Do you get headaches from playing go?

Pretty much the title. I think I just got one, so sad.

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Aww man, thats not good :<

And no, i don’t. Unless i sit 3 hours in front the board without nicotine, but i guess thats mostly due my smoking habit, and not cause of go.

No but I sometimes get earache (off the wife…) due to playing Go. :wink:

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I get a stomach ache, and pounding heart, but not a headache…

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I get hyper when I play and I can’t sleep afterwards. When I get into that vicious cycle, I do get that headache at some point. I once had to resign a game because I wasn’t feeling well.

Drinking lots of water and having snacks helps a little in my case, when I’m taking it to the extreme.

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Learn from the pro players and drink the referees tea next time:

Joke aside, no headaches, but when I played to much I see black and white stones jumping around as soon as I go to sleep and close my eyes.

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I love that video!!!

Nope, no headaches. I would stay hydrated and add more magnesium to your diet. A handful of non-toasted Almonds when you feel a headache coming on will often diffuse it. Works wonders for me.

Every time I play chess, I get a headache. After playing Go, I feel a surge of vitality, it doesn’t matter whether I won or lost.

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Yeah, for me it’s un-controllable excitement and agitation.

I’m playing a correspondence game right now, and I’ve made a risky move with a lot riding on it. I was nervous doing all the reading leading up to the move. Pushing the SUBMIT button gave me a big jolt of risk/excitement.

And now I’m sitting there on tenderhooks, worried that my opponent will come up with some response that I haven’t read out. It’s thrilling but dang - it sure does make it harder to concentrate!

I wish I could get to a point where I could play Go calmly. But there’s something about the mind vs mind aspect of Go that makes it feel like there’s a lot on the line - even though this game will probably never be seen by anyone except my current opponent - a person I’ve never met. Still, for some reason, I end up putting a lot of eggs in that basket.

I’m sure playing more often would probably get me used to that feeling and help me settle down, but for now, it’s pretty intense.

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For those who were wondering - my risky gambit from yesterday worked!

Now I get the endorphin rush that balances the earlier hit of anxiety/agitation. And so the cycle continues…

Like I said, I think the only cure is playing more Go so that I get used it / get over it.

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What’s being described is a tension headache, which can be triggered by stress or heavy concentration, etc. Not particular to go. Typically, I have found, the neck muscles are tense, and if you can relax them, it will mitigate the headache.

Out of curiosity, are you speaking from experience? If so, do you try and relax them mentally, by thinking yourself through calming them, or do you apply some sort of external pressure to ease the tension?

If you get headaches frequently due to concentration I’d suggest telling it to your doctor.

I have gotten this occasionally and have heard others complain of it. Light massage of the neck muscles helps, as does changing the position of the head one direction at a time (don’t roll your head, which is bad for the neck muscles, I have read). General relaxation also restores normality in about 20 to 30 minutes in my experience. More often this effect was caused by hiking with a light daypack, because the straps cause the neck to get tense. During many years when a now-deceased friend and I did off-trail mountain hiking in winter, I would carry my daypack by hand. This had the added advantage of avoiding snags in tangled areas or with overhangs. My friend carried a small oblong container slung from just one shoulder.

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