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.