End of The World

In 2016, the naming of a polar research ship was put to a public vote, and ‘Boaty McBoatface’ was the overwhelming winner. Should humanity’s fate ever be staked on a game of chess against alien invaders, I hope we don’t get a vote. If the internet has taught me anything, we would end up playing the Bongcloud Opening ‘for the lols’ and be vaporised. Even ignoring the saboteurs, the wisdom of crowds does not reliably select good chess moves. The recent game between former world champion Viswanathan Anand and ‘The World’ was a case in point.

    In the first diagram above, you can see why the world voted for 14…Qd8xd5, which mops up a pawn, defends the pawn on e4, and attacks d2. But it’s a superficial choice, since Anand’s response 15 Qd1-h5 led to a crushing kingside attack. Instead 14…Qd8-g5 or 14…f7-f5 would have been stronger. Anand’s opening choice was particularly astute, heading for a murky variation of the English Opening (1 c4) where there was plenty of scope for the World to go astray.

Viswanathan Anand-The World

Chess.com, September-October 2024

1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 g3 Bb4 5 Bg2 O-O 6 Nd5 e4 7 Nh4 d6 8 O-O Re8 9 b3 g5 10 Bb2 Nxd5 11 cxd5 Ne5 12 f4 gxh4 13 fxe5 dxe5 14 e3  

Qxd5 15 Qh5 Bxd2 16 Qg5+ Kf8 17 Rad1 Qa5 18 Qh6+ Kg8 19 Rxf7! Kxf7 20 Rf1+ Ke7 20…Kg8 21 Qg5+ Kh8 22 Qf6+ Kg8 23 Qf7+ wins 21 Qf6+ Kd7 22 Bh3+ Re6 23 Qxe6+ Kd8 24 Rf8 mate

Last month marked 25 years since the 1999 ‘Kasparov against the World’ game ended, four months after it began. In those dotcom boom years, the whole concept was still novel, and the game was hosted on Microsoft’s MSN Gaming Zone. Voting participants could review the recommendations published by the world’s team of teenage analysts (Etienne Bacrot, Irina Krush, Elisabeth Paehtz and Florin Felecan), and the game was so fascinating that many grandmasters weighed in with their suggestions.