If you had to win a game of chess in a life or death situation...

Let's say you wound up in a situation where you had to win a game of chess matched against someone you could potentially beat, in a life or death situation ... where winning would mean you would live, losing, that you would die.

Do you think you would play exceptionally well, more flawlessly than usual, or do you think you'd blunder under the pressure?

what'd happen in a draw?

i probably would blunder under the pressure IF the game lasted for long, maybe if it was short time control I might be able to keep my nerves

BALONEY!  If this happened to you, you'd be reporting them to the police, not risking your life over a game.

A better example would be that you are in the final round of a tournament where a win gets you sole first, but a draw you could end up tying as many as say, 9-way.  Does this alter your game?

You'd have to draw your own conclusion

If you know you can potentially beat your opponent in a life or death situation , doesn't that give you a heads-up ?

A may say it comes down to the person's personality ..

B may say everyone will have this human-instinct to react in the same way ...

C might blunder since it's a risky game

p.s can you have a break or no ?

Can you actually picture someone playing exceptionally well besides having THE "chess" pride .. ?!??

I'd delay the procedings indefinately complaining about the venue, the board, the clocks, the film cameras are too loud, the spectators, the KGB is using telepaths to attack my psychically, the ghost of Alkheine is trying to kill me, etc...

Haha Fiveofswords. That one made me laugh

I can see a situation where life or death depends on whether you lose a chess game if playing Kim Jong-un the North Korean dictator.  He had one of his defense chiefs sentenced to death using anti-aircraft weapons for simply falling asleep at a military event.

Is there anyone here that hates losing enough that you would crush him in a "friendly game?"

I would definitly open with 1.d4 to avoid a Sicilian game: "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!"

Oh I would just be scratching my head and wondering how I get myself into these types of situations.

Reminds me of the Mr. Black episode of Endgame:

Former WCC Arkady "sexy times" Balagan is forced to match his chess skills against a super computer operated by an online terrorist and reveals that he is playing for lethally high stakes – the lives of a group of innocent hostages.

(needless to say, it was the best episode ever)

Because you dont wreck the ego of someone who shoots 7 hole-in-ones in a single round of golf on a standard course.

How about a worse-than-life-or-death situation? If you win, you get to marry the person you love. If you lose, that person will marry your opponent, who happens to be the person you despise more than anyone else in the world.

I would probably be very nervous. Hopefully there would be either no time control, or a very long one. Obviously, there would have to be some form of time control.

^this is perfect