Chess and vaping

[Mats Winther]

When I started playing chess in the mid seventies, smoking at the board was still allowed. When it was prohibited, it was soon found that the average rating was too high. So the Swedish chess federation decided to lower the rating for all players. I don't remember how much. Perhaps it was around 50 points.

There is perhaps a connection. Nicotine improves chess skills. It improves concentration and calms the nerves. Today, people are going over to e-cigarettes, instead. It is known as vaping, instead of smoking. The vapour made out of an e-cigarette is the result of vaporizing an e-liquid. The e-liquid (e-juice) vapour provides the smoking sensation and taste. The e-liquid base is composed by two ingredients - propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG). Both of them are vaporizing at around 60°C. They are considered harmless. To this, nicotine, flavour, and small amounts of purified water and alcohol are added. Vaping doesn't produce smoke, only a harmless vapour. The vegetable glycerin turns into carbon dioxide and water, while the propylene glycol is wholly converted to energy in the body. There is hardly any smell. If anything, it smells good.

I theorize that vaping increases the chess playing strength by, perhaps, 40 Elo points, on average. In the UK, there is a call to allow vaping in pubs. I think we will soon see the same issue raised in chess clubs. I know that vapers would very much like to vape at the board. I am myself a vaper, and I just wanted to inform you about this issue, and to put it on the agenda.



More information here:
http://vapegrl.com/

M. Winther

[Adam Raoof]

This is an interesting question I have had to deal with at a FIDE tournament already. As far as I am concerned, smoking is banned from the tournament hall, and vaping is smoking according to my dictionary definition of smoking. Therefore I have no hesitation in banning e-cigarettes from the hall, and any other area of the venue designated as a non-smoking area.

[Richard Bates]

This is an interesting question I have had to deal with at a FIDE tournament already. As far as I am concerned, smoking is banned from the tournament hall, and vaping is smoking according to my dictionary definition of smoking. Therefore I have no hesitation in banning e-cigarettes from the hall, and any other area of the venue designated as a non-smoking area.

Which definition is that, out of interest? Doesn't any definition of smoking have to involve, well, smoke?

Don't really see why there should be an issue with it personally. OK maybe not at the board just to avoid arguments and accusations of psychological ploys etc, but why ban it from the venue?

[Roger de Coverly]

OK maybe not at the board just to avoid arguments and accusations of psychological ploys etc, but why ban it from the venue?

I believe it's broadly legal in the UK to consume these devices whilst indoors if not always acceptable. In that context you might wish for them to be consumed, if not at the board, within sight of the board as an anti-cheating measure. The point being to implement an accepted practice that leaving the vicinity of the board was an exception rather than normal behaviour.

[Reg Clucas]

Smoking is banned from public places to protect the health of non-smokers. I don't see the need to ban vaping in that context. The only issue therefore is whether nicotine is considered a 'performance enhancing drug'.

[Michael Bennett]

I found this info about the subject on the site http://www.vapestick.co.uk

"Electronic cigarettes UK law does not regulate these devices as tobacco products, so you are completely free to smoke them in establishments where smoking has officially been banned. Of course, it is ultimately up to individual establishments to decide whether or not you can use your e cigarette within their premises, but most bars and pubs in the UK allow e smokers to vape whenever they choose. E cigarettes have not yet been formally studied extensively, and this is one of the reasons why some people remained concerned about issues related to overall safety."

[Mats Winther]

“A recent study by the British health campaigning charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) found that the number of people in that country who reported trying electronic cigarettes more than doubled, from 9 percent in 2010 to 22 percent in 2012.” Vapers or smokeless cigs whatever you may call them, but their usage is increasing rapidly. And most of the e-cigs users are those who have switched from traditional tobacco cigarettes to e-cigs hoping that it will free them from smoking hazards. According to Amanda Sandford, a research manager for ASH in London, “the only tobacco product the new devices contain is nicotine”. And compared to tobacco smoke, nicotine is harmless. Government regulatory boards in many countries are devising plans to assure quality standards e-cigs to users. Furthermore, major tobacco companies in the U.S. are showing interest in entering e-cig business and this may further boost the use of e-cigs. Amidst all this it can be said that in the near future, smoking could become less perilous to health thanks to e-cigs....
http://www.rferl.org/content/electronic ... 03852.html

[David Robertson]

Jesus wept I had to check it wasn't April 1st. Think I'll stick to sucking my thumb

[Mats Winther]

Smoking is banned from public places to protect the health of non-smokers. I don't see the need to ban vaping in that context. The only issue therefore is whether nicotine is considered a 'performance enhancing drug'.

