Alcohol + Chess = Bad or Good Idea?

I'm not exactly Alekhine, but I find that very often being (moderately) drunk helps to achieve victories... 

i brf longr wen i ls philidosr defenve wiht a good bollte of Qf1# jddjkv f jjf sh brrt, or whts yor veiw onhh dhhje?

If you're too drunk to spell, then your'e too drunk to play chess...

It's fun and worth it. =P

When I'm drinking, I can still beat my friends who don't play chess.

But seriously, alcohol lowers your "cringe factor" for taking risks, which for an attacking player often translates into a winning assault...

Very true, but it also often translates into a blunder.

Good. 'nuff said.

I find that when I drink and play chess every win is an epic win. Then you go over those games in chessbase the next day and think WTF was I thinking? Who knows but a win is a win! However by USCF standards if you are drunk then you are not allowed to play in a tournament. I have seen people be kicked out in DFW for having a beer in the tournament hall, in the middle of their game they were forfeit. So as fun as it sounds it is a bad idea. On a personal note. Now as far as uppers go I find that it makes you think you are thinking of everything, but it only gives you an overconfident outlook on things. As far as smoking weed goes, it only makes playing more fun win/lose/draw. As far as Vicodin/Xanex/Valium goes I don't think they inhibit my play too terribly, but I don't imagine my play has improved nor decreased. I think it leads back to comfort/peace of mind. I am a cigarettes smoker and I find that when I have a Nic patch on I am more willing to sit and think, rather than wonder when I am going to take 5 and smoke. So if you are an addict I think it can effect your chess, whether that is good or bad is how prone you are to having played/studied under inhibited circumstances. Hope I helped.

General Lee, "However by USCF standards if you are drunk then you are not allowed to play in a tournament."

It's why we play here.

I have seen people come back from their 1st game loss wasted and sit down and start their rounds. Although you aren't supposed to, in a big tournament you can sneak by quite easily.

I don't think alcohol in itself makes me play better, but it helps me to keep down my anxiety down. I get pretty nervous after playing a few blitz games, and alcohol helps to be alert but without being drowsy.  The problem with alcohol is the judgement and coordination. After a while, you start to make crazy moves you didn't even intend... So it's wise to know when you had enough. :D

I do not drink. I concentrate on my other vices. I do not smoke either...

Drinking, smoking, and getting low on time. That's chess excitement

i dont like drink,smoke and drugs

I seem to have the ability to blunder horribly and lose whether I've tipped a few back or not.

I have basically done without internet chess for more than 10 years, until just recently.  I was hooked (on web chess moreso than beer or anything else) at the turn of the century, though, and I have experience with this.  For me, I found that drinking beer and playing blitz chess resulted in multiple distortions to my play.  

As I went from sober to mild buzz, I became more willing to take bold risks quickly, and won many games this way because it seems opponents tend to believe in and become fearful of opponent's moves that are very fast and very complicated.  It freaks them out, and they often blunder in blitz because of it.  However, just as this risk-taking glee began to kick in, I also gradually became less aware of time, and I would pause to mull over moves that at times didn't require it, and I got into time trouble.

As mild buzz gave way to beer-induced idiocy, I started making erratic moves here and there, and also frequently had to force myself to play extremely fast and thoughtless openings to avoid later time trouble...and my shabby openings often resulted in quick losses.  More than once, I remember logging in the next day and finding that I had dropped more than 100-200 rating points by being a drunken chess-playing idiot.

There was one time I tried a sleeping pill, Ambien.  It knocked me out, but I woke up again about two hours later feeling like I had slammed eight beers, and I could not go back to sleep.  So, I got online and started playing chess.  I have to imagine there was a certain degree of luck in my chess results that night, regarding opponents and opening choices and my general outlook and attitude, but I won an outrageous number of games that night, with very few losses at all.  My head was swimming, but the pieces on the board seemed to be moving themselves effortlessly that night like a planchette on a Ouija board.

I do not like Ambien.  I have not used it again, or any other sleeping pill.  I would not recommend it to anyone.  In fact, I'd suggest that drinking alone and playing chess on the web may be fun once in a great while, but in general, drinking alone is sad.  Get some friends together for that business.

Fingerly- "in general, drinking alone is sad.  Get some friends together for that business."

If I had any friends, I would. Maybe that's why I'm so sad.

Well, that's a tough case.  It's possible to find a bar or a music venue where regulars meet and drink...finding drinking buddies that way can work.  I've even had a few nights of drinking and playing chess at a bar.  Chess board, clock, and multiple willing players.  That situation can be impossible to find in most American cities, though.

Do things that make you happy.  Drinking can work here and there, but it becomes a debilitating crutch if it becomes a habit.  Chess can work here and there, but you have to accept defeats.  Find a roller coaster, or go to a concert, or go skydiving, or go for a walk through the woods.  Other ideas come to mind that can't be discussed here.  Mix it up, and make a point of smiling when others can see you.  ;-)

I wonder how Grischuk copes with his cigarette addiction. As far as I know, he's the only person in the 2700+ category that smokes.