Adrenaline, Nervous Systems and Psychological Pressure

[Greg Breed]

An excellent question Nick and one that has relatively little written about it in mainstream chess books. It's great to have people's responses and suggestions. Fortunately I don't suffer much of this nervous, psychological pressure partly, I think, due to my easy-going, laid-back nature. I do however tend to get sweaty palms towards the conclusion of a game regardless of the result! Strange that. Win , lose or draw it always happens and I find myself constantly wiping them in anticipation of the inevitable handshake. Funny that, because having the sweaty palms causes me to become more nervous of the impending embarrassment of the handshake and it self-perpetuates!

[Ola Winfridsson]

The headaches are often caused by poor posture at the board - slumping for prolonged periods causes strain on the neck.
Louise

Yes, partly that, but I've always tried to sit 'correctly' at the board, lightening the strain on the neck by supporting my head in my hands (so not always an indication that my position's awful!) and making sure I stretch my legs regularly during games (apart from when I play Jack Rudd, then I don't get the chance!). Obviously I can only speak for myself, but this particular problem vanished towards the end of my junior days, so possibly the result of taking the game slightly less seriously ... Less nervous tension, rather than less strain on the neck.

Another thing that I certainly feel helps is regular exercise, in particular running. However, this is clearly a matter of preference, not everyone enjoys this!

[Louise Sinclair]

One of my favourite methods for calming myself involves sticking my head under a cold water tap. But at the board one would need to bring a towel.
Louise

[Clive Blackburn]

My main problem is not during the game but attempting to sleep afterwards.

I have this problem as well. After a club match there is no way that I can go to bed at the usual time as my brain is still active. I generally relax for a couple of hours with a beer, watching TV and playing over the game in my mind, before I eventually head to bed. Win, lose or draw, it doesn't seem to make much difference.

When I was younger I didn't sleep at all well the night before a weekend congress but these days the stress doesn't hit me until after the first day's play. For this reason I never play the Saturday night round, so that I can get home early and spend the evening wind down.

[Louise Sinclair]

Watching the TV wakens the body in the evening and can disrupt melatonin and the circadian clock. You would be better off having the beers and some light reading.
Louise

[Clive Blackburn]

You would be better off having the beers and some light reading.
Louise

Yes you are probably right Louise (definitely not a chess book though)

Oh and I only ever have the one can of beer!

[Andrew Bak]

Whenever I play chess i'm unsure if it is a 'pleasurable' experience. Adrenaline courses through my body, I experience uncomfortable palpitations, feel twitchy and occasionally get a shaky hand. I often sit in my opponents time consciously trying to relax and ground myself in my body. However as soon as it's my move and become lost in thought and calculation, I begin to feel physically uncomfortable again.

I have been wondering about how much of this is 'fixed' and simply down to the way I am wired. The way my particular nervous system works. I have read about promising juniors such as Ponomariov and I think Karpov being written off from reaching the very highest levels due to their perceived weak constitutions and inability to cope with the high stress levels of top flight chess. I also seem to remember Leonard Barden writing about Korchnoi's robust nervous system. I wonder if this is part of his incredible longlivity in the game.

I think if you succeed in any task, you will naturally feel some sense of pleasure, I'm sure biologists would be able to tell you about dopamine and other "happy chemicals" that are released as a reward mechanism. My guess is that any player is striving to achieve this state of happiness and satisfaction, so naturally you will typically have to fight hard to succeed, which is where nervousness and stress come into play.

Some people exhibit nervousness and tension more than others, but I guess that everyone feels at least some level of stress when playing a tough game.

Adrenaline is released due to our body perceiving itself to be under threat and so preparing the body to either fight or flight. Psychologically, instead of thinking "my rook is under attack" we think "I am under attack". How to detach oneself from this perception?

I personally don't really think about chess like this at all. I see chess as very abstract and sometimes even forget that pieces are being attacked, there is just an intuitive sense that the correct move is to move the attacked piece somewhere else, or create a more important counter-threat.