Of course, they cannot prevent chess players from smoking or vaping, anyway, by going outside. Moreover, chewing-tobacco, snuff, or Swedish wet snuff ('snus'), are perfectly legal to use during the game. So nicotine intake during the game is not prohibited. Nicotine is performance enhancing in a way that is suitable for chess. It enhances memory and concentration, and it provides relaxation:

When a cigarette is smoked, nicotine-rich blood passes from the lungs to the brain within seven seconds and immediately stimulates the release of many chemical messengers such as acetylcholine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, vasopressin, histamine, arginine, serotonin, dopamine, autocrine agents, and beta-endorphin. This release of neurotransmitters and hormones is responsible for most of nicotine's effects. Nicotine appears to enhance concentration and memory due to the increase of acetylcholine. It also appears to enhance alertness due to the increases of acetylcholine and norepinephrine. Arousal is increased by the increase of norepinephrine. Pain is reduced by the increases of acetylcholine and beta-endorphin. Anxiety is reduced by the increase of beta-endorphin. Nicotine also extends the duration of positive effects of dopamine and increases sensitivity in brain reward systems. Most cigarettes (in the smoke inhaled) contain 1 to 3 milligrams of nicotine.

Research suggests that, when smokers wish to achieve a stimulating effect, they take short quick puffs, which produce a low level of blood nicotine. This stimulates nerve transmission. When they wish to relax, they take deep puffs, which produce a high level of blood nicotine, which depresses the passage of nerve impulses, producing a mild sedative effect. At low doses, nicotine potently enhances the actions of norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain, causing a drug effect typical of those of psychostimulants. At higher doses, nicotine enhances the effect of serotonin and opiate activity, producing a calming, pain-killing effect. Nicotine is unique in comparison to most drugs, as its profile changes from stimulant to sedative/pain killer in increasing dosages and use.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine

M. Winther

[Ray Sayers]

Jesus wept I had to check it wasn't April 1st. Think I'll stick to sucking my thumb

Lol. +1

[Kevin Thurlow]

"And compared to tobacco smoke, nicotine is harmless."

In case anybody misunderstood that, nicotine is H310 (fatal in contact with skin), H301 (toxic if swallowed) and H411 (toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects). Obviously nicotine solutions for use in electronic cigarettes is much diluted, but not so much as to make it harmless. Effects will be fast-acting, whilst the smoke damages you slowly.

Strychnine has LD50 oral rat of 2.35 mg/kg. (if you have ten rats each weighing 1 kg, feeding each of them 2.35 mg strychnine will kill five of them)
Potassium cyanide has LD50 oral rat of 6 mg/kg, therefore it is relatively harmless compared to strychnine? Well maybe, but they are both extremely dangerous...

[Alan Burke]

If allowed, I wonder how many times during a game the player would be interrupted and have to explain the situation to various people who see it and complain to either the player themselves or the arbiters that someone is smoking in the playing hall ?

Would an announcement have to be made before play starts that the player on black on board 7 is not actually smoking ?

[Mats Winther]

"And compared to tobacco smoke, nicotine is harmless."

In case anybody misunderstood that, nicotine is H310 (fatal in contact with skin), H301 (toxic if swallowed) and H411 (toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects). Obviously nicotine solutions for use in electronic cigarettes is much diluted, but not so much as to make it harmless. Effects will be fast-acting, whilst the smoke damages you slowly.

Strychnine has LD50 oral rat of 2.35 mg/kg. (if you have ten rats each weighing 1 kg, feeding each of them 2.35 mg strychnine will kill five of them)
Potassium cyanide has LD50 oral rat of 6 mg/kg, therefore it is relatively harmless compared to strychnine? Well maybe, but they are both extremely dangerous...

Oh yes, nicotine liquid that is sold for e-cigarettes is harmless. It is highly diluted. It is no problem to get it on your skin. Of course, it should be kept away from children. So the caps on the little bottles are child-safe. Nicotine in low doses, that is, when smoked or vaped, etc., has been found to be perfectly safe. In fact, it is the tobacco smoke which is dangerous. Nicotine is anti-inflammatory, which can explain certain of its health benefits. It reduces the risk of certain forms of cancer. Nicotine can be used to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease. It delays the onset of Parkinson's disease, as proven in studies. Nicotine may alleviate depression. Researchers believe that it can improve symptoms of schizophrenia. It also appears to improve ADHD symptoms, according to studies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine

Caffeine and nicotine are comparable as drugs. They are about equally "dangerous". Thus, nicotine is a safe drug. (However, undiluted nicotine liquid is a deadly poison.) Both have an impact on the nervous system such that the chess player's strength is improved. Nicotine is a sedative and it sharpens the intellect. But I advise against burdening yourself with yet another bad habit just for the sake of chess improvement. However, if you are already a smoker, or have health issues of the above type, vaping is a perfectly safe remedy or alleviator.

M. Winther

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Oh yes, nicotine liquid that is sold for e-cigarettes is harmless."

Not necessarily, there are different strengths.

[Richard Bates]

Shouldn't this topic be moved to "not chess" now that it's lost any tenuous link to the game? Whether nicotine in e-cigarettes is harmless or not, it can only theoretically cause harm to the user themselves.

The premise for smoking restrictions at chess tournaments (and, officially, in law) is the effect that smoking has on others. So e-cigarettes should basically be a non-issue as far as chess tournaments are concerned.