The Stress of Chess

[Al Doggity]

Interesting article on the ESPN website (is that being boycotted? Who can ever tell?)
https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/27593253/why-grandmasters-magnus-carlsen-fabiano-caruana-lose-weight-playing-chess

I don't follow professional chess, so I had never heard of the phenomenon of elite players losing upwards of 20 pounds over the course of a tournament. Top players do intense, extremely regimented physical training to try to combat the physical effects of competing in chess tournaments.

According to the article, the main driver is a prolonged cycle of high stress, but looking around the internet, there are suggestions that the energy the brain requires to operate at a high level for a long period of time has an effect.

I just think it's interesting that mental activity can have such a big physical impact. Of course, there are a lot of  other examples of this that manifest in smaller ways.

[MAXX]

saw a documentary on the norwegian dude some years ago. Is he still dominating all those nerds?

[tres_taco_combo]

Interesting article on the ESPN website (is that being boycotted? Who can ever tell?)
https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/27593253/why-grandmasters-magnus-carlsen-fabiano-caruana-lose-weight-playing-chess

I don't follow professional chess, so I had never heard of the phenomenon of elite players losing upwards of 20 pounds over the course of a tournament. Top players do intense, extremely regimented physical training to try to combat the physical effects of competing in chess tournaments.

According to the article, the main driver is a prolonged cycle of high stress, but looking around the internet, there are suggestions that the energy the brain requires to operate at a high level for a long period of time has an effect.

I just think it's interesting that mental activity can have such a big physical impact. Of course, there are a lot of  other examples of this that manifest in smaller ways.

I have heard this before.

and makes sense - using all your brain power just wears you down.

[Al Doggity]

saw a documentary on the norwegian dude some years ago. Is he still dominating all those nerds?

Carlsen dominated for years but according to the article, started showing signs of mortality recently. He has a lot of really specific tricks to deal with mental fatigue, like tapping his foot rhythmically between moves.

[EasternHammer]

  Carlsen is by far the world's strongest player, but his results over the last 3 years or so were not as dominant as 2010 to 2015.  Mostly due to playing really odd lines due to boredom and overall playing less in general.  I tend to be of the camp which believes that the player who will dethrone Carlsen as world champ is still an unknown, younger player.  None of the other top grandmasters can beat him over a long-form match.   

[Oblique]

Is it possible that when using all their brain power, they just lose their appetites?

I know that when I am working on something I consider important, I either forget to eat or just have no interest in doing so.

[Al Doggity]

Is it possible that when using all their brain power, they just lose their appetites?

I know that when I am working on something I consider important, I either forget to eat or just have no interest in doing so.

The article says that during a 2 hour match, high level chess players BURN almost as many calories as Roger Federer would burn in a 1 hour of singles play.  It's not a matter of not getting enough nutrition, it's actually burning through it.

[The Abdominal Snoman]

What kind of PED's do chess players use? Adderall and Cortisol blockers?

[joswift]

they have thousands of games memorised, most games follow games that have already been played so they have to remember the moves

[Desolate]

The article says that during a 2 hour match, high level chess players BURN almost as many calories as Roger Federer would burn in a 1 hour of singles play.  It's not a matter of not getting enough nutrition, it's actually burning through it.

I guess they are burning tremendous amounts of glucose to run their brains at peak efficiency.

[Irongrip400]

This shit always interests me, these savant type people. I remember watching the Jeremy Schepp behind the lines episode about the guy who went crazy after being the best. I think he moved to Finland or some shit after his breakdown.

[MAXX]

This shit always interests me, these savant type people. I remember watching the Jeremy Schepp behind the lines episode about the guy who went crazy after being the best. I think he moved to Finland or some shit after his breakdown.

You mean Fischer? He got asylum in Iceland after calling out the joos on their bs. Brilliant guy. Genious with 180+IQ

[Big Tex C*ckburn, PhD]

37:03 for relevance.

 

What kind of PED's do chess players use? Adderall and Cortisol blockers?

Modafinil, Amphetamine and that sort of thing. I never needed it, though. I preferred to beat these geeks using nothing but my own brainpower and intimidating stature. Chess also has a surprising amount of female fans. The groupies are next-level.

Tex.

[Methyl m1ke]

  Carlsen is by far the world's strongest player, but his results over the last 3 years or so were not as dominant as 2010 to 2015.  Mostly due to playing really odd lines due to boredom and overall playing less in general.  I tend to be of the camp which believes that the player who will dethrone Carlsen as world champ is still an unknown, younger player.  None of the other top grandmasters can beat him over a long-form match.   

[dan18]

they have thousands of games memorised, most games follow games that have already been played so they have to remember the moves

Too me it seems to take the fun outa playing its no longer a game its just memory