After my experiment with alcoholism and the subsequent sobriety, I've come to a conclusion. This might not apply to all humans, but it certainly is true for me: Since I quit drinking, my regular chess rating is rising a little, but my rating for all variants is going down.
Alcohol use makes me play worse "standard" chess, but it actually improves my ability in variations!
Imagine that...
It's known that consumption of alcohol increases creativity, so I shouldn't be surprised. Memory is used more for normal chess than for variants (excluding memorization of openings in Anti or Atomic) so it makes sense that alcohol use can potentially strengthen games like KOTH and 960, but it dulls my regular game.
Alcohol use makes me play worse "standard" chess, but it actually improves my ability in variations!
Imagine that...
It's known that consumption of alcohol increases creativity, so I shouldn't be surprised. Memory is used more for normal chess than for variants (excluding memorization of openings in Anti or Atomic) so it makes sense that alcohol use can potentially strengthen games like KOTH and 960, but it dulls my regular game.