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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Helena Horton Environment reporter

Air pollution causes chess players to make more mistakes, study finds

Pollution Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen of Norway ponders a move at a chess tournament in the Netherlands
Magnus Carlsen of Norway ponders a move at a chess tournament in the Netherlands at the weekend. Photograph: Jeroen Jumelet/EPA

Chess experts make more mistakes when air pollution is high, a study has found.

Experts used computer models to analyse the quality of games played and found that with a modest increase in fine particulate matter, the probability that chess players would make an error increased by 2.1 percentage points, and the magnitude of those errors increased by 10.8%.

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