Just past the mid-way mark, with five rounds of nine in the books, the USA team is playing inspired, fighting chess. They now sit in 2nd place a half point behind Russia who beat them in the third.

My favorite game so far? It’s a tough choice, but this one, having been played today, is fresh in my mind. It contains some beautiful tactics (talk about hammering home a single square weakness [g2]!) and adds another stunning notch to the King’s Indian Defense’s belt.

 
And a few rounds before that, he had this even shorter and far more spectacular game. As you play it out, really slow down at move 16 and on to appreciate the ideas and lines behind the moves. And, did you honestly see that last move coming?! Wow. Good stuff.

I think it’s safe to say, from an outsiders perspective, while people likely feel the tension in the room, it’s hard to appreciate how exhausting such prolonged thinking and sitting can be.  Indeed, many of the top players have incorporated regular exercise into their training programs.  And there are stories of many pounds of weight shed during the old World Championship matches. 

Some of the elite—like Magnus Carlsen with his drink of choice, orange juice—also seem to pay a little attention to diet too. For me, it’s critical. I know, in the days before I went vegan, grabbing a quick bite at the local pizza joint, with all that heavy, greasy cheese, really made for an uncomfortable next round. I mean, your heart can get racing at times, and the last thing it needs besides some imaginary threat is all that fat coursing around. Now that I’ve been years on a low-fat vegan diet, my anxiety at the board is much more controlled.

Here are the posts describing ways I’ve packed meals for various events:

• Food For Thought
• Traveling Light
• Volumetrics
  Note: The recipe there is in my vegan cookbook.
• Chess In The Raw
• Restricting For Chess
• Coffee And Chess

Posts with actual game play:

• In The Zone
• New England Open Sunday Swiss
• NH Amateur 2007
• A Tale Of The Queen City

Lastly, a few miscellaneous chess mentions:

• My FEN Reader WordPress Plugin
• A Tale Of Two Weekends
• Triskaidekaphobia
• Kasparov Makes The Rounds
• Bobby Fischer Is Dead

I hope you enjoy catching up. There’s more over there than I recalled.

So, back to the topic of staying in shape and eating well for chess success, tell me, how do you prep for the food challenges of a tournament? Do you notice differences in your play when you’ve not been keeping up with your exercise or eat something junky versus when you’re treating and fueling your body well?