Chess time travel
Time travel begins in 10, 9, 8...
You look to your side and see your friend Justin Thyme, who less than 5 minutes ago proposed the crazy idea of time travel.
7, 6, 5, 4...
And to think that you were so calm at the World Championship award ceremony between Ding and Gukesh.
"Do you know that Gukesh would never have become World Champion if there had been one small change in the past? Would you like to see some of the most important moments in chess history to understand how we got to this point?"
To be honest, it seemed like a ridiculous idea. How are you going to travel through time? Besides, they always say that if you change something in the past, the world in the present will be completely different, blah, blah, blah. I'm sure everything will be the same when you get back. You only agreed because you found the closing ceremonies soooo boring that they could have offered you the chance to watch the Vuelta Ciclismo and you would have accepted.
Well, at least it's a bit of a relief, since you've been analysing all the league games for days and barely had time to leave the hotel.
3, 2, 1...
"Well, we're here. I need to buy some food, because I didn't get any in the rush. In the meantime, you can try to guess where and when we are. I'll be back soon. Remember, don't change anything, or you'll mess up the timeline."
You look around, trying to find a clue to guess where you are. The truth is, you've never been very good at GeoGuessr. All you can see is that you're in a very quiet town and it's quite cold. It's impossible, you'll never guess.
Since Justin hasn't arrived yet, you take out a Rubik's Cube you brought with you in case you get bored during the ceremony. Suddenly, you see a child playing in a nearby park approach you and watch you solve the cube.
The boy is very curious and asks if you can teach him how to solve it. As Justin hasn't arrived yet (and you have nothing better to do), you show him the simplest method. After half an hour of teaching, the boy manages to solve it and you decide to give him the cube as he really liked it. The boy returns to the park with his friends, and Justin arrives shortly afterwards.
"I'm here now. As far as I can see, you haven't been able to figure out where we are, so I'll tell you. It's 2004 in Tønsberg, Norway. In a few days' time Carlsen will win Group C of the prestigious Tata Steel tournament with 10.5/13. He's currently 13 years old, and with this victory he becomes the youngest player in history to win this major tournament. Thanks to this tournament, he'll not only advance to Group B for next year's edition, but will also begin to gain significant international exposure. This win is a key moment in his career. It's a shame we can't see little Magnus here, but he's definitely at home preparing for the tournament."
You said that the boy looked familiar: it was Carlsen himself as a child. Now that you've met him, you're not at all impressed by his progress. He's a very intelligent and curious boy, and it didn't take him long to learn how to solve the Rubik's Cube. He was brilliant from an early age and that, together with all the hours he has devoted to chess, has made him the greatest player of all time. You hope that your encounter with him hasn't led to any changes in the future.
"It is time for us to leave. I'll let you decide where we go next."
World Championship between Topalov and Kramnik
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"It is 1 November 2008. Tomorrow the program