Comments on: Who knew that chess has drug testing

Who knew that chess has drug testing

caddis — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:19:35 -0800

The Great Chess Doping Scandal Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk refused to submit a urine sample for a drug test at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden and is now considered guilty of doping. The world of chess is outraged that he could face a two-year ban... [He] has been a grandmaster for the past 20 years and is currently ranked third in the world.

The only reason there are doping tests in chess in the first place is that the World Chess Federation (FIDE) has been trying, since the late 1990s, to make chess an Olympic discipline. And anyone wishing to be part of the Olympics must submit to the rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

By: ageispolis

ageispolis — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:23:49 -0800

Shoulda got a Whizzinator. Oh, wait.

By: ChickenringNYC

ChickenringNYC — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:27:07 -0800

Weed to bong 4.. or, wait what kind of dope are they talking about?

By: dios

dios — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:27:21 -0800

I am just thrilled to hear that they are trying to get chess into the Olympics. I'm all for that and hope they are successful. I'd love to watch that. So would it be a summer or winter discipline?

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:31:43 -0800

Chessbots don't pee!

By: mannequito

mannequito — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:34:33 -0800

hehe .. Before it burned to the ground, we used to spend a lot of evenings playing chess at the Blunt Brothers cafe on Hastings (Vancouver). A favorite technique of mine was to spend the first half of the game laboriously rolling a huge spliff, then light it and hand it to my opponent. Whenever it came back to me, I'd pretend to take a few quick puffs then hand it off again. Unsurprisingly, I never lost! (though in retrospect ... they were probably hustling me .......)

By: goldfinches

goldfinches — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:38:15 -0800

This is unfortunate, although I can't decide how; there's a long tradition of hard-drinking, chain-smoking chess players. Siegbert Tarrasch, grandmaster and famous teacher, wrote this question for a chess examination: Q: What is the duty of an umpire where a player willfully upsets the board? A: Remove the bottle. Mikhail Tal, one of chess' most brilliant fabulists, spent an entire tournament considering his moves in the hallway because he wasn't allowed to smoke over the board. So, it's unfortunate that some of that illicit colour is being lost from such a straight-laced game. And it'll be unfortunate to lose two potential years of Ivanchuk games. He was one of my first favorite players, and I have fond memories of reviwiewing Chucky's games with my brother. On the other hand, I wouldn't look forward to playing my brother on speed, let alone Vasilly.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:42:17 -0800

I am available to play chess with you whenever you have the time mannequito.

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:43:41 -0800

Grandmaster....with an asterisk!

By: DenOfSizer

DenOfSizer — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:46:59 -0800

He was rooked.

By: burnmp3s

burnmp3s — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:50:06 -0800

I would think this would be a much bigger deal in the world of chess boxing.

By: mannequito

mannequito — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:00:12 -0800

That's great news burnmp3s. Also, I hereby rename my sport Chesspliffing. you're on ND!

By: BobbyDigital

BobbyDigital — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:13:14 -0800

Why the heck would they put Chess in the Olympics?? Not to say that it is not a skillful activity, but it is not a sport by even the most generous stretches of the imagination.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:18:32 -0800

Really, chess is in but softball is out? That's just wrong on so many levels.

By: Joe Beese

Joe Beese — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:25:30 -0800

it is not a sport by even the most generous stretches of the imagination. Perhaps not. But most people don't realize the extent to which physical conditioning is called upon during the rigors of world-class tournament play.

By: Maias

Maias — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:28:23 -0800

And this just days after Nature said pharmacological cognitive enhancement should be legal...

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:35:35 -0800

Clearly, Grandmaster Ivanchuk had miscalculated his en passant stratagem.

By: wolfewarrior

wolfewarrior — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:39:17 -0800

I wonder if speed would make you a better player? I have played on all the drugs in the world but speed and I gotta say, I play best sober. I once ran the table on a life size chess board at burning man while drinking whiskey and taking mushrooms. I had a giant smile on my face after that. I wasn't playing my best chess though.

By: Nomiconic

Nomiconic — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:41:07 -0800

It occurs to me that chess would far more likely end up the World Games, alongside lifesaving, ultimate frisbee, billiards and anything else not Olympian-seeming enough for the Olympics.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:45:57 -0800

Why the heck would they put Chess in the Olympics? It would be a stupid move, but how about chess boxing? If regular boxing is worthy of the Olympics, the same sport plus between-rounds breathers while you push pieces around a board ought to be good enough.

By: afx237vi

afx237vi — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:55:25 -0800

Vassily Ivanchuk certainly sounds like a colourful character, but he also sounds like a bit of a dick. Just piss in the cup or go away and howl at the moon for two years. Simple choice.

By: ALongDecember

ALongDecember — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:09:32 -0800

So would it be a summer or winter discipline? It seems like anything not involving snow or ice is during the Summer Olympics, even indoor activities (table tennis, gymnastics, fencing, volleyball.)

By: Perplexity

Perplexity — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:09:42 -0800

There was a somewhat similar scandal in the world of high-level bridge: Disa Eythorsdottir was stripped of a silver medal at the 2002 Bridge World Championships in Montreal because she refused to take a drug test. Eythorsdottir said she'd been taking diet pills and was concerned about a false result. She was on the Daily Show after the incident.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:13:14 -0800

They brought in drug testing for snooker a few years back and a whole host of the old school suddenly retried - they had been on beta blockers for years. But chess in the Olympics is clearly madness... it's definitely a game not a sport, I'd have thought that darts or ballroom dancing stood more of a chance.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:15:42 -0800

Mikhail Tal, one of chess' most brilliant fabulists, spent an entire tournament considering his moves in the hallway because he wasn't allowed to smoke over the board. Prior to the no smoking rules, he advocated blowing cigar smoke directly into the opponent's face. That, and placing the board by a window in such a way that light reflected into your opponent's eyes.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:26:48 -0800

A lot of the serious chess players I knew took speed. Particularly for speed chess tournaments.

