Hi ,
Is AI Making You Fat?
I read an interesting piece about how many calories chess grandmasters burn. Sitting there. Thinking.
One report estimated that Grandmaster Mikhail Antipov burned 560 calories during two hours of chess, based on a heart-rate monitor.
Then I read players could burn 6 000 calories a day during tournaments. Now we're talking. Finally, a weight-loss programme I could get behind.
Unfortunately, that number has been challenged. I cannot confirm it. There goes my excuse for cancelling the gym.
Research has measured increases in heart rate, breathing, and oxygen consumption during chess. So something is happening while we sit there trying not to lose our queen.
Anatoly Karpov reportedly lost about 10 kilograms during his marathon 5-month 1984-85 World Championship match against Garry Kasparov. But that doesn't tell us how much was down to thinking, stress, or eating less.
And then there's the smoking. The 1960 chess champion, Mikhail Tal, was a chain smoker. Smoking at chess matches was de rigueur for the time. Nicotine suppresses appetite and increases energy expenditure, which complicates my lovely hypothesis about thinking yourself thin.