I agree with Fischer. 

http://www.bobby-fischer.net/bobby_fischer_quotes_8.htm 

Absolutely NO

23% of voters are out of shape.

yes, from personal experience...

Absolutely. Although an out of shape player can still become a world class GM, a fit player will almost always beat an out of shape opponent of equal skill.

Not a question of yes or no, but a question of to what extent. I think that extent is a lot higher than most people who voted yes think. Being in shape often means less stress, an increase in blood flow to the brain, and there is even correlation between memory and exercise. Anyway, reading about some chess IMs and GMs you'll find that exercise is, if not significant, a considerable part of their lives (ie Josh Waitzkin, Bobby Fischer, etc). So you can still, of course, win games and even become world champion without being in shape, but being shape will always have its benefits.

LongLostDude - Didn't Fischer's mind kind of separate from his body? He was kind of out there.

I can't help but wonder if there aren't some correlation/causation issues at play here.

wow, ur sayin if i lost 30 lbs id be a better chess player? i highly doubt it.

If two chess players have exactly the same strength, then the one in better shape will have some advantage. But being in good physical shape will only lead to marginal chess improvement at best. Nothing is better than natural ability coupled with practice and study.

Of course physical health affects brain function.

Also, saying "look at this good player, they arent very healthy" is invalid for two reasons. One, their condition may or may not affect their mental function very significantly. Two, its invalid for the same reason that saying "look at this person who smoked everyday, and didnt get lung cancer", is.

I dont think it matters

Nobody is saying if you lose weight you get better at chess. What we are saying though is if you are in shape you have more endurance to concentrate at a chessboard for hours on end.

Whoever answered 'no' to this question, must be joking

i will say no, because you can have muscle and all, but thats different, your train your mind by experience but you train your body by excersice

The people that said no are looking for another excuse to stay out of shape lol

@ dschaef2 I'm not out of shape, and I dare you for that if you want to.

But what I see from what you said is that you have a narrow thinking, cos being in a good shape has nothing to do with your mental strength, they're completely separated issues..

Look at the Chinese girls in the women world championship.. Are they good looking? comparing to the Russians?? I don't think so.. but that doesn't matter, cos they are brilliant!! and they are the champions now..  Prove me wrong.

I think it does make a difference to your chess playing ability be healthy, rather than to be in bad shape. 

yap, I think it does, for me at least.

No one said anything about being a body builder or a world class athlete.

If you are in bad shape, that includes lack of sleep and exercise. You sleep close to nothing for a week, your ability to concentrate decreases. Being fit in general helps keep a clear mind.

Sure fitness does not have a great impact on your chess abilities, but it is often refreshing. Just look at Magnus Carlsen   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/my-perfect-weekend/8177372/My-perfect-weekend-Magnus-Carlsen.html

Anand spends 2 hours a day in the gym (true) when he's not in a tournament.

@Raskolnikov_R

No world-class chess player is going to be a high-class athelete or bodybuilder because working out that intensely takes away time from your chess. I beleive it is definitely bad for your chess if you are overweight, it detracts blood flow from your brain and is detrimental to your overall stamina. The question had nothing to do with them being an athelete. It said being in shape. Worlds different.

being healthy cannot hurt but if you were to pick a random person out of the world who was in shape and a random person in the world who was overweight, then let them play chess, my money would be on the person who is overweight.

hmm I voted no maybe I don't understand the question

Yes

Perhaps being in better shape physically boosts self-esteem and confidence levels hence altering your attitude and changing the way you would play chess. Im on neither side here. I'm not in that great of shape myself. I could see how you could argue that being in shape would change your game for the better. 

OMG guys. It said for You not for the general public. This survey is trying to find out your scenario. 

No absolutes!  I used to run marathons.  So tired from the training that chess was difficult.

as i said, mental-issue is very different to the athlete's one, you can run 2 miles without any problem, but that doesn't mean you will be good at chess just for that, you can't train a brain as you can train your body, they are totally different, thats just common sense, your brain can't be exercised as you do with your body

i think i depends on the person.myself i prefer to be in shape as my concentration is better for otb.