By: liza

liza — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:35:28 -0800

what. the. fuck.

By: No-sword

No-sword — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:44:24 -0800

I hear he was on cocaine straight from Bolivia.

By: Navelgazer

Navelgazer — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:04:28 -0800

Prior to the no smoking rules, he advocated blowing cigar smoke directly into the opponent's face. That, and placing the board by a window in such a way that light reflected into your opponent's eyes. My grandfather, who was a great enough backroom Gin player* to have won a fucking resort hotel in a hand at one point, bought a Betamax player for the club he frequented back when they first came out. He then would show up first in the room, set some porn playing on the t.v., and sit with his back to it. A little light in your eyes is nothing. Additionally, unless it's clinically prescribed for ADHD, wouldn't Ritalin (a.k.a. speed) just be detrimental to one's game? I'm honestly asking, because pharmacology is well outside my realm of knowledge. *My parents were once involved in a large Gin competition in Canada about ten years ago. The final table was just between the two of them. My mom won. I play at the same level as my parents, and have only once met anyone who could regularly beat me, and thus challenge any MeFites to a game if you feel up to it. Bring it.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:01:06 -0800

This brings to mind the TIME magazine article from this past August: Should Chess Be an Olympic Sport?

"What makes an Olympic sport? The games that get the official nod from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) can be controversial and sometimes bewildering: rhythmic gymnastics is considered a competitive Olympic sport, but ballroom dancing is not. Handball and badminton are part of the program, yet rugby and squash don't make the cut. Among the 28 sanctioned sports for 2012, you can find table tennis but not golf, baseball, softball or racquetball. Curling is also on the official Olympic roster, and that really piques Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). Curling is simply 'chess on ice, and it is an Olympic sport,' he says, 'but classical chess is not!' Ilyumzhinov has been struggling for over a decade to get the board game of chess, a 'sport of the mind,' accepted by the IOC. The World Bridge Federation (WBF) — representing the card game of bridge — is similarly disgruntled. Like the chess federation, the WBF has been lobbying since 1995 to claim a piece of the Olympic spotlight. In their efforts, both organizations have even offered to submit players to drug testing in order to conform to the Olympics' anti-doping code standards. Once again, however, both bridge and chess were denied entry last year. Neither FIDE nor WBF is taking the rejection lightly. Gaining recognition as an official Olympic sport could greatly benefit the games, raising their profiles in countries where they don't get much government funding"....[more]

By: Pseudology

Pseudology — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:57:05 -0800

Additionally, unless it's clinically prescribed for ADHD, wouldn't Ritalin (a.k.a. speed) just be detrimental to one's game? I'm honestly asking, because pharmacology is well outside my realm of knowledge. The key factors here are how these substances affect the dopamine in your brain. The more dopamine your brain produces, the more you enjoy your current situation and the better you feel. If your brain produces low levels of dopamine when you're, oh say, doing math then that activity is undesirable and no matter how hard you try you will hate it and be signifigantly disadvantaged over someone who likes it. Of course, if you increase your dopamine production by about 1200% (I have been assured that this is what speed does) then you'll be tweaking the fuck out and no longer able to concentrate. Speed also massively increases the levels of norepinephrine and seritonin (wheras ritalin acts as a reuptake inhibitor for dopamine, norepinephrine and has a slight effect on seritonin).

By: Pseudology

Pseudology — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:03:17 -0800

Err to conclude my previous comment ritalin increases your dopamine levels enough to allow you to be just as interested in things as a normal person but not so much that you lose your ability to concentrate.

By: Pseudology

Pseudology — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:29:59 -0800

I've never liked the IOC. Anyone remember Ross Rebliati? The IOC almost stripped him of his gold medal because he got high at his friend's wake and failed a drug test (whether or not this was an accidental or deliberate act is subject to rumor). It's such a shame too because even though he kept the medal he lost all of his sponsor money. He's now back to working manual labor. Despite the commonly held opinion that marijuana should be legalized and the even more commonly held opinion that the ski and snowboard industry is full of stoners the few I've met who are sponsored all sign contracts that say their money goes away if they are caught with any drugs, including marijuana.

By: gyc

gyc — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:17:07 -0800

What I'm curious about was the drugs they would've tested Ivanchuk for. Wat it simply athletic performance enhancing drugs as in the Olympics or were there any chess-specific cognitive enhancing drugs that FIDE would've tested for? It seems like it would be totally ridiculous to ban Ivanchuk from playing chess if all they were testing for were athletic performance enhancing drugs that would not enhance chess performance.

By: MtDewd

MtDewd — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:31:59 -0800

Why the heck would they put Chess in the Olympics? I think this has been something FIDE President (king?) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has been pushing for some time. For the prestige (and the money of course). I don't get it. Chess has been doing their own olympiads since 1927. I don't see what they'd gain from switching. The World Mind Sports Games last October had chess, bridge, draughts, xiangqi and go. According to this Chess Life article, there was drug testing for bridge and chess (because they're IOC) but not the others.

By: gyc

gyc — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:06:27 -0800

I don't get it. Chess has been doing their own olympiads since 1927. I don't see what they'd gain from switching. More public visibility and mainstream media attention, for one.

By: MtDewd

MtDewd — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 08:25:18 -0800

I guess if you want mainstream media attention you'd need a drug scandal.