I recently bought a wristband that measures my heartbeat 24/7. Since I bought it in order to track my sleep, I sort of as a joke marked my go games as "exercise" since it had the functionality for that, and I wanted to try it out. And its not like I actually do any cardio training or some such for which I could use that functionality. Except it turns out that my heart rate jumps to around 125 the moment I start playing a serious game of go (ranked online game as an example) and stays there for the whole duration of the game. But in casual games my heart rate is more sensible 85. For reference sake I'm 35 and my resting heart rate is 68. Even walking fast for a few kilometers only gets my heart rate up to 110.


I was wondering if any of you have measured your heart rate while playing go, what results did you get?

I haven't, but I doubt it changes. In fact, some opponents play so slowly it would not surprise me if is dropped through boredom.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

Never measured it, but in a few games I wrote comments like “I’m getting tachycardic again”

And BTW, meanwhile I also get tachycardia when visiting ootakamoku.com

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Activities that can provoke increase or decrease in heart rate include physical exercise, sleep, anxiety, stress, illness, ingesting, and drugs. Haven't you notice your heart rate increase when you nearly have an automobile accident or when watching a scary movie? The heart rate increase provides more oxygen to your muscles and brain to support your response to a challenge. If you are worried about it talk to your medical adviser. A 125 bpm is not especially high. To calculate a rough safe maximum heart rate subtract your age from 220

While being stressed does suppress immune system to some extent (and make one more vulnerable to say the common cold), my inquiry about this matter wasn't due to direct health concerns. I was merely curious as to how common such a response is to a serious game. I tried looking for comparisons online, finding a few studies where heart rate was measured under different circumstances and compared to resting heart rates. Chess players heart during actual games, Those about to perform strenuous physical activity, An interview with intentionally stressful setup. In all these cases a 10 beats per minute mean increase was observed. However there was one study where a higher increase in heart rate was observed, those sitting on a roller coaster as it moves slowly upwards towards the high point before the actual fast part of the ride begins, typical heart rate increase was 46, where as my heart rate increases by around 50 when I play in a serious game, close enough that the same process might be involved in both.

In any case, since my only real comparison is to those riding roller coaster I was hoping to find out if any go players have experienced it, increased heart rate while playing, not riding roller coaster .

I would expect the heart rate to increase when playing any game when the result is important to you, for example a tournament game or a rated game. I myself have had this experience, feeling a higher than usual pulse as well as adrenaline when playing tournament games, though I haven't played in tournaments for 25 years or so. Many performers, musicians or actors, have stage anxiety and some of them manage it by taking a drug such as a beta blocker. For these people the intensity of anxiety interferes with their performance.

This comes to mind.

Sounds logical and normal to me.
I can feel my pulse go up during a game.
If I have a chance some day, I will monitor.

Also, for Fedya and others, this springs to mind.
http://imgur.com/gallery/GfRpoZb

Yes, I have heart rate monitor watch and one time took it for a game : very fun to see my heart rate jump high from difficult positions, at maybe 85. When im relax the average is 55.rest is 44. So 85 is big for me. So when I saw my heart rate jump so high, I inhale deeply, try to keep calm and when it come down to 65 I continue the game ... which I won, by the way. Because I use chest strap, a bit uncomfortable, I don't use it very often... only for exercising.

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Everytime I start a rated game my heart pounds fast enough to feel it and I get the nervous shakes for at least 20 minutes.

My face heats up, heart starts galloping, palms get wet, time slows down considerably.

Every time somebody invades deep.

I don't play if I'm tired or hungry, as a rule. I make too many mistakes when my mind is cluttered.

But even when I'm good to play, I get anxious the first game of a day (I play 2-3 games once every couple of days, due to my schedule - wish I had time to play every day). The first couple of minutes or so, my heart rate is up, but after that it starts to calm down, and I'm fine for the next couple of games.

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I'm no "Stone Buddha." My heart rate went through the roof when, in response to my hane at , my oppponent played

I don't think you're in very much trouble?

I think it's more of a "Wow, that's unexpected, he made THE mistake that will cost him the game" feeling.

Btw, 1 is a bad move : it should be kept as a ko threat

It feels it's more like it is too early, 1 is perfectly fine if the game was almost over, but as the board stands... There are way bigger thinks or so it seems

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I think the adrenaline level / heart beat goes especially high, when long ladders are played out whereof both players have controverse expectations.

I'll have to dig up the earlier part of the record for context, but you are correct. I can't say I was particularly proud of

I have never used a monitor, but I have noticed my heart hammering away during blitz games. I played a 6sec/move game earlier today that kept me anxious and full of adrenaline for the duration of the match. Maybe that is part of the attraction of those types of games.

Occasionally I can feel my heart racing during a game, and when I look at a monitor I notice my heart rate is barely over 100. At other times I just feel intense focus and my heart rate hovers around 140.