I'm a college wrestler and compared to the average person, incredibly athletic and healthy. (only a 1200-1300 chess player though) I say no. However, I am basing this only on anectodal evidence. In fact, many of the fittest people I know are often rather thick, and the smartest people I know are either fat, or don't excersize.

I'd be interested to see if someone actually did a study on the correlation, or lack thereof.

Of course it does. However it's more apparent OTB than online since you're really just clicking. But if you're not in shape then you'll just never know.

Being in shape won't change your misconceptions of chess and make you awesome either. But your mind is a lot clearer if you took a jog before playing a game or something like that.

Being thin is not the same as being in shape btw....

For me, yes sound body, sound mind. Does this mean I will win every game, no.

"Of course it does. However it's more apparent OTB than online since you're really just clicking. But if you're not in shape then you'll just never know."

What do you base this conclusion on?

Absolutely, having good meals and thus a good energy supply will help your thinking, but does being ripped do so? It may help you move heavy pieces faster in time pressure but I'm not seeing how this affects the mind. I think sometimes it may seem like someone fit appears to think more soundly and healthily because that's one less insecurity they have about themselves that could inhibit the mind in any way. I'm sure it feels great in general to be really fit, and that security may help clear their mind, but that would only be an indirect effect.

I could imagine there being a very slight effect, but that'd be like going to the extreme that playing chess is exercise because there's the slightest movement involved in moving the pieces.

Of course!  Being in shape helps the chess player sleep better (as does the exercise that would probably be the cause of being in shape), and sleeping better at night means being more alert during the game.

i dont think so

Mental stamina for longer games helps when in shape.  Sleep habits and rest in general are better when not over weight.  

As long as your health condition is only effecting your body, and not your mind, you should be able to play at peak performance.

For example; I think Anand would still be a chess powerhouse if he had 2 broken legs in a wheel chair... but if he were to drink 10 drinks before a match it would make his play suffer a lot.

Nobody here can say for sure either way and unless there is some kind of study done w/ clear guidelines, we will not find out. I believe that in long grinding matches in uncomfortable conditions the better fit player may have some sort of an advantage but in a 1-2 hour match or less, there is really is not an advantage IMHO.....

no way sound body = sound mind look at hawking

could Mozart, Beethoven, Proust, Dostojewski compose and write when they were in a bad shape? They could.

haha i find it humorous how so many people want to pretend like chess is a sport. physical health is not part of being good at chess. of course, extreme bad health is detremental but that is no surprise. chess is a game, folks, not a sport.

Perhaps[?] - but I suppose that there could at least be the benefit for any doubt towards being able to punch one's opponent harder in the nose when being suddenly checkmated on say, move eight, as compensation for any technical brain training - right? ... (or your other left[?] ... )

And that's the way I see it! ...

LOL

77% Yes

?????

it seems to me that i play better when i exercise and of course when i sleep good,i really believe this,exercise helps you relax and that can really help too,try it for yourself.

by FM Kacparov - 3 days ago

hmm I voted no maybe I don't understand the question

That's what I thought at first. How do 77% of people think that the body affects the the mind?

I expected one or two people with strange minds to vote for yes but 77%?? is this a joke?

I think when you are in shape you feel more confident, and as others have said in these comments, more clear minded. But it probably does vary from person to person. 

@rubato

You forgot Shumann.

CHESS IS ABOUT MIND NOT BODY!!!!!!

I think most in shape people are voting "yes" and most out of shape people are voting "no" in this one... But yes nicely put Taylor15, it all depends on your brain...for instance I have a relative ( uncle actually ) who is a very smart college professer but he is fat...I chose "no" for this one...

It involves both if you are involved in chess boxing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK5TQSKmS3o

I think it does help, but it's not a major factor.

Does the name Stephen Hawking mean anything to anybody?

WHAT MEANS SHAPE?

No. Chess is great for those who are sick, injured, or otherwise in poor health. You don't need to be able to run in order to play chess well. 

