Local Experiences
One of the final lines in Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) is “You’ve lost, you just don’t know it yet.”
Even though the film is about chess, it did not feature the former American grandmaster Bobby Fischer.
But in the documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011), one of bigger reveals was his physical training.
Even today, chess competitors are keeping in shape:
“In 2004, winner Rustam Kasimdzhanov walked away from the six-game world championship having lost 17 pounds. In October 2018, Polar, a U.S.-based company that tracks heart rates, monitored chess players during a tournament and found that 21-year-old Russian grandmaster Mikhail Antipov had burned 560 calories in two hours of sitting and playing chess — or roughly what Roger Federer would burn in an hour of singles tennis.
Robert Sapolsky, who studies stress in primates at Stanford University, says a chess player can burn up to 6,000 calories a day while playing in a tournament, three times what an average person consumes in a day. Based on breathing rates (which triple during competition), blood pressure (which elevates) and muscle contractions before, during and after major tournaments, Sapolsky suggests that grandmasters’ stress responses to chess are on par with what elite athletes experience.”
This week, Brad Pitt’s new space flick Ad Astra premieres:
Not sure if grandmasters have ever competed against astronauts in decathlon events, but it would probably make for good network television.
What caught my eye last week was Airbnb’s investment in the online travel guide Atlas Obscura:
“Atlas Obscura is not your parent’s travel guide. Founded in 2009, what started as a project by writer Josh Foer and documentarian Dylan Thuras to document, catalog, and map the lesser-traveled and obscure parts of the world has evolved into a full-fledged media and events company. Now led by former Slate journalist and editor David Plotz, the company’s offerings include its main travel and experience blog, a food-focused publication called Gastro Obscura, a series of ‘local experiences,’ and guided group trips around the world.
Given the latter-mentioned aspects of Atlas Obscura business, it might not be a surprise that a travel company like Airbnb is interested in a partnership. The home rental and accommodations booking giant — which also features a curated collection of experiences and recently launched a print and digital magazine of its own — led Atlas Obscura’s $20 million Series B round. Although the round was announced this week, SEC filings indicate that the majority of the capital was closed back in June.”
I am no Phileas Fogg nor Carmen Sandiego, but this is a good union.
Even though Airbnb remains a private company, it is threatening Expedia ($EXPE) and TripAdvisor ($TRIP) with checkmate.
There’s more to do on Earth than book a room and Airbnb knows this.
