I suppose this could be asked of many other sports whereby
the "activity" is mainly mentally based.
Is physical fitness important for the professional chess player?
Does being in peak physical condition improve performance on the
chess board? (either directly or indirectly; I'm thinking that perhaps
increased physical stamina may help to sustain longer bouts of
concentration...I don't honestly know).
Are we likely to pop down to our local gym on a rainy Friday evening
and see Kramnik crunching his abs, Kasparov bench pressing
goodness knows how many times his own bodyweight above his head,
with Shirov in the background going through the latest theory in
Isometric exercise with "Eye Of The Tiger" banging out of the sound
sustem?
Seriously though, does it matter to these guys? From a dim
recollection I seem to think that Kasparov is pretty wiry and in good
shape but that Kramnik however has a love handle or three.
Mark
The Squirrel Lover
Somewhere I read that Spassky at least did very serious conditioning training as part of his chess
regimen. 'Course he could have sat around eating donuts and tweenkies for all the good it did him
against Robert J.
And of course, any serious GM contender has to have the physical strength to flip the chess table
over in a fit of cantankerous rage after making a serious blunder from a winning position. I think
its part of the official requirement of FIDE, deep within the bylaws. :>