"According to recent findings, consistent aerobic exersize leads to growth within the brain of new capillaries-the tiny vessels bathing neurons with nutrients. Accompanying this is an increase in the number of interconnections between neurons and the number of brain cells in the memory-encoding hippocampus. These enhancements result from exersize-induced elevations in the levels of nerve growth factors such as brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) and other nutiritive tonics. Since a physical workout increases all of these factors, the end result is a better connected, more adaptive brain capable of thinking better and faster, processing information more effieciently, and generally working better overall." Richard Restak, M.D. Think Smart page 42-43

"Whatever enhances the heart enhances the brain." Carl Cotman

I think it's safe to say that being in shape makes you a better thinker.

People don't realize that being"in shape" is different than being physically active. Physical activity helps stimulate the mind (although more for some than others), simply having great physical capacity is a different thing altogether, no matter how much physical capacity you have you will be just as good at chess as a player with a weaker heart (or something) if they still remain physically active. It doesn't help a lot in the first place, though, only a little.

I said "no" because of the way the question was stated.

Maybe "good shape" is the wrong choice of words. But there's certainly an advantage in being in good "shape" to play chess, especially at the highest levels. Good "shape" usually translates to being able to absorb more during study/prep, being able to see the board better and recognize patterns faster and, most of all, to be able to outlast someone deep into the game.

Try playing a game with multiple time control, where the 2nd control theoretically goes to infinity (e.g. 40/2, 20/1 - 1st 40 moves in 2 hours, then 20 moves per hour until the game ends). Now consider that this is the last game in a week-long tournament that you had to fight tooth and nail for each point... the position is an unclear endgame... now also add the knowledge that you and your opponent are tied for 1st and that there's a $50000 prize at stake... The player who's in better condition will probably win over the other guy who's so mentally drained he makes a textbook mistake and blows it...

I voted no but really I beleive it to be down on your situation, although I'm not exactly certain on what the definition of 'in shape' is. The only situation I can envision a strong physical well-being playing an impact upon ones chessthinking analytical abilities would be during tournaments that last a long period of time. The kind that require the player to have a series of games one after another. That would createt the need for the body to be in a state that is not easily fatigued or other wise you will find yourself having a difficult time focusing on your game. For one, two even three games though after one another I can't really see how a 'being in shape' would make you think any more analytical.

@BorogoveLM Having good health certainly results in a better thinking brain. The question most people are wondering is: better than what? One in who is in shape has a much better thinking brain than HE would if he were not to be in shape. Being in shape doesn't make you a better chess player than the next guy, it just gives you an edge. I believe it makes a pretty big difference.

Did anybody even read my post? There are studies for this sort thing that have shown health most definitely affects the mind. The most beneficial exersize for the brain would be aerobics. Many people may have misinterpretted the question by thinking that "being in shape" meant having nice muscles or a nice body, which certainly wouldn't help.

BRAINS NOT BRONZE it is nice to be in shape but it in no way effect your chess as long as u excersize the most important muscule in ur body(brain) U WILL BE FINE

IF you have a sound body, then you APPEAR to be a sound person.  Appearance is not reality.

IF you have a sound body, and you say stupid shit or mumble over your words, then you don't have a sound mind...you are probably a football player...probably someone like a Brett Farve or Vince Young.

Farve should have retired already.  The fact that he is sitting on the sideline now, shows he didn't make the sound decision and retire already.  When you sit up there at the podium, and can't make up your mind about retiring, you are not in a sound state of mind.

In addition, generally, quarterbacks are the most rounded athletes on the gridiron, combining both a sound arm for throwing the ball and mind for calling the plays.  However, some quarterbacks are great examples of people that have sound bodies, but not necessarily sound minds.  For a particular example, see Vince Young's test scores on the wonderlic.

Furthermore, sound bodily form does not mean you are sound. Sound is when the premises of an argument support the conclusion, and the premises are TRUE.  If premsies support a conclusion, but premises are FALSE, then the argument is not sound.  Although, the body, particularly the brain, is involved in perception, it is not identical to soundness. IF the brain were, then thinking would be motion of atoms.  Chess strategy requires thinking in terms of TRUE or FALSE, not atoms in terms of up/down/left/right/straight/curved/fast/slow. Therefore, you must go beyond the brain to understand the substance of thinking.  Therefore, soundness is an evidence not seen bodily, but grasped spiritually through reason not by sense experience.  Therefore, SPIRIT is NOT SEEN, yet sound chess players THINK WITH IT.  Consequently, if your not a sound chess player, your a spiritually dead (i.e., meaningless) player, that's because you don't know what chess is.

