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

Co-author of paper says results have implications for anyone who has to think hard in polluted areas

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%.