Actually, as a tournament player I feel I can help explain the slowness:
The article suggests that this isn’t due to increased computational speed or focus, but I think that’s wrong. Playing slowly doesn’t imply thinking slowly. In a chess game, you have a certain amount of time overall, and often when the position is very complicated players will spend half an hour delving into variations and sub-variations. If it’s hard to concentrate, they may just rely on low-calc alternatives, and play faster.
I’m not surprised. But I also don’t see much utility from this study; most people already believe that coffee helps them focus.
Don’t you think there’s some value of doing a more controlled study of it?
Something about “makes play better but slower” feels especially persuasive to me.
Actually, as a tournament player I feel I can help explain the slowness:
The article suggests that this isn’t due to increased computational speed or focus, but I think that’s wrong. Playing slowly doesn’t imply thinking slowly. In a chess game, you have a certain amount of time overall, and often when the position is very complicated players will spend half an hour delving into variations and sub-variations. If it’s hard to concentrate, they may just rely on low-calc alternatives, and play faster.
Agreed.