Dream 2.0 MAGNICHESS
with the chess champions Viktoria Radeva and Beloslava Krasteva
An experiment by Magniflex and Garmin that tracks how better sleep affects concentration and performance in mental sports. See what Beloslava and Victoria discovered about their sleep after they replaced their old mattresses with models from Magniflex and tracked the change with a digital tracker.
https://youtu.be/4CQu-8XIhS0
Experiment with Sleep
Ensuring good sleep is a long-term investment in health and a fulfilling life. This directs our main pursuit towards constant innovations, developments, and experiments that demonstrate the importance of quality sleep for a healthy and happy daily life. Quality rest plays a leading role in the life of each of us, but it is of paramount importance for training, performance, and recovery – mentally and physically – for people with active daily routines, sports careers, and heavy physical and mental loads.
In order to examine firsthand the effect that sleep has on the quality of life and performance of individuals, we are conducting this experiment called SLEEP. It brings us together with people at the peak of their lives, physical condition, or careers and explores how their sleep changes and what impact this has on their lives after sleeping on a premium mattress from Magniflex and tracking the changes with a digital tracker from Garmin.
In Sleep 1.0 we introduced you to three remarkable individuals – ultra athlete Krasi Georgiev, actress Angela Nedyalkova, and the "superman" Georgi Nenov, and we saw the significant change in their quality of life and performance in sports.
Now that we know the importance of good rest for physical condition and performance, in part 2 we turn our attention to mind sports, specifically chess. To see the results firsthand, this time the experiment includes two of the young hopes of Bulgarian chess – multiple champions Viktoria Radeva and Beloslava Krasteva. The two young women lead an extremely dynamic life, combining busy world-class chess competitions with the daily life of students and a hectic social schedule.
To see how their sleep changes and how this change affects their game and concentration, we equipped them with mattresses, pillows, and trackers and... let them sleep.
Who is Victoria?
At just 23 years old, she is a star on the horizon of Bulgarian chess. A women's grandmaster since 2021 and a two-time participant in the Chess World Cup, Viki boasts a series of titles, including:
- three-time champion of Bulgaria for 2018, 2019, and 2023.
- European chess champion for 2023 with the women's national team of Bulgaria
- youth vice world champion
The new coach is Yordan Ivanov.
Outside of chess, Viki is about to graduate with a degree in "National Security" from Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski". She loves to relax, read, and spend time with friends and go for walks. Her daily life as a student and active athlete is very busy, filled with frequent travels and time zone changes, an irregular sleep schedule, and therefore the quality of her rest is of utmost importance to her.
Viki chose to participate in the sleep experiment by replacing her old mattress and pillow with new ones and started tracking her sleep with a digital tracker.
Who is Beloslava?
Grandmaster Beloslava Krusteva is only 20 years old, but she holds the future in her hands.
- Champion of Bulgaria for girls for 2019.
- Champion of Bulgaria for women for 2020.
- European champion for 2023 with the national team of Bulgaria
- participant in a number of world and European tournaments and Olympics
Alongside her education and sports career, Beloslava trains regularly and leads an active lifestyle, in which there is not always enough time for rest. Between the stress during exams, social life, long tournaments, and constant travel across different time zones, her sleep often suffers. According to her, "a chess player primarily needs to monitor their sleep," and she tracks various other indicators with her tracker – steps, energy levels, sleep quality, and more.
Bela changed her old mattress and pillow and, with the help of the tracker, monitored how her feelings, restfulness, and concentration and gameplay would change.
What does science say about sleep?
The topic of sleep and its influence on overall health and a fulfilling life is becoming increasingly prominent in the media and social channels. The discussion is particularly popular among people striving for peak performance in their field or career, and the importance of quality rest for mental health, and consequently for physical performance and achievements, is being discussed more and more.
When we get enough sleep, it improves memory, mood, and overall well-being. Positive feelings and a life outlook prevail, and we are also inclined to make better-considered decisions and assessed risks. A number of studies have shown that poor quality and insufficient quantity of sleep lead to significant consequences in daily life. On a mental level, sleep deprivation reduces the ability for quick reactions and clear thinking.
Physically, the lack of sleep increases the risk of many medical problems – type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, and stroke. Conversely, when both athletes and ordinary people get the necessary amount and quality of sleep, they enjoy much better energy levels, higher productivity, a lower risk of injuries, and faster recovery.
For people who primarily work with their brains – scientists, educators, competitors in mental sports – lack of sleep has a significant impact on their concentration. Quality rest directly affects their performance, preparation time, memory, and focus.
How does the experiment proceed?
Beloslava and Victoria have a very busy daily life – they combine a dynamic student life filled with exams, lectures, and social contacts with an active chess career at a world level and constant travel. The fact that they do not stay in one place for long hinders them from having a consistent sleep routine. From different time zones to uncomfortable mattresses in hotels to long games lasting 5-6 hours, the grandmasters place great importance on the quality of their sleep.
For their concentration and performance during important tournaments, it is extremely important to be well-rested, as the matches usually last for long hours and are played in the early afternoon, when the body naturally has lower energy levels.
"The change was noticeable from the very first days I slept on the mattress," shares Beloslava, "I was eagerly waiting for it, it was delivered especially for me to the dormitory in the USA."
She chose to sleep on a mattress MagniStretch and a pillow Classico and to monitor the quality of her sleep with Garmin Vivoactive 5.
And Victoria adds, "At home they told me that I have become more organized and focused, which is a big improvement for me." And more: "I miss it, I already feel that when I go somewhere else – for example, to a competition or somewhere for work, it is very unpleasant for me that I can't lie down on my mattress."
Viki sleeps on a mattress Armonia Dual and a pillow Riviera and uses a tracker Garmin Vivoactive 5.
Follow how the sleep and performance of the two champions change over the course of the project.