Is this sound?

Does the above make sense?

@mtrmartin Are you a cartesian dualist? And I think the whole point of that post was to rat on Favre and Young. Hahaha.

It helps your stamina concentration and blood flow( For example being in shape helps erections last longer not that that has anything to do with chess....) It helps you concentrate for longer periods of times, Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov has spoken out about this. It might not be helpful so much for  a five minute blitz game ( Except for possibly being able to move faster) But for a long game i think it could help a lot 

@GuyMontag451

Response to your first post:

Your conclusion is "I think it's safe to say that being in shape makes you a better thinker."

Do your premises logically support your conclusion?

Are your premises actually true?

You quoted an ariticle as your first premise, which is appeal to authority, not an argument. 

The article you quote assumes the activity of the brain is identical to thinking.

No doubt, the brain is involved in the process perception of the world, but are the qualities of brain activity identical to qualities of thought? 

Counter Argument:

Premise 1: If brain activity is identical to thinking, then thinking would be motion of atoms.

Premise 2: Thinking is not motion of atoms.  Thinking is cognitive, true/false.  Motion of atoms is not cognitive, but may be fast/slow/up/down/straight/curved, etc. Motion of atoms is not thinking of any kind.

Conclusion: Therefore, brain activity is not identical to thinking.

Is it sound?

Responding to your reply to my first post:

My first thought was about jocks (e.g., football players) are not the brightest in general, yet we pay them millions to entertain us.  Which means you have to acknowledge that jocks posses a certain amount of practical intelligence.  So, allthough you got practical soundness, there is a theoretcial soundness that you may or may not have. Again, just because you have practical soundness does not mean you have theorectical soundness.

Then I thought about Vince and his wonderlic failure.  I threw in Farve to be politically correct.  Which leads me to another point that soundness or lack of soundness is not based on color.  Which means reason is not partial to color.  Reason is universal, it applies to all thinking beings. 

Regarding Cartesian Dualism...According to Wikipedia's section on Dualism, "The central claim of what is often called Cartesian dualism, in honour of Descartes, is that the immaterial mind and the material body, while being ontologically distinct substances, causally interact."

It is assumed based on the central point that matter exists and spirit exists.

Does Descartes test his assumptions?

I have not seen or heard anyone quote a sound argument from Descartes that shows existence of the substance of himself.

How does Descartes know that matter and spirit exist?

Do you know that matter and spirit exist?

@mtrmartin

Circulation and stamina

I'm an air traffic controller which basically means I play chess everyday with airplanes.  In my work I've found a definite body-mind connection in terms of analysis and performance.  Great physical shape fosters smarter decisions, better alertness, and more confidence, for starters.  But all performance ultimately depends on learning and experience.  That is to say, a 1,000 pushups a day won't help you beat a clearly superior player as much as a 1,000 hours practicing chess.

@mtrmartin

You're going into some fancy stuff here. I don't think it's that complicated of a question. "Sound body = sound mind", I think, is just an expression. I don't believe the chess.com staff would make a survey wherein you were required to have a college degree in soundness, which you obviously must have.

And I don't support cartesian dualism myself, I just thought you were hitting along those lines. You asked if my premises were actually true? You used wikipedia of all things as a reference. And where are you getting any of your information? Do you have any sources? You don't have to break thinking down to atoms to realize that heart health promotes brain health, thus improving our chess abilities.

And what of stupid jocks? There are of course stupid athletes, but there are just as many stupid out of shape people and smart athletes. I'm a football player, a dedicated swimmer, and straight-A honors student. The majority of athletes I know are straight-A students in challenging courses. Don't assume anything based on the NFL players you see on TV. And I'm sure Favre is a brilliant man, he just has different values than yours.

I will allude again to Richard Restak, "...Since the brain is a biological organ governed by the same factors as all other body organs( a need for oxygen, glucose, and other nutrients, along with adequate blood perfusion ), physical exercise, which increases all of these things, plays a leading role in enhancing brain function."