Chess is an exercise where you have one over-arching goal (checkmate) but you have to construct many plans and envision how these plans might develop when interacting with your opponent's likely objectives.

Because of this, I feel most "under threat" in the way you describe when my opponent has played a plan that I have not foreseen, or done some move that has made my plan pointless, ineffective or impossible to play

This prolonged hormonal release over several hours can be extremely taxing and I personally feel exhausted and empty after a full day of chess. I have begun to experience a severe decline in the standard of my play towards the end of games. A feeling that my mind is swimming, which results in me being unable to calculate relatively simple calculations that with a clear mind I would find effortless.

I played a game on Monday against a strong player and reached an easily won position with approximate clock times of me 30 minutes, my opponent 4 minutes! All that was required was a few calm, simple calculations. I could not think straight and somehow lost the game. The 'pressure' was increased by my feeling exhausted, having spectators watching and my opponent blitzing his moves out.

I took the loss very badly. Enough to consider quitting the game entirely.

Everyone has had this experience in some form or another! Josh Waitzkin describes this phenomenon very well in the Chessmaster series. Your mind is clouded by things other than the task at hand, playing the game. You were probably getting excited at the prospect of being about to win against a "strong player" that you could no longer think objectively about the position. Then even if you make a tiny error, this multiplies in your mind up until the point where your brain is making no sense anymore.

Personally I like to walk about quite often during the game, it stops me from getting too immersed in the position that I can't see the bigger picture. Walking around probably has some physiological benefits as well, such as the exercise taking away some of the stress.

On a related note, recently I have started captaining chess teams and I've found that my results have actually been considerably better when being captain. I find that having my mind active on the team situation helps me concentrate on my own game for some reason. However after I finish my game, I am noticeably more stressed than I otherwise would be!

[Louise Sinclair]

Is there anything to be done? How do I stay calm? Think with more detatchment? Have any other players struggled with this aspect of the game and what did they do?[/quote]
Self hypnosis halps maintain objectivity.
Louise

[Patrick McGovern]

There was one well know player used to come up to Scotland to play in our local tournament, his way of coping with the stress was to flap his hands behind his back. Very unusual and fascinating to see but it was effective as he invariably went south with the loot.

[Andrew Bak]

I subscribe to New Scientist Magazine. In the 25th August 2012 edition, there was an article in it about the increased level of anxiety caused by uncertainty balanced against the higher emotional response to an unexpected event.

In one study, participants were told they were being given the chance to entera competition, and asked to choose the two prizes they would most like to win. All were then told they had won. One group received their favourite prize straight away. The other group, however, would not find out which of their two favourites they would receive until the study ended. Those who were forced to spend time mulling over the two possible happy outcomes, hung on to their good moods far longer than those who experienced instant gratification.

They also spent longer looking at pictures of their possible bounty, lending support to the theory that people spend more time fixating on possible outcomes when something is uncertain. For happy outcomes, that amplifies the pleasure that can be derived from them.

I think this probably has some application to chess. Games take a considerable period of time and most of the time, the outcome is uncertain which makes the pleasure derived from a victory even sweeter. Perhaps it is the longing/addiction of this feeling that makes people feel nervous and under pressure whilst playing a game?

[Warren Kingston]

I suffer from bad backs more than anything, if my knees are above my bum, bad back. Have to sit on cushion to raise my body to cure problem.

[raycollett]

I guess that everyone feels at least some level of stress when playing a tough game.

There is a fair amount of research on the effects of playing chess on heart rate (HR) or other measures of "stress". Chess playing is a useful model for the studying the effects of decision making in uncertain situations.

