Does THC improve thinking capabilities playing chess?

Exactly...I am one of those baby boomers where the culture for the young in the USA was smoking FREE weed to thumb the establishment on authority rules...50 years later...still using pot...paying taxes...no health problems...Problems came to light when the exchange of money between buyers and sellers for marijuana became an issue...The cartels with the crime associated to them were reaping in profits including the alcohol...tobacco and pharma corporations who lobby our elected officials with possible lavish vacations and $$$$ to keep marijuana illegal as a class I drug in the same boat as heroin and cocaine to eliminate any competition...

marijuana is an entheogen.

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An entheogen is a class of psychoactive substances that induce any type of spiritual experience aimed at development or sacred use. The term entheogen is often chosen to contrast recreational use of the same drugs.

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is the game of chess not seen as sacred

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do we not all play chess looking for some form of development, and more often then not the development being spiritual

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why has been marijuana only been demonized for less then 100 years out of its millennial existence

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did bobby fischer  smoke marijuana

I smoked weed for at least 40 years. Has it hurt my chess playing?

Of course, without the weed I might be rated 3500 by now...

Note: I live in Canada, where weed is perfectly legal.

haha..3500?....with the aide of a computerized chess board of course...Californians had the common sense to legalize the health herb as well...

When I was much younger I would sometimes take a hit of pot and play chess.  Then I grew up, moved out of my parents' house and realized that passing a drug test for a decent job was more important than a (deluded) masterful chess game over a 1500 opponent.

 

I don't do drugs, but it's hilarious to me that your employer has to demand you pee in a cup for them to pass your bar of a "decent job". I don't think any other country besides the US has a widespread practice of mandatory drug tests in the workplace.

Such a weird, degrading and dystopian practice.

 

You pee in a cup for minimum wage jobs.  I had to give hair samples.

Have you ever been really high and gotten inspired about something/had an amazing idea that you wrote down, and then when the high wore of you realize it was all just dumb stuff. That's what this is.

Weed doesn't make you "see things clearer" or whatever some stoners want to believe in to justify their habit, it just makes you feel like you do. 

I speak from experience, don't smoke weed kids. It's fun and enjoyable, but when you use it regularly you will be perfectly happy to stay in your comfort zone and do nothing with your life.  

Right up there with:

"I drive better drunk."

"I drive better after a few drinks."

"Alcohol doesnt impact me like it does most people."

My bar of a decent job is solely my prerogative.  I dont recall peeing in a cup, but I recall a requirement of passing a hair follicle test as a must in order to operate a potentially 80,000 pound commercial vehicle.

 

I didn't know they could test your hair, that's interesting. Ok in your case I suppose there are some jobs where drug testing has some use. It's still pretty weird how common it is. 

 

Oh I'm sure there are many who manage to smoke occasionally and in moderation and be normal productive members of society at the same time. 

But there's no denying that a lot of pot smokers use orders of magnitude more than they should and are in complete denial of the negative effects it has on their life. I know/knew a lot of people like this.

It hasn't been legal for 40 years tho😃 Tut tut

I dont think so. Weed will make you slow and in time trouble this is not an advantage. 

Also you will think your position is better then it realy is thus it will not improve your objective evaluation. Also your calculation will not improve because you think more slow. Also Alcohol will not improve your performence. I think a cup of coffee is a better druk to take. and only one otherwise you can get nervous. I don t know if Coffee will count as doping though. 

There is a plethora of cannabinoid receptors in various parts of the brain including the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and neocortex all responsible for differing functions called upon when studying and playing chess. THC mimics natural neurotransmitters like anandamine and when it attaches to cannabinoid receptors it thereby impairs the natural chemicals from performing their duties. The manifestations of such obstruction include slowed reaction time stemming from the basal ganglia, impaired memory resulting from the hippocampus, and altered thinking while grappling with complex tasks in the neocortex.

Yes. It can. It definitely did in my case a few times. But it does not mean “getting stoned”. THC does have an effect in low quantities to enable people to focus on a task. It’s because THC allows a person not to be interrupted by different distracting thoughts.

BUT, I still do not recommend people use THC for this purpose since it is very difficult to know how much exactly THC one may need so that it is not too much. People who do not regularly consume it have low tolerance and will not get benefit since they’ll be unable to think right after a small amount. People with average to high tolerance know that they can have some THC and not her high or unable to think.

 

There are half a dozen marijuana shops within a mile of my house. But smoking weed would mean I would need to lie on the ATF 4473. My state has legalized pot, but my country has so far failed to do so.

Besides my earlier post about THC being able to increase focus, I want to mention something that definitely DOES increase the ability to think at chess. This is from my personal experience and thorough reading.

I do not condone or recommend people use the substance I will mention. It is most likely illegal in your state. But it depends on state and county.

I am talking about psilocybin mushrooms (for example Psilocybe Cubensis). Also known as “shrooms”.
Their effect is opposite of weed because instead of slowing your brain down it increases the brain function by connecting many areas of the brain together at once. Persons I know who tried playing chess more than once after taking shrooms won multiple 5 minute games in a row and compared their move quality the next day. There was a positive difference.

I don’t recommend people use them for purpose of improvement of their chess play. Psilocybin is a serious substance that may produce undesirable effects. It also would be unfair to all other players to play when taking any enhancing substance besides coffee.

I agree with the sentiment that this is a personal decision for each individual, but I would add that some of this depends upon the type of cannabis you are using.  There are obviously many different strains of cannabis, but all cannabis can be broken down into three basic categories--sativa, indica, and hybrid.  In general, sativa tends to be the more "cerebral," whereas Indica strains tend to be more relaxing/sleep inducing.  I am a regular consumer of recreational cannabis, and I absolutely cannot play while high on any type of indica strain.  However, certain sativa strains for me tend to actually increase my focus, especially in daily games or long time controls.  Your mileage may vary.