@SchofieldKid

What do you mean to say?

i think stephen hawking might disagree with all of the yes voters. the brain needs to be fit - being mentally fit matters. until the pieces weigh 150 lbs each, being physically fit doesn't matter.

@ GuyMontag451

"You don't have to break thinking down to atoms to realize that heart health promotes brain health, thus improving our chess abilities."

The proposition is not sound heart = sound brain.

Response to Richard Restak:

Is all a human needs to participate in chess the "need for oxygen, glucose, and other nutrients, along with adequate blood perfusion"?

I have played with people that have oxygen, glucose, and other nutrients, along with adequate blood perfusion, but were terrible chess players.  Meaning is necessary for sound chess play.  Meaning governed by the laws of thought is not needed by the brain.  Therefore, the conslusion is the same, sound body (heart and brain) is not equal to a sound mind.  Meaning is needed only by the mind (i.e., the soul).

- If there is a person who is relatively healthy and smokes, does this mean that "its not unhealthy to smoke"? The Stephen Hawking comment is dumb (btw, he isnt considered all that special among physics circles...)

- Chess competition is also different from your one-time performance rating. Playing chess for 8 hours obviously requires mental stamina, one that that is supported by physiologicla health.

@mtrmartin The question is, "Does being in shape make you better at chess/thinking analytically?"

So let's make this real easy here. In order to be in shape, one must eat healthily and exercise regularly. In doing that, he improves upon his heart health. I've already established that heart health equates to brain health. So...

Being "In Shape"=heart health=brain health=improvements in one's own thinking

And you weren't responding to Richard restak, you were responding to me. Restak did not say that with the intentions of it being used in this argument; I quoted him. You don't understand what I mean by quoting him, do you? I never said that supplying your brain with oxygen, glucose, etc. would make you a better chess player than your opponent; I said it would make you a better chess player than your-unfit-self. You are a better chess player when you are in shape than you would be if you were out of shape.

As I said earlier, "Having good health certainly results in a better thinking brain. The question most people are wondering is: better than what? One in who is in shape has a much better thinking brain than HE would if he were not to be in shape. Being in shape doesn't make you a better chess player than the next guy, it just gives you an edge."

@ GuyMontag451

"Having good health certainly results in a better thinking brain."

That's called begging the question.

What do you mean "thinking brain"?

You are assuming what you should be providing an argument for. 

The basic assumption in your statement is that all is matter, material monism.

If all were matter, then thinking would be motion of atoms in the brain.

Qualities of thought (cognitive...true/false) are not the same as qualities of atoms (non-cognitive...up/down/left/right/straight/curved/fast/slow).

That means thinking and brain chemistry are not in the same category.

Therefore, it is not true that all is matter, necessarily.

Furthermore, you keep missing my point that health/fitness and thinking are not equal.  Since there is an order in human nature, these are not equal.  The order is thought, which moves desires, and thought plus desire moves the will to action.  Therefore, mind is more basic than the body.  You may have a fit body, naturally, but not a fit mind. 

Eventually, the body does wear and tear due to natural evil, and does die, physically.  However, your mind can either increase in knowledge or go deeper in meaninglessness, moral evil, spiritual death. 

Since humans are bound by reason, they cannot escape the need for meaning which is more basic than the needs of the body.  You may be as fit as Secretariat, but not have any lasting meaning in your mind.  If you have no meaning that continues, then what good is a healthy body in the long-term view of things? 

when i'm working out i notice i'm happier, and when ur happy ur brain is making mroe exelectricity.

ur excelelto

@mtrmartin You aren't making sense. You said I'm assuming what I should be providing an argument for? I have provided the argument! Please reference where you have found this nonsense about cognitive true/false and motion of atoms. And my basic assumption is not that all is matter. But every thought that comes to your mind, everything you are thinking and will think in this life comes from the brain! There is no boundary between the mind and brain! If you don't believe that then you sir are a Cartesian Dualist!

You know, it's very difficult for me to argue with you, because you take one false assumption and make another false assumption based on that until I'm going against a conclusion that is totally irrelevant. Let me demonstrate-

" '...the body does wear and tear due to natural evil,...'

You are assuming that the body can be worn out.

That would require atoms to do the moonwalk.

