16 chess grandmasters arrive in Jerusalem for historic competition

For the first time, Israel is hosting the International Chess Federation [FIDE] championship.

By HAGAY HACOHEN
Chess masters gathered in Jerusalem for the International Chess Federation [FIDE] championship (photo credit: Courtesy)
Chess masters gathered in Jerusalem for the International Chess Federation [FIDE] championship
(photo credit: Courtesy)
16 Chess grandmasters, the highest title in that field, arrived in Jerusalem to compete at the International Chess Federation [FIDE] championship, a press release reported on Wednesday. 
During an official reception held at the Notre Dame church in Jerusalem, FIDE director general Ilya Merenzon, federation CEO Ilya Merenzon, general manager of Kaspersky Israel Noam Froimovici and head of Algorand Engineering Yossi Gilad gave short speeches about the event and their companies' involvement in it as sponsors.
During the Jerusalem Grand Prix, two players will triumph over their rivals to reach the 2020 Candidates Tournament. The player who wins that event will become the challenger for the 2020 World Championship match.
Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand is expected to play against Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi. Gelfand, who was born in Belarus, then a part of the USSR, came to Israel in 1998. He excelled in the chess culture of the Soviet Union and is usually regarded as one of the top 20 players in the world.
The game of chess is widely regarded as a sport that can be extremely demanding, with players keeping a strict diet and exercise routine to be in top shape for the match. Players often lose weight during matches, with Anatoly Karpov losing 22 pounds in five months in the 1984 World Chess Championship, NPR reported. Players can burn 6,000 calories a day when they play, which is triple the calorie needs of a regular human. The calorie burn isn’t only because of their brain activity but also because of the stress and loss of sleep they experience during long matches.


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