Thread: Poker V Chess
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Old 07-08-2007, 05:33 AM
MicroBob MicroBob is offline
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Default Re: Poker V Chess

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I played many many 6+ hour games and they kicked my ass way worse than any long poker session.

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without a doubt.
I never played at a very high level but I have played some tournaments and my share of 6 hour games.

Really focusing on a tricky position or trying to find a way out of trouble and taking 20, 30 or even 40 minutes or more for a single move can really clobber you (yes Curtains, I read your bit about creating your own time-trouble).

I had one tournament where I gave every ounce of effort I had into each game.
I won my first 4 in a row which I had never done before.
Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening, and then Sunday morning. All 4 of my matches took almost the full 6 hours (that was the maximum for this tournament).
I was the last game playing out of like 150 or so in 2 out of those 4 rounds.

By the end of that I was fried and felt like I could barely see.
I also had one more match to play to try to get into the money.
About $1.5k or so if I won. But I got clobbered because I flat-out couldn't do it anymore. I was totally spent.

4-1 in my class got me into an 8-way tie for 3rd or something so I got back $50 of the $130 entry-fee I paid.


Poker is nothing compared to the total exhaustion that comes from the concentration involved in competitive chess imo.
While the level I was playing at was pretty low I think my effort was extremely high. Pretty much my only chance of winning a lot of the time.
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