California chess pieces
Chess’s world governing body will introduce dope testing at the Asian Games this week, although the sport’s top official in Doha said he had no idea how drugs could enhance chess performance.
“I would not know which drug could possibly help a chess player to improve his game,” competition manager Yousuf Ahmad Ali said.
“But, yes, there will be official monitors who may demand that players undergo a drugs test after the rounds.”
Drug testing is the latest move by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) to raise international standards in the hope of making chess an Olympic sport in the future.
Along with triathlon, chess is making its debut at the Asian Games, where more than 60 players will compete for the medals.
If you’ve ever played chess whilst drunk or stoned, you’ve learned how amazingly stupid and inattentive you really can be. But, this might keep the International Olympic Committee happy? If they don’t have a rulebook for every possibility, they haven’t a clue how to “rule”.
Meth, they could be on meth to keep themselves awake.
hasn’t Yousuf Ahmad Ali ever heard of adderal or other attention/memory retention boosting drugs?
there are a ton of different drugs being taken on college campuses across the country by students in order to speed their learning, boost their memory and increase their attention span.
all of those effects would offer an unfair advantage to people during a chess match.
2 there are a ton of different drugs being taken on college campuses across the country by students in order to speed their learning, boost their memory and increase their attention span.
Ditto.
Heck, would simple blood doping help increase amount of oxygen getting to the brain?
Maybe they heard about this.
Did my post get lost somewhere….
#1 no. the audience is using Meth to keep awake..
Perhaps this is a reaction to the game Kramnik played the other day. The only possible explanation for that was that he was stoned.
This is in line with US companies wanting to drug test all their employees. It has nothing to do with unfair advantage and instead is just part of eliminating drug use. The bigger outrage is that they are including chess as a sport.
blunts always help my FPS skills.
#4 is probably on the right track. But they aren’t competing, just trying to excel.
But why are we involved in competition to begin with? Are we just offering a way of safely scratching a competitive itch? Are we trying to prove that everyone is almost equal? Is it a very cold war way of showing supremacy? Is it an indirect way of reliving the violence and abuse in our families of origin?
For some of the above reasons, let them hop themselves up as much as they want. Who cares what a cage fighter takes?
If the reason is to show near equality of everyone (like the Olympics), that has been a lost cause. The third world countries can’t afford the winning technological edge afforded by the advanced, rich countries. And racial differences have always been ignored. Who can outrun a Watutsi?
Provigil.
They could be taking ADHD medication like Adderall to make them play better. It’s not just the illegal stuff.
Since when is chess a sport?
Chess has been a sport since the 19th century. Today, in most languages and jurisdictions, chess is a sport, but in English and in countries like UK, Canada, Australia, NZ, and USA, chess is rarely considered a sport. If you want to read the chess news in a Spanish or Argentine or French or Russian or Hungarian newspaper, look in the sports section. In an English-speaking country, look for the Bridge column, … or in the obits.
A more technical answer is that FIDE (the world chess federation) became a member of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) about 10 years ago.
There’s lots more to say, but just one thing. People might take substances because they figure it will improve their X, but it doesn’t necessarily work. Especially when X is Y or Z.
Another discussion of this subject is a theblog of Susan, the eldest of the famous Polgar sisters.