Performance coaching in chess & mindsports

Benjamin Portheault

2021-08

My background

• Physics PhD
• 15 years as a data scientist
• degree in mental preparation
• 1.5 year of working with a 2700++ player

Learn to play the infinite game

• finite/infinite games (James P. Carse 1933 - 2020)
• Chess on the board is the finite game
• Growth as a chess player is an infinite game
• Decide when to stop, what to do.

The pyramid of performance

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mental toughness

Exercise

Nutrition

Sleep/recovery

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Calculation, Pattern recognition, opening, endgame, etc.

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Performance

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The pyramid of performance

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mental toughness

Exercise

Nutrition

Sleep/recovery

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Calculation, Pattern recognition, opening, endgame, etc.

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Hormonal disruption

Bad recovery

Physiological prerequisites

Why physical exercise for chess?

Acute exercise increases cognitive performance

Improved blood flow to the brain

Creation of new neurons/synapses/blood vessels. BDNF.

Ok but why exercise for chess?

Let’s try to understand where mental fatigue comes from.

Psycho-Biological Model of endurance performance (PBM) - Samuele Marcora, Jeroen Van Cutsen

The PBM model of endurance performance

1. Perception of effort (Rate of Perceived Exhaustion RPE)
2. Motivation

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Predictions of the PBM model

How to push mental fatigue

1. Increase motivation (try harder, mental toughness tools, some room ...)
2. Push down perception of effort

Physical exercise moves the boundaries of mental fatigue

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• Elite cyclist feel less the effect of brain fatigue and perception of pain
• Mental fatigue brings down time to exhaustion
• Brain endurance training concurrently with exercise is a promising avenue

One day, chess for sports ?

Basics of physiology

Supercompensation

Science of periodization for

Fitness : macro/meso/micro cycles

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Form = Fitness (high level of training) + Freshness (low level of fatigue)

Athletes taper to arrive in the best shape for their key events

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Beware the ‘black hole’ of exercise [Seidler]

Moderately hard and

hard workout have similar

recovery times.

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Make your easy days easy and

Your hard days hard: don’t fall

Into the black hole

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Recovery/Sleep

• Sleep is critical for knowledge to be stored in the brain
• Poor sleep is linked to a variety of adverse health outcome
• We are unaware of the effects of mild sleep impairment
• Extremely researched and implemented by sports teams
• Important when travelling through time zones

Trackers: smart watches, rings, mattresses, phones, don’t stress it out!

Sleep hygiene: regular sleep throughout the week, cold and dark and quiet room (careful when travelling)

Watch the sun light in the morning and avoid ‘blue light’ in the evening.

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Recovery: Heart Rate Variability

Physiological measurement that gives a sense of the stress level of the body and the nervous system. Heavily researched.

Adam Virgile

Heart Rate Variability in practice

Cheap to measure [chest HR strap + Kubios HRV app]

Recovered

Day after hard workout

After world cup game

[Player X]

Day after world cup game

Nutrition

Lots of evidence for following a balanced diet of home-prepared food.

Easy to say but not simple to follow.

1 kg of fat ~ 7500 Calories

Daily Intake : 1500 - 3000 Calories

Hard workout : 400 Calories

• Evidence: being in a small calorie deficit is good for your brain (memory etc)
• You need to eat to sustain your physical training

Causes of obesity are complex …

[unless you’re on

social media]

• Fad diets
• Elimination diets

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Ultra-processed food are not so good for you

Randomized Control Trial:

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Another pyramid: Andy Morgan

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Mental Preparation

• Goal setting (SMART or Open) Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-bound
• Relaxation
• Self talk
• Visualization
• Optimal activation
• Pre-performance routines

Breathing can be front and center in many of these techniques.

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Mindfulness meditation: center on now and dampens self-talk.

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Tournament Day 101.

• Don’t try anything new
• Seriously, don’t try anything new. No new food, clothing, etc.
• No large meal before a game
• Careful that caffeine doesn’t impair your sleep
• (Caffeine protocols similar to altitude training protocols?)

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How to choose a Performance coach

A coach keeps you accountable! A good coach is also:

• Is evidence based. Doesn’t have all the solutions.
• Is highly adaptable and understands ‘why’
• Usually not the best competitor! inward/outward people
• Behaves ethically. The goal is for the athlete to be autonomous.
• A mental coach is not a ‘guru’ but gives stand alone tools that must be trained
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Will eSports save chess?

• Low-ish level of professionalism in chess
• eSports teams: huge drive in health and wellness for performance and longevity
• Dedicated field of academic research
• Spillover for mindsports

Fabian Broich

(Excel Gaming)

THE MYTH

No, chess doesn’t burn 6000 Calories per day, nor 560 Calories per hour.

Elevated Heart rate from stress without elevated oxygen consumption means your are NOT burning calories.

Brain alone uses ~12W of power all the time.

A LOT of evidence these numbers are wrong (as if common sense was not enough - this isn’t the Tour de France)

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Conclusion

A lot of room for top players to improve performance through

• Periodize exercise
• Quantified recovery (HRV)
• Mental toughness tools

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eSports professionalization will spill over to chess

Find me at @BenjiPortheault and mindcreaser.com

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