The first time a chess grandmaster told me they lose around 10-20 pounds during the course of a *single* tournament, my jaw was on the floor. I spent a year embedded in the bizarre world of weight loss in chess. Here is what I found: espn.com/espn/story/_/i… #Chess #FIDEWorldCup
I stumbled upon this story while working on a feature on last year's Sinquefield Cup and it led me to talk to scientists, neurologists, grandmasters, physiotherapists, sleep doctors. It's been one hell of a journey. Do give it a read! espn.com/espn/story/_/i… 
Did you know the 1984 World Chess Championship was called off after five months and 48 games because defending champion Anatoly Karpov had lost 22 pounds? "He looked like death," grandmaster and commentator Maurice Ashley recalls. espn.com/espn/story/_/i…
Definitely writing a follow-up story filled with stories of chess grandmasters PARTAAAYING after matches in the 80s and 90s: espn.com/espn/story/_/i…
A chess grandmaster going to the Olympic Training Center to perfect his diet? Say what now? espn.com/espn/story/_/i…
My mom always said "don't cram the morning of the exam, you won't remember squat and you will only be tired." Who knew grandmasters are out here doing the same: espn.com/espn/story/_/i…
Grandmasters these days look like soccer players. They have lean frames, angular legs and toned bodies. The body they're put together is not an accident. espn.com/espn/story/_/i…
Grandmasters chew gum, maintain a rhythmic tap in their feet to stay alert & have even figured out an optimum seating position, one that will make sure they don't lose alertness (caused by slouching) or waste too much energy (by sitting too straight). espn.com/espn/story/_/i…
Load management in chess? What? espn.com/espn/story/_/i…
There wasn't a single person I talked to in the chess world that didn't give me gold for this story.
"Sometimes I've weighed myself after tournaments and I've seen the scale drop below 120," he says, "and that's when I get mildly scared." espn.com/espn/story/_/i…
"Sometimes I've weighed myself after tournaments and I've seen the scale drop below 120," he says, "and that's when I get mildly scared." espn.com/espn/story/_/i…
Why do you think Magnus Carlsen is so good at winning games in the last hour of play when his opponents look worn out? espn.com/espn/story/_/i…
