Fabiano Caruana: Daily Routine

Fabiano Caruana might spend hours sitting at a chessboard, but his training routine looks more like a triathlete’s than a grandmaster’s.

If you’re ever arguing with someone about the veracity of chess being a sport for elite athletes, just pull up some of these mind-boggling stats on Google and you’ll shut them right up. According to Stanford neuroendocrinology researcher Robert Sapolsky in an interview with ESPN, “a chess player can burn up to 6,000 calories a day while playing in a tournament” which is triple the amount an average person’s daily caloric consumption.

During a tournament, a player’s breathing rate will often increase dramatically (up to three times the normal time), their blood pressure will elevate, and they will experience muscle contractions throughout the entire competition. “Grandmasters sustain elevated blood pressure for hours in the range found in competitive marathon runners,” Sapolsky told ESPN.