Drugs/Medications: To Improve Chess performance? Uncommon Other means to?

I enjoy my games more when my prescription medication kicks in, but then again I have cronic pain from radiation treatment so I'm just happy to be free of pain. I just always happen to be playing chess when I take my pills. Seriously, I have cut back everything in an effort to play better chess. I cut back my smoking because it deprives oxygen to the brain (something needed for thinking). I don't drink because I become a monster and I had my doctor drop the level of my medications because I want my brain functing during the game. I don't think I'll be giving up any body parts anytime soon however!

I need to find a non-psychoactive stimulant other than nicotine. I know--CAFFEINE. Dang it, caffeine is also a psychoactive stimulant...

 You can try tea - it contains less caffeine (avg. 2% - less than any other caffeine-containing beaverage)

most tournament halls are non-smoking nowadays anyway (at least in the US)... so it's not likely you can smoke at the board...

And a shame too, isn't it? THAT used to be half the fun of it all ... trying to smoke out the opponent. Walking into the old tournament hall for club day, and finding the room full of old gents smoking those 15 cent cigars ... ah for the Days! It really does feel like something is missing at times.

On the otherhand, being locked out of the tournament hall once for having a smokerette did put a little of the old thrill back into the game. Actually just the adrenalin boost needed. Stumbling about outside for 20 minutes, in the crisp autumn air permitted figuring out how to trap his rook, just like old Tal. Clears the mind.

Speaking of which ... Adrenalin, aka Epinephrine ... now There's a shot in the arm so to speak for some get up and go. But really be careful about the touch piece rule. Some uncouth players may try to claim you meant to move one of those three pieces you spasmed into~! And too much Ephedrine can turn you green ... "Vascular Event" they call it. Or blood pooling.

Surely there's got to be a better way?! (Ah yes, there is~! But no one has even brought up Hypnosis yet!? Maybe I'll have to ... No one?)

I really like smoking good cigars and drinking while I play.  Can't find a club

in the Chicago suburbs that allows both.

     If anyone has a suggestion let me know.

I would never think that there is any way to get doped in chess!!

BGIANIS  ~  No Way !?  On the first page here, TYCHO mentioned long distance runners. They had a practice several decades ago, actually called "blood doping" . I believe it was oulawed some time ago, for Olympics.

 But what some did was remove some of their own blood, let their body replace it, then return that extra to their body before a race; In order to put more blood in their system & so better meet the oxygen demands of a race. It would increase blood pressure and the number of oxygen carrying red corpuscles. Or to further optimize this capacity, the blood might also be seperated before being returned, just keeping red blood cells ( or those and hemoglobin); then transfusing back in a form called 'packed red cells'. Then there was not only greater quantity of red cells, but also a higher percentage. Thus increasing oxygen available thruout the body, while requiring less respiratory and cardiac function to do it.

 This type of increased efficiency might benefit at least some Chess players. I do not know if it would matter to someone already having 'normal' cerebral blood flow & oxygenation there. [And the practice is considered dangerous since it can lead to very undesirable vascular events such as stroke; or blockage of various vessels, especially capillaries. Those are especially narrow and suseptible to occlusion in some places including the brain & kidneys. Or in the spleen, which can become overworked trying to remove red cells.]

   I think that the practice might make a difference to a player having some deficiency of cerebrovascular oxygenation due to blood flow or low oxygen content of that blood. The reason being, that I have seen several cases of persons who did experience troubles with memory and some other cognitive functions, due to acquiring insufficient cerebral oxygenation due to illness. But after being put on a medication such as the calcium channel blockers verapamil (aka "Calan") or nicardipine (aka "Cardene") those functions were improved and nearly returned to their normal condition for those several persons.

 This is a major reason I strongly oppose any "drug" testing upon Chess players. As it appears to me, anyone who did GAIN ability from a medication or chemical, is probably in NEED of having it just to function in their own best health. That they are merely replacing something lacking, which was hindering that health.

   I would worry that taking away a RX from them which actually helped their cognition aor memory, may well be asking them to INJURE themselves ...since for instance, removing any RX adding to cerebrovascular oxygenation seems to sentence them to experiencing an increased rate of, the always ongoing, death of irreplaceable brain cells. A natural occurance, but what sport or game should ever ask its participants to Increase it ??

At least those are my thougths on that aspect. If something were helpful enough cognitively to improve Chess play ... do any of you think it proper to ask it to be stopped, so as to play the game? I have a hard time seeing that as even being civilized. But perhaps I'm missing something there?   }8-\

I would love to contribute to this thread, but I don't think it would be very smart on my end. =)

     OK, we'll just assume you're alll juiced up, all of the time.

Hey Jake,  When I want to talk about something delicate, I always find it helpful to preface my remarks with: "I HAVE THIS FRIEND, FROM OMAHA who told me ..."  (Then they never know which of us I'm talking about~! Pretty clever, huh? )

BTW, I do have this friend in Omaha; who told me that:

1) Don't eat turkey before Chess because the tryptophan will make you sleepy.

2) Don't eat pasta before chess because it does makes you drowsy too. 

3) Instead of table-sugar (sucrose), which must be metabolized in stages and makes you crash afterward; try dextrose (aka glucose) instead since it can be metabolized directly by the brain, which gets first serve of it. Or if planning a physical event, such as STAGGERLEE outsprinting the irate hunband(s), fructose for the muscles.

4) Be sure to take your opponents out to lunch for some Chocolate Fudge and Turkey Tetrazini.

Dont know about deodoriser bit, but odour should theoretically win. Im sure if you stuck some garbage on yourself just before a match - fairly sure youll win : provided you have remembered to plug your nose beforehand of course or if u suffer from anosmia.

Perhaps a pagan goat sacrifice to the gods before a game would work?

I played my best game ever on day 6 of a 9 day cocaine/acid binge back in '71.

Playing chess on acid can be very tricky.  You may have your best game

ever, but hope nobody screams, "Kill the King".

This is great:

haha. I could only imagine how devasting a check or tactically active game would be.

I believe noonamine is the name you are looking for. These are drugs specifically designed to boost your concentration and thinking ability. I think wiki's got an article on them...

I don't know Baronderkitt.You may be right.I just could not imagine of a way to achieve better performance,except from study and practice,because it is more a mental game,it is not football or 110 hurdle metres.Anyway,I agree that it is an interesting topic.

HI BGIANIS ... I have to agree with that. Study and practice is the big thing, as far as I know. 

I found this article about how to Eat Like a Grandmaster. I guess Kotov missed that one 

http://www.chesscircle.net/chess-strategies/chess-and-nutrition.html

www.chesscircle.net/chess-strategies/chess-and-nutrition.html

Has anybody tried Brainspeed and does it work?

http://www.brainspeed.com/brainspeedfaqs.html