Carlsen also does pretty well in soccer on the off days of tournaments (though I think he prefers basketball to play). Karjakin was hiring a trainer to help him with tennis in his latest World Champ preparation. The Russians have always emphasized physical fortitude for chess players.
I'm guessing that a checkers player from Flaw-duh ain't too swift.
Multi-sporter wrote:
The Russians have always emphasized physical fortitude for chess players.
In theory, at least. But a lot have been heavy smokers and drinkers. Tal seemed committed to killing himself with bad habits. And although Karpov seemed to live cleanly, he also appeared to struggle when he just tried to lift a tennis racquet. (I always though it funny that Korchnoi would refer to Karpov as "the fetus," claiming that his oddly underdeveloped body was caused by his unusually short gestation period.) Kasparov, however, always seemed very robust at and away from the chess board.
Bobby Fischer was reportedly in great physical shape at his peak. Carlsen seems genuinely athletic.
My favourite anecdote is from the Preface of the (classic, though dated) book by Jan Timman, The Art of Chess Analysis:
Botvinnik asks the rhetorical question: "How do I prepare?", and immediately answers, "That has never been any secret"; fifteen to twenty days in the fresh country air, prescribes Dr. Botvinnik.
So it was that Hans Boehm and I (among others) bid farewell to our carefree life-style and began a long retreat at a house in the Friesland countryside. For three months we lived like health fanatics. Our luggage contained little more than chess literature and track suits.
The tournament began... and the first five games were lost. I remember exactly how I felt. During play my body was overflowing with so much energy that I could hardly stay seated in my chair. After each game I still had enough energy to run several times around the Vondel Park. But why bother?
This painful start drove me to a firm decision. I threw all my Spartan habits overboard and indulged myself in everything that had been declard unhealthy... And lo and behold, immediately everything went wonderfully.
Carlsen's old coach, Simen Agdestein, was #16 in the world at his peak, and the best in the world in his generation. At that time, he was also striker for the Norwegian national soccer team, and played professionally. Injuries killed his soccer carreer early, and after that, his chess collapsed as well.
Very cool to see a chess player into running but Naka's in for some rough times. The US Championships start next week and Wesley So will make him his personal play thang.
Disgruntled Bills Fan wrote:
Very cool to see a chess player into running but Naka's in for some rough times. The US Championships start next week and Wesley So will make him his personal play thang.
Between Naka, Caruana, So, U.S. Chess is extremely deep and competitive right now.
So I bet everybody here was/is a 2300 at 15yr old huh?
areusure? wrote:
So I bet everybody here was/is a 2300 at 15yr old huh?
I was more like 1300 at that age lol..
And I haven't played a rated game in well over a decade, but I did beat a FIDE Master yesterday!
Mr. Obvious wrote:
Disgruntled Bills Fan wrote:Very cool to see a chess player into running but Naka's in for some rough times. The US Championships start next week and Wesley So will make him his personal play thang.
Between Naka, Caruana, So, U.S. Chess is extremely deep and competitive right now.
Wesley So has been so impressive since his meltdown at the U.S. Championships two years ago. Some, including Carlsen and Caruana, have suggested that he's adopted the low-risk, draw-at-all-costs style of guys like Giri, but I think that So is just playing super-solid chess.
Of course, sixteen-year-old Jeffery Xiong will also be there as the latest "Searching for Bobby Fischer" prodigy. His play still has some rough edges, but some of his games are wildly entertaining.
Should be a lot of fun.
I wish I could find a source, but I clearly remember reading somewhere that Harry Nelson Pillsbury (a world-class player from the late 1800s and early 1900s) drank something like ten cups of coffee a day, and chain-smoked cigars. He knew that this was bad for him, but if he quit during a tournament, his nervous system would collapse. Obviously, that much caffeine and nicotine is not good for one's health. (Not that this has to do with anything, Pillsbury died as a result of syphilis. That probably didn't help him, either.)
As far as the original post, it is fantastic that I can say, with a clean heart, "I beat Hikaru Nakamura." As an aside, his peak rating was 2819. His 5k time is 28:11. How many people have a higher rating than their 5k time? I know that no one on earth has a higher rating than her 10k time. Maybe someone has a higher rating than their 8k time? Sub 25:00 isn't out of reach for a college runner. Maybe a GM in college also was a runner.
My peak rating is higher than my 5k time, but I don't find that to be very impressive. That wouldn't be very hard if you are a fairly solid runner who studied the basics of chess theory and then played rated tournaments on occasion.
28 is miserably slow. Like if you did a "couch to 5k" program I'd consider it a fail. We are talking about three nine-minute miles here--slower!
He should have put "winner" in quotations since he had no competition.
Making a big deal about this is like making a big deal about Galen Rupp placing among small children in a chess tournament (which he would struggle to do).
areusure? wrote:
So I bet everybody here was/is a 2300 at 15yr old huh?
Haha no I was like 1300 at 11yrs, that was my peak! Maybe 1500 now at 27, I just don't play enough.
michaelfurey wrote:
areusure? wrote:So I bet everybody here was/is a 2300 at 15yr old huh?
Haha no I was like 1300 at 11yrs, that was my peak! Maybe 1500 now at 27, I just don't play enough.
Are you good enough to beat those speed chess guys who play NYC?
Askerer of questions wrote:
michaelfurey wrote:Haha no I was like 1300 at 11yrs, that was my peak! Maybe 1500 now at 27, I just don't play enough.
Are you good enough to beat those speed chess guys who play NYC?
I play from time to time at WSP - my blitz rating on chess.com is around 1900 and I'm definitely stronger than most of the guys there, if I lose it's usually due to a blunder since I'm not used to playing OTB as much as online. I hear there's occasionally some really strong players who play there, but I haven't come across anyone I would describe as expert or better.
actual skills wrote:
28 is miserably slow. Like if you did a "couch to 5k" program I'd consider it a fail. We are talking about three nine-minute miles here--slower!
He should have put "winner" in quotations since he had no competition.
Making a big deal about this is like making a big deal about Galen Rupp placing among small children in a chess tournament (which he would struggle to do).
I don't think anybody is making a big deal about his time at all. Yes, that is pretty slow, even in the not "This is Letsrun everybody here runs sub 14" world.
There are a small number of us who follow Chess and running who are taking the opportunity to chat, that's all.
Avocado's Number wrote:
Wesley So has been so impressive since his meltdown at the U.S. Championships two years ago. Some, including Carlsen and Caruana, have suggested that he's adopted the low-risk, draw-at-all-costs style of guys like Giri, but I think that So is just playing super-solid chess.
Of course, sixteen-year-old Jeffery Xiong will also be there as the latest "Searching for Bobby Fischer" prodigy. His play still has some rough edges, but some of his games are wildly entertaining.
Should be a lot of fun.
Thanks, I should try following again.
I think the best way to follow chess is the Chess Club and Scholastic Centre of St Louis YouTube page. They have great content and provide live coverage/analysis of tournaments like the US Championships. I was never into Super GM chess when I played but I'm starting to really enjoy it.