The scientific american article is more plausible than the 3 clones, and it appears that it is not the chess activity itself that is the source of calorie expenditure but the stress and sustained cortisol levels. The competition mindset is burning calories, not chess calculations. And it does not seem to be the same order of magnitude of an athlete performing for the same duration. I may have misread, for this last part. But the stress and cortisol as cause of increased metabolism, is the calorie burner.
So, don't relax, stress out, and you'll be like an athlete? Only, the athlete is getting endorphins instead of cortisol. I don't think that's healthy calories on the chess side...
So, don't relax, stress out, and you'll be like an athlete? Only, the athlete is getting endorphins instead of cortisol. I don't think that's healthy calories on the chess side...