Losing weight while barely moving
HYDERABAD: We burn around 60-100 calories when seated, but Koneru Humpy burns thrice as many calories when playing chess, meaning 900 grams of weight a day during a tournament. “In the initial days, I got worried about the unprecedented weight loss when playing in the tournament. But later, my doctors told me it was because of the game,” says Koneru Humpy while speaking to CE.
“It requires a lot of mental strength, resulting in physical exhaustion. During the game, I feel my breath heavy, my heart also hammers, and the stress is as if I am on a real battlefield. I am drained and exhausted. But my face expresses nothing,” Humpy says.
Any chess or poker player needs to maintain an expressionless face. “I don’t even express the happiness when I win a tournament. Even when my heart breaks in pride and joy, I don’t express it. In my head, I will be anxious or even dancing out of happiness, but nobody would ever know,” she said. “Sadly, some chess players, particularly the grand masters, cheat with their expressions. Some express confidence even when they know they will not win. That is only to scare the opponent. But I know all tricks of the trade,” Humpy breaks in a laugh as she tells.
Recently Koneru Humpy crashed out of the 2022-23 Women’s Candidates chess after losing to Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk in the quarterfinal tiebreaks.
“The only time I feel disappointment is when I prepare hard for the tournament. When I don’t prepare that hard, I take it as a learning lesson and try and play better,” she said. Humpy further added: “After poker, Chess is the only sport in the world with reading material. I spent most of my time reading this material, which is exhausting. When I get bored of reading material, I shift to online chess games; when I get bored of that as well, I unwind by spending time with family or comfort food.”