Atoms can't dance, therefore the body cannot be worn out.

Since atoms cannot dance, they also must got no soul. If atoms don't got soul, material must not equate to abstract nouns.

If material is not abstract, then the brain must not think. If the brain cannot think then being in shape must not help playing chess. Oh and all football players are dumb, especially Farve and Young.

Is this sound?"

I think it's about your ability to tolerate stress. When your body is in shape you have a high tolerance, but when your out of shape you have a low tolerance. Being able to tolerate stress is important since it affects your ability to make decisions under pressure. That's why I think it's important in chess, exercise I mean.

@ GuyMontag451

"...everything you are thinking and will think in this life comes from the brain!"

If everything you are thinking comes form the brain, then thinking is a material process. 

Basic unit of matter is the atom. 

Brain is material.

Brain is made up of atoms.

That is a sound categorical syllogism, here is the form: 

All M is made up of A.

All B is M.

All B is made up of A.

Do you agree? 

@mtrmartin

Yes, the brain is made of atoms. I'm not responding to your next post.

For all those people that feel that they aren't in shape. I am here to tell you that round is a shape. So is rounder.

     So all of you are in shape.

                       IMHO

                      DENVER

I'm pretty sure it does. Going outside and being fit is good for the brain, and playing chess is all about the brain.

The calmer the better.

I would say that at the chess board being fitter and having more energy than your opponent would have its benefits but I think that the real benefit for a fitter person would come from when your away from the chess board because a sick and tired person doesnt have the resolve to study longer hours than the guy who is fit an full of energy.

Exercises gets you in the present and it makes you more alert, which is what you need for chess.

I am in shape but there are a lot of good chess players out there that are fat you know.

^Just like there's a lot of players who are fit but terrible.

Of course it helps being in shape, Bobby Fischer said that in his interview. But once I got beat by a obese person.

It helps a lot.

i agree with graveworm and thetaco

i

get

points

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comments

yes and no

This isn't even a debatable point. There are extensive studies around brain function and exercise. Those who voted 'no' are simply demonstrably wrong.

This one has nothing to do with opinion, and all to do with science. I'm sure it would be quite easy to find a study that shows the answer is yes.

more sleep, more energy, think better moves

Russ Finegold is pretty good.  Karpov and Lasker didn't exactly look like Greg Louganis.  Tal f---ed up RoBot-vinnik in 1960.  I don't think it was RoBot-vinnik's marathons that led to his decisive rematch victory just 1 year later (it was analysis of Tal's style rather than exercise, go figure).  Tal won blitz championship a few years before death.  Kramnik has ankylosing spondylitis.  

I believe the studies on brain function and exercise focus on general folks, not on elite competition where slightest edge in any category can make a difference, but usually it is in those categories that directly relate to the field of interest.  Also, when the task in question is specific, like playing chess, the general well being of the brain simply can't make up for lack of chess (or task-specific) knowledge.

I guess if all else is equal, then exercise may get a minimal edge, but I'd imagine that edge would be nullified by a cup of coffee by the other dudemar or a quick cramming of an opening line right before their match.

Given that matches can last 6 hours, and tournaments can go on for several days, the notion that being in good physical shape is a slight advantage for otherwise equal players is simply wrong.

OTB tournaments and matches are tiring affairs.

where is the "who cares anyway" option to vote??

I totally agree that keeping your body healthy will help you play better chess.

If you are sumo fat instead of trans fat, then you should be okay mental-performance wise.

Answering yes to this thread is nothing but hippie garbage from the fitness industry that has been praying on idiots to get more exercise and eat their crap artificial products and join their gyms.

In general...

Who gets rotator cuff tears (moving the pieces otb)?  Old people and athletes

Who gets early arthritis in their joints (sitting at otb tourneys)?  Old people and athletes

Who gets joint replacements (sitting issues)?  Old people and athletes

Who gets herniated discs and degenerative changes in the spine (which may affect ability to prolong sit during OTB play)?  Exactly.

Who gets narrowed blood vessels (affecting thinking process and concentration)?  Old people, athletes (okay, if they are on steroids), and bad genetics.

How many chess champions were healthy, especially mentally?