News: 0170261031

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

Air Pollution Causes Chess Players To Make More Mistakes, Study Finds (theguardian.com)

(Friday February 03, 2023 @05:40PM (msmash) from the closer-look dept.)


Chess experts [1]make more mistakes when air pollution is high, a study has found. From a report:

> Experts used computer models to analyse the quality of games played and found that with a modest increase in fine particulate matter, the probability that chess players would make an error increased by 2.1 percentage points, and the magnitude of those errors increased by 10.8%. The paper, published in the [2]journal Management Science , studied the performance of 121 chess players in three seven-round tournaments in Germany in 2017, 2018, and 2019, comprising more than 30,000 chess moves.

>

> The researchers compared the actual moves the players made against the optimal moves determined by the powerful chess engine Stockfish. In the tournament venues, the researchers attached three web-connected air quality sensors to measure carbon dioxide, PM2.5 concentrations, and temperature. Each tournament lasted eight weeks, meaning players faced a variety of air conditions. Fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, refers to tiny particles 2.5 microns or less in diameter, which are often expelled by burning matter such as that from car engines, coal plants, forest fires, and wood burners.

Further reading : [3]Study Reveals Links Between UK Air Pollution and Mental Ill-Health .



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/02/air-pollution-causes-chess-players-to-make-bigger-mistakes-study-finds

[2] https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4643

[3] https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/02/01/2336255/study-reveals-links-between-uk-air-pollution-and-mental-ill-health



Effect size? (Score:2)

by Mononymous ( 6156676 )

There are several interesting numbers in TFS, but nothing to tell us whether or not this news for nerds is "stuff that matters".

Re: This Totes Does It (Score:2)

by fod_dzug ( 6598790 )

I think it is arguing that we need cleaner air, which I am for. If you can clean up the air without regulation, great.

Re: (Score:3)

by Darinbob ( 1142669 )

I love the smell of capitalism in the morning. Smell like.. profits!

Re: (Score:2)

by Z80a ( 971949 )

Given how you probably can prove that the air pollution is poisoning and killing people, it's probably a case of legal matters rather than regulations.

Re: (Score:1)

by gosso920 ( 6330142 )

The article doesn't mention how many players utilized anal beads while playing, and how that counteracted the effects of air pollution.

Sample size too small (Score:4, Insightful)

by FeelGood314 ( 2516288 )

[1]https://pubsonline.informs.org... [informs.org]

They are basically saying there is a correlation between event performance and air pollution at the event. With only 7 events I'm not convinced. It could be the food served, the time of the year, the temperature or just statistical noise.

[1] https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4643

Re: (Score:2)

by timeOday ( 582209 )

Definitely would need to be replicated before taking at face value.

I wonder if players are barred from using air tanks? [1]Oxygen has been shown to enhance cognition [nih.gov].

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9862412/

Re: (Score:2)

by JeffSh ( 71237 )

keep performance enhancing drugs out of chess.

Re: (Score:2)

by guruevi ( 827432 )

Or other things that correlate with air pollution, such as noisier environments and busier (more stressful) cities, putting players on edge. Given all that 2% chance at making a mistake based on the optimal move a chess computer does, that's assuming the chess computer does predict something humans would do in the first place.

In other news: (Score:1)

by fbobraga ( 1612783 )

Water is wet

Performance Enhancement (Score:3)

by quantaman ( 517394 )

Does this mean that chess players will start "doping" in online play by using air purifiers and supplementary oxygen?

Re: (Score:2)

by fropenn ( 1116699 )

On the other hand, if I want to win I should take up smoking during games or at least have burritos for lunch.

Re: (Score:1)

by GFS666 ( 6452674 )

> Does this mean that chess players will start "doping" in online play by using air purifiers and supplementary oxygen?

If I was doing competitive chess, that's what I would do. And I do not think it would be considered "doping". This is removing an exterior influence, not adding something to your "interior" body like a drug.

From the "WHO GIVES A SHIT" department.... (Score:3)

by bev_tech_rob ( 313485 )

Really? Nothing better to study?

Re: From the "WHO GIVES A SHIT" department.... (Score:4, Insightful)

by Neander Thrall ( 10273294 )

Air pollution having a demonstrable adverse effect on mental performance is from the, "who gives a shit department?"

Don't take this the wrong way, but do you by any chance live somewhere that has a lot of air pollution, and it has, ironically, dulled your concern for the fact that it is slowly poisoning you and causing you to exhibit lapses in judgement, perhaps even if you don't play chess?

You don't care if the grey matter in that all-important prefrontal cortex where some of the workload involved in planning for future events and imagining the consequences of your decisions and actions takes place?

Re: From the "WHO GIVES A SHIT" department.... (Score:2)

by Neander Thrall ( 10273294 )

oops... I must live somewhere with high levels of air pollution because I hit submit without finishing that last question... it should have ended...

stops working right?

Guess I should start looking for a new place to live with less polluted air, my own self, LOL. :-/

Re: (Score:1)

by CEC-P ( 10248912 )

Because people do other things in that air than play chess. This is the example.

Just kidding, it's all a ploy to get chess players to wear plague doctor masks to increase viewership.

Neat (Score:2)

by Powercntrl ( 458442 )

If there is an effect, it is obviously not linear because you would've had players eating the chess pieces, back when they used to allow indoor smoking everywhere.

Re: Neat (Score:2)

by Neander Thrall ( 10273294 )

Or... just tossing this out there, it has differing amounts of impact on areas that control restraint and social behaviors than those involved in strategic thinking and planning for future events, maybe?

Correlation (Score:3)

by Whateverthisis ( 7004192 )

So the AI, that runs on computers and data centers and thus eats up tons of power producing carbon emissions, is cheating by poisoning it's human grand masters?

That seems like the logical conclusion here.

Re: (Score:2)

by hey! ( 33014 )

People have actually looked into this question -- whether rising baseline CO2 levels might affect human decision making. Right now we're centuries away from having a problem with that *outside*. Outdoors CO2 is a trace gas with a concentration of around 420 ppm and cognitive impairment starts at around 1400 ppm. But *indoors* is a different story. We're already at a point where some people are working or studying in environments above that 1400ppm threshold.

In a well ventilated workplace the CO2 levels sho

Re: (Score:2)

by Tim the Gecko ( 745081 )

> Outdoors CO2 is a trace gas with a concentration of around 420 ppm and cognitive impairment starts at around 1400 ppm.

There's an interesting story in [1]The Atlantic [theatlantic.com] about how knowing the indoor CO2 levels can make you miserable (or freezing cold and even more miserable).

[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/02/carbon-dioxide-monitor-indoor-air-pollution-gas-stoves/672923/

Re: (Score:2)

by hey! ( 33014 )

I don't know for how many years I've made this very recommendation to managers: don't bother measuring things you have no intention of doing anything about. Particularly something you're neurotic about.

Ever stop to consider ... (Score:2)

by PPH ( 736903 )

... that the people conducting these studies might be the ones huffing soot?

We don't understand the software, and sometimes we don't understand the
hardware, but we can *___see* the blinking lights!