What emotions do you feel during a chess game?

A sensor being taped to GM Van Wely's wrist.

Hello Everyone!

Every chess game is such an emotional experience. We can go through so many phases in a single chess game - joy, irritation, confusion, anger and more. Scientists decided to measure this emotional intensity at the ongoing Dutch National Championship at Eindhoven, The Netherlands!

Grandmaster Loek Van Wely volunteered to take part in an experiment to measure stress level during his game against FM Benjamin Bok.

Holst Centre, an independent open-innovation R&D partnership between IMEC (Flanders, Belgium) and TNO (The Netherlands), conducted the experiment.

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Experts attached sensors to GM Wely's body to measure his hearbeat, skin resistance, respiration speed etc. And, yes! the Grandmaster's "anger" during his game that had a 13-fold repetition really sent the needles spinning on the sensor machines! Bok claimed a draw after the 13th repetition!

How would you feel during such a game? You can play the moves in our pgnplayer.

PGN: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 Nf6 7. O-O Bc5 8. Nb3 Be7 9. f4 d6 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Qxe5 12. Bf4 Qh5 13. Be2 Qg6 14. Bd3 Qh5 15. Be2 Qg6 16. Bd3 Qh5 17. Be2 Qg6 18. Bd3 Qh5 19. Be2 Qg6 20. Bd3 Qh5 21. Be2 Qg6 22. Bd3 Qh5 23. Be2 Qg6 24. Bd3 Qh5 25. Be2 Qg6 26. Bd3 Qh5 27. Be2 Qg6 28. Bd3 Qh5 29. Be2 Qg6 30. Bd3 Qh5 31. Be2 Qg6 32. Bd3 Qh5 33. Be2 Qg6 34. Bd3 Qh5 35. Be2 Qg6 36. Bd3 Qh5 37. Be2 Qg6 1/2-1/2

Meanwhile, defending champion Anish Giri and 2008 Dutch Jan Smeets lead jointly with 4/5. The official tournament website is here.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

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