What do chess players eat?

Food for thought. What Britain’s top brains eat

Are greens good for the grey matter, or will egg and chips do just as well?
Tim Lewis asked our top boffins to reveal their eating habits

Sunday August 19, 2007
Observer Food Monthly
Professor Robert Winston

Robert Winston is Emiritus Professor of Fertility at Imperial College, London. Best known for his research into human reproduction, he is also famous for his love of egg and chips.

I got a lot of stick for supporting omega-3 fatty acids and I’m not sure why, because each week new research comes out that says I was right. There is clear evidence that it is needed for brain development in children and it seems to improve behaviour in adults too. A very interesting study from Oxford University shows that these fatty acids fed to young offenders in an Aylesbury institution improved their concentration and lowered instances of aggression. All I advocated was that omega 3 was likely to help some children if given as an additive in milk, for example. I don’t think I did anything that was in the slightest bit untrustworthy.

…Radha Jain, under-9 chess champion

Radha Jain is the English Girls Under-9 chess champion and is representing England at the World Youth Championships in Turkey this November. Discipline is her middle name.

It’s really important to eat the right things before playing chess. I don’t eat sugar, or sweets, and I don’t eat just before my round, either, because that way you get sleepy. I don’t even have sugar the day before a match. I drink a lot of water, because thinking really dehydrates you. Bananas are good for concentration, though, and I’ll eat those between rounds.

I love Indian food, and that’s what we mostly eat at home, though sometimes we have pasta and pizza. My favourite dish is dosa – a big Indian pancake, with all sorts of fillings, such as paneer or samba, and they do great ones at the Indian Kitchen. I love the ambience as well as the food here, especially the big red flowers on each table. The staff are also really polite and helpful. Generally we don’t go out to eat, though, and Mum does most of the cooking. She’s a very good cook. My dad has an office in the house, and he stays there most of the day; he doesn’t do much cooking.

I do cook a tiny bit at home – mostly chapatis, filled with sabjis and dhal. I prefer Indian food – I like its spiciness, and I think it’s healthier than English food. There are also lots of vegetarian dishes, which is good because of my religion – I’m a Jain, and we do not believe in killing animals.

I started playing chess when I was seven. I like the way the game challenges you all the time. My dad and my brother [Akash Jain, 13, currently Under-13 British Champion] also play chess. I started beating my dad about one-and-a-half years ago. He didn’t mind too much. I probably practise about an hour a day – either on the computer, or against my brother. My brother’s three years older and thinks he’s much better than me at chess. When he was my age, though, he wasn’t as good as I am now. One day I’d like to be a Women’s Grand Master.

I’ve played so much chess now that I don’t really get nervous before matches. Sometimes playing against the clock can be stressful, though. Some games can go on a really long time; the longest one I ever played was four-and-a-half hours. I like the puzzle of chess. You have to stretch for tactics and chances to win. The person that plays the first move that comes into his head always loses. Normally I think about three moves ahead, sometimes more.

My schoolfriends aren’t that into chess. We just talk, really. And we play netball, and rounders. My favourite thing of all is when a cocky boy comes up to me and thinks he can thrash me because I’m a girl, and I beat him easily. That’s very satisfying.

Here is the full article: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,,2149132,00.html