refers to one of the ways to modify ratings after each match or period of play so that the ratings reach roughly and in a reasonable time the (unknown) "real rating" of a player (you do not know his playing strength, you just know how he performed compared to X or Y). Glicko is an implementation of the Elo rating system, which uses another variable in addition to the rating to describe whether the provisional rating is accurate and by how much it should change after each match.
This was a message of the association of lawyers for boring posts. Please drink responsibly, too.
I'm pretty sure that this site uses Glicko, not Elo. I think the idea is that Elo was pre common computer, and Glicko leads to more rapid reevaluation of ratings.
Confusion.
"Elo" (from the creator of the system, Arpad Elo) refers to a scale of ratings, adjusted so that the difference of ratings between to players corresponds to the probability of a win for either via some mathematical law (in this case, a logistic law if I remember well). Said otherwise, it is a theoretical measure of one's ability, in a game where random factors impact the outcome sigificantly (even at 400 rating points difference, the lower rated player will win a significant number of games).
"Glicko" refers to one of the ways to modify ratings after each match or period of play so that the ratings reach roughly and in a reasonable time the (unknown) "real rating" of a player (you do not know his playing strength, you just know how he performed compared to X or Y). Glicko is an implementation of the Elo rating system, which uses another variable in addition to the rating to describe whether the provisional rating is accurate and by how much it should change after each match.
This was a message of the association of lawyers for boring posts. Please drink responsibly, too.
We always welcome input from our more legally-minded colleagues... So... can we still use the term "Elo points" or should we be referring to "Glicko points" on chess.com? If both are technically correct I, personally, prefer the term Elo... it just has a more rounded phonetically appealing sound to me... but if I should be using Glicko, then so be it, I stand corrected!
PS. Astronomer999, yes, good sir, you are of course right that three pints in an hour is not "drunk" per say, but after a 6 mile run... and on an empty stomach... for someone who is 160 pounds and does not typically drink that much... yes, I can definitely feel it!
I am from Poland and we often drink much stronger alcohol than average beer - as you all probably know our "national" drink is vodka.
I also tried to play after drinking moonshine (this is what wikipedia links to from Polish "bimber" - it is a 60-70% ABV in Poland). I was able to crush Ukrainian masters in classic time controls.
What is interesting, I personally need to keep the level of alcohol in my blood as the game proceeds. When I start getting too sober I blunder and loose winning positions. This is because I have observed to calculate at a higher speed and see more when there is not too much blood in the alcohol :)
I have tested beer, too. In a 30|0 OTB tournament I scored 9,5 out of 10 after drinking 6 beers (this is about 5,3 British pints because in Poland one beer is 1/2 l - not sure what is the relationship between U.S. and British pints).
I think everyone has to determine how alcohol affects their chess strength. We cannot say in general it has to weaken after drinking. I guess Alekhine and some of the Russian/USSR grandmasters could actually play better under the influence - just like I do.
While conducting experiments we might take nationality into account. I would not be surprised if the Slaves were the ones who gain at least +150 elo points after drinking 
While conducting experiments we might take nationality into account. I would not be surprised if the Slaves were the ones who gain at least +150 elo points after drinking
I assume that was meant to be "Slavs"....
What is interesting, I personally need to keep the level of alcohol in my blood as the game proceeds. When I start getting too sober I blunder and loose winning positions. This is because I have observed to calculate at a higher speed and see more when there is not too much blood in the alcohol :)
It seems then that you need a "downer" drug like alcohol to keep your nerves steady. Maybe you are like Ivanchuk, and you get too excited? But, as you say, you actually can see more without alcohol, it's just that you need alcohol to calm your nerves. I personally find alcohol slows down my reflexes and I play worse chess than when not drinking.
While conducting experiments we might take nationality into account.
A huge group is needed, if we want to test nationality, age, gender, whether the subject is used to alcohol... Of course, we can always take partial data and interpolate with (vodka-)educated guesses.
Tal woke up from a 3-year bender, found out he used to be WCC.
Y'all should create a chess group for this.
Or a beer group!
got one here, you guys can help and revive it !
http://www.chess.com/groups/home/strange-brew
i don`t have any reference for me to compare. i`ve never played sober. good idea. should try it. i might be preparing to face Anand for the crown. just because of the beer... i stop playing chess while drinking when i start to move my opponents pieces on the board.
being chess world champion or beer??? BEER. beer comes first
Or a beer group!
got one here, you guys can help and revive it !
Nice, I joined. I wonder if they will allow me to archive my "beer/chess experiment" games there?
im popopopopop1234567890 and im an alcholic hahaahahahhahaaahhahahaha got u rlly im not an alcholic i tricked u but rlly i am now u rlly dont know wat to think haahahahahahahahhahahahahhaha ure so screwd
Lol
OK I'll be honest. Even though I am indeed a brother of the scientific cloth, I really just want you to keep recording your games on this thread because I think you're funny and I'm entertained by your annotations :P
OK I'll be honest. Even though I am indeed a brother of the scientific cloth, I really just want you to keep recording your games on this thread because I think you're funny and I'm entertained by your annotations :P
Rest assured good brother that my commitment runs deep; more games will certainly be forthcoming (the next game will be this Saturday), and I hope to you will sacrifice more of the time you would have spent pursuing trivial matters, such as solving engineering problems, and join us in our pursuit of the deeper beer/chess related truths.
Mr. Popopop, I apologize for my confusion, but I sincerely hope you are not suggesting that our ongoing studies seeking to collect more empirical data on the effect mild inebriation has on one's ability to play chess, in any way contributed to the unfortunate condition you appear to have acquired. Either way, I would strongly encourage you to consider seeking some form of professional assistance at your earliest convenience.
It's Thursday, therefore drink drink drink!
Alas, I have yet two more days to wait before I can combine your advice with, hopefully, chess euphoria...
To accomplish a truly controlled study, we would rely on blood alcohol content(%) instead of number of pints...especially in a multi-national study (since Americans drink weak beer)