One Open Source example is http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3465955/ The author's abstract states "In a chess game, players have a limited time-budget to make about 40 moves (decisions) that can be objectively evaluated and retrospectively assigned to specific subjectively perceived events, such as setting a goal and the process to reach a known goal. We show that HR signals events: it predicts the conception of a plan, the concrete analysis of variations or the likelihood to blunder by fluctuations before to the move, and it reflects reactions, such as a blunder made by the opponent, by fluctuations subsequent to the move. "

A french group has also analysed physiological variables of chess players http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18987876, but this article - probably financed by tax payers - is hidden behind a paywall.

[AustinElliott]

A french group has also analysed physiological variables of chess players http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18987876, but this article - probably financed by tax payers - is hidden behind a paywall.

Allow me...

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2009 Feb;105(3):343-9. Epub 2008 Nov 6.

The stress of chess players as a model to study the effects of psychological stimuli on physiological responses: an example of substrate oxidation and heart rate variability in man.

Troubat N, Fargeas-Gluck MA, Tulppo M, Dugué B.

UFR Sciences du Sport de l'Université de Poitiers et Laboratoire des Adaptations, Physiologiques aux Activités Physiques, Poitiers, France.

Abstract
We have studied the physiological consequences of the tension caused by playing chess in 20 male chess players, by following heart rate, heart rate variability, and respiratory variables. We observed significant increase in the heart rate (75-86 beats/min), in the ratio low frequency (LF)/high frequency (HF) of heart rate variability (1.3-3.0) and also a decrease in mean heart rate variability with no changes in HF throughout the game. These results suggest a stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system with no changes in the parasympathetic system...

Which pretty much bears out what people have said here already - playing a chess game causes the standard things you associate with an acute response to mild stress, such as activation of the sympathetic ("fight or flight' ) nervous system.

I liked the following bit describing the set-up. Note the lunch first (properly French) and 'In order to make the participants comfortable, they were asked to lie down for 15 min'. ...(!)

Study design

The experiment started with the lunch (standardized) of the participants, which was taken between 12.00 and 13.00. Then at 16.30, the participants started their chess session. Before the start of the experiment, instructions were given to the participants about the procedures and protocol requirements during the test. In order to make the participants comfortable, they were asked to relax in a supine position for 15 min. Moreover, all participants underwent a familiarization period with the equipment required for testing. The experimental room was calm (no more than 2 observers and the player) and light and temperature (18°C) were continuously regulated.

Chess game

The participants played a chess game against a computer with software that mimed a level of expertise which was similar to the player’s level (Chessmaster 9th edition, 2004). This software was used because of the ability to select a wide range of ELO levels. In fact, without telling the participants, we set the program at a slightly higher level (?100 ELO points) than the level of the player. A laboratory assistant who was familiar with chess was always present during experiments. He performed the moves indicated by the computer on the chess board, and he also served as the human presence in front of the participants. One hour was allotted for each player (an electronic clock was used to control the time). Cardio-respiratory variables were continuously recorded until the chess game were over (approximately 90 min, the computer also needed some time before indicating its move).

Finally, under the 'Acknowledgements', the authors note:

The study was partly supported by the Chess League of Limousin, France. The authors are very grateful for the volunteers who were all very excited to participate and the League of Limousin that encouraged this research.

So they actually got some financial support from a chess association, which might seem fairly amazing from a British perspective...

[Nick Burrows]

Thankyou for the many helpful suggestions. I also received a PM that suggested hypnotherapy as a possible solution. I had my consultation last Tuesday, and will have a further 3 sessions. I am intrigued to see if it makes any difference at all! I saw a hypnotherapist some years ago and in my consultation mentioned a dissatisfaction with my diet - during hypnosis she said "and you will eat lots of carrots, because they are very good for you" I did not go back!

[Dave Ewart]

My main problem is not during the game but attempting to sleep afterwards.

If this happens to me, it's because I'm playing through the game I've just played in my mind. I always have to run the game through the computer before I can sleep, otherwise my mind is just full of "What if ... ?", "Was <move> a blunder?" etc.