How do gms train chess

Mastering chess Many of these attributes are kinds of know-how, such as understanding when to change the pawn structure or what a positionally won game looks like and how to deal with it. Some are habits, like always looking for targets. Others are refined senses, like recognizing a critical middlegame moment or feeling when time is on your side and when it isn't.

Many aspiring young chess players dream of one day becoming a grandmaster and a professional. The usual prize money in Open tournaments is meagre. The higher the prizes, the greater the competition. With a possibly not very high and irregular income for several decades the amount of money one can save for old age remains really modest. Anyone who wants to reach his maximum must concentrate totally on chess.

That involves important compromises with or giving up on his education. It is all too frequent that a wrong evaluation is made of what a talented player can achieve.

Most players have the potential for a certain level; once they have reached it they can only make further progress with a great effort. Anyone who does not meet these top criteria can only try to earn his living with public appearances, chess publishing or activity as a trainer. But there is a lack of offers and these are not particularly well paid. For jobs which involve appearing in public, moreover, certain non-chess qualities are required.

All these jobs and existences, moreover, have hanging above them the sword of Damocles of general economic conditions. Forums General Chess Discussion.

Mar 30, 1. Mar 30, 2. Gustafsson goes through an average of games every day, on his computer. That's their day, in addition to the physical exercise they put in to stay on top. Mar 30, 3. Mar 30, 4. PDF But you should buy it, of course. Mar 30, 5. Mar 30, 6. Steinwitz wrote: Kramnik gets up at five, and starts moving through recent games and lines he's studying or that have been prepared by his seconds. Mar 30, 7. Wake at 10am. Gulp 6 raw eggs. Chase a chicken for a couple hours.

Hit the bag till my hands bleed. Get a Dunkin Donuts dark roast ice coffee, cream 2 sugars. Take shower. Collect my thoughts To Read the Full Story. Subscribe Sign In. Continue reading your article with a WSJ membership. Resume Subscription We are delighted that you'd like to resume your subscription.

Please click confirm to resume now. Sponsored Offers. Most Popular News. Stress and anxiety, in fact, are the greatest drivers of the phenomenon. Here's how it works:. Grandmasters in competition are subjected to a constant torrent of mental stress.

That stress, in turn, causes their heart rates to increase, which, in turn, forces their bodies to produce more energy to, in turn, produce more oxygen. Louis, and Philip Cryer, a metabolism expert at the school, a vicious, destructive cycle. Meanwhile, players also eat less during tournaments, simply because they don't have the time or the appetite.

McNay, assistant professor of psychology in the behavioral neuroscience program at the University of Albany. Stress also leads to altered -- and disturbed -- sleep patterns, which in turn cause more fatigue -- and can lead to more weight loss. A brain operating on less sleep, even by just one hour, Kasimdzhanov notes, requires more energy to stay awake during the chess game. Some grandmasters report dreaming about chess, agonizing over what they could have done differently for hours in their sleep, and waking up exhausted.

To combat it all, today's players have begun to incorporate strict food and fitness regimens to increase oxygen supply to the brain during tournaments, prevent sugar-related crashes and sustain their energy. In the s and '90s, smoking, drinking and late-night parties were common on the chess circuit -- that's right, chess had a "Boogie Nights" phase -- but that scene has all but disappeared.

According to Ashley, India's first grandmaster, Viswanathan Anand, does two hours of cardio each night to tire himself out so he doesn't dream about chess; Kasimdzhanov drinks tea only during tournaments and plays tennis and basketball every day. Chirila does at least an hour of cardio and an hour of weights to build muscle mass before tournaments. But not one of these grandmasters has perfected his fitness routine like the current world champion, Magnus Carlsen. The reigning world No. He was still winning most tournaments, but his matches were lasting longer, the victories seemingly less assured.

He was beginning to wane in the last hour of games. He noticed younger players catching up to him. So it was that Carlsen visited the Olympic training center in Oslo, Norway, with his father, Henrik, seeking advice from performance specialists.

Their suggestion was deceptively simple: "You need to cut back on the orange juice you drink during tournaments. Carlsen had relied on a mix of half orange juice, half water for an energy boost since he was a child.

But now, in his late 20s, his body was no longer breaking down the sugar as quickly, leading to sugar crashes. The nutritionists suggested that he instead drink a mixture of chocolate milk and plain milk, which contained far lower levels of sugar but would also supplement his body with calcium, potassium and protein.

But that was merely the beginning of Carlsen's makeover: Since then he has trained his body for chess, down to the very last detail.

Before tournaments, he works out for hours -- running on the treadmill, perfecting asanas on his yoga mat, playing soccer with his friends. Before the world championship last year, he went skiing every day and tweeted that it strengthened his legs and his willpower to get to the finish line. He hired a personal chef, Magnus Forssell, who travels with him to ensure he's eating the right combination of proteins, carbs and calcium.

Says Forssell: "Before tournaments, you need a lot of energy, so I am trying to trick him to eat some pasta so he gets some reserve energy. These days, during tournaments, Carlsen focuses on relaxing and conserving energy instead of training. Caruana spends at least three hours before a match prepping his moves, but Carlsen does only 15 to 30 minutes of prep.

His reasoning: Last-minute preparations are an unnecessary use of energy. There's more: Carlsen chews gum during games to try to increase brain function without losing energy; he taps his legs rhythmically to keep his brain and body alert between moves. He has even managed to optimize That's right. Carlsen claims that many chess players crane their necks too far forward, which can lead to a 30 percent loss of lung capacity, according to studies in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science.

And, according to Keith Overland, former president of the American Chiropractic Association, leaning 30 degrees forward increases stress on the neck by nearly 60 pounds, which in turn requires the back and neck muscles to work harder, ultimately resulting in headaches, irregular breathing and reduced oxygen to the brain.

Olympic Training Center. Not Carlsen.