Who Will Lose More Weight: Carlsen or Nepomniachtchi?

How much weight will GM Ian Nepomniachtchi lose during the world championship? As for GM Magnus Carlsen, does his previous experience indicate that he will fare well? Here is what’s important to know:

• Calories And Chess Stress
• Weight Loss During Tournaments
• Carlsen’s Approach
• Nepomniachtchi’s Diet 

Calories And Chess Stress

Later this month, the next world championship will begin. As the defender and his challenger endure grueling days of competitive chess that start with the first game on Nov. 26, how important will be the food that they eat? How will their diets sustain them during this highly stressful event?

Stanford University Professor Robert Sapolsky, a neuroendocrinology researcher, estimates that while playing in a tournament a chess player can burn 6,000 calories a day — three times the daily amount that an average person consumes in a day. He also thinks that the stress responses — extensive muscle contractions, elevated breathing rates, and higher blood pressure — of grandmasters during tournaments are similar to those that elite athletics experience.

Weight Loss During Tournaments

Remember the 1984 World Chess Championship? It was ended by FIDE after 48 games and five months. During that time, defending champion GM Anatoly Karpov lost 22 pounds. His physical appearance had changed so much that GM Maurice Ashley commented: “He looks like death.”

He looks like death.
—GM Maurice Ashley about Karpov

When FIDE president Florencio Campomanes canceled the event, he stated that the match had “exhausted the physical, if not the psychological resources, of not only the participants but all those connected with the match.” 

Before Camponanes called off the match, GM Garry Kasparov had won the final two games, the 47th and 48th of the tournament. Shown below is the last game, which was played on Feb. 8, 1985. Did Karpov’s drastic weight loss contribute to his poor play in the final two games?

Similarly, in the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2004 that GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov won, the new champion lost 17 pounds during the final six-game match against GM Michael Adams.

Consider also the experience of GM Fabiano Caruana, the challenger in the World Chess Championship in 2018, who has reported similar weight losses. Although his base weight is 135 pounds, it has dropped to 120 during an event. He said: "Sometimes I've weighed myself after tournaments, and I've seen the scale drop below 120."

What causes such weight loss by grandmasters when they compete? First and foremost is the mental stress that causes increased heart rates that result in their bodies producing more energy. In addition, players sometimes eat less during tournaments. Additional weight loss can be caused by changed or disturbed sleeping patterns.

Carlsen’s Approach

As a result, Carlsen has adjusted his diet in the past few years to overcome the physical demands of stressful chess play. For an energy boost during games, he previously had relied on a combination of half orange juice and half water. While visiting an Olympic training facility in Oslo, he was told to cut back on the orange juice that he drank at tournaments. Instead, he now drinks a mixture of chocolate milk and plain milk, which not only contains lower levels of sugar but also provides calcium, potassium, and protein.

In addition, Carlsen travels with a personal chef who told ESPN: “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." Perhaps Carlsen and his chef are heeding the warning of GM Bent Larsen: “The stomach is an essential part of the chess master.”

The stomach is an essential part of the chess master.
—GM Bent Larsen

Nepomniachtchi’s Diet

Less is known about Nepomniachtchi’s diet preferences. Perhaps more will be known after the 2021 championship. A recent interview with the Russian news agency TASS covered almost every topic … except food. 

In the last few months as he prepares for the match with Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi has noticeably lost weight to be in better physical shape. In a recent interview with Match TV, a Russian federal sports channel, he said that the weight loss is not “a huge amount, roughly 10 kilograms.” However, he observed that the opposite — a weight gain — had been recommended in previous eras and grandmasters had once been coached to “put on weight, so that during the match you have something to lose.” 

Will the Russian bear be snacking on sweet pastries, maybe even Norwegian ones such as pepperkaker or a serinakaker in homage to Carlsen? Not likely. In an interview with Chess.com, Nepomniachtchi indicated that his favorite food is … “any food, probably mostly some meat or some Italian cuisine.” Bring on the Italian dishes — but they are not known for their lean profiles.

My favorite when facing an almighty opponent? A Norwegian krumkake cookie. Give me one, and I can defeat any world champion or candidate (in my dreams).

Thanks for reading! What do you think? Do you think weight management during a tournament is critical? How significant is your diet when you compete in tournaments?