San Francisco – September 11, 2026 -- Medidojo, Inc. announced that chess grandmaster Anish Giri has joined Dojo, its AI meditation app for iOS, as a Founding Member of the company's new High Performance Team.
Giri brings elite tournament credentials to the partnership
Giri has competed at the top level of chess for more than a decade, winning the Tata Steel Masters and finishing runner-up at the 2026 Candidates Tournament in Cyprus, the strongest Candidates result of his career and one step from a world title match.
Chess players' hearts race even when their bodies don't move
Research published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that a single game of chess raises heart rate and suppresses heart rate variability, the same stress signature the body produces under physical exertion.
Dojo builds custom sessions instead of playing prerecorded tracks
Users describe what they need, and the app assembles a session from modules including breathwork, body scan, focus, visualization, or sleep-focused meditation. Connected to an Apple Watch, AirPods Pro 3, WHOOP or similar devices, Dojo displays heart rate response during practice. In Medidojo's early wearable analysis, 76.8 percent of sessions lowered users' heart rate, with an average drop of 6.5 beats per minute that typically began within the first minute of practice.
Giri will help design the training system he plans to use
The program follows a sequence of relaxation, focus, then visualization -- skills Giri says he wants integrated into his tournament preparation. "I am a chess player who cares about concentration and visualization, and about recovering a clear state after a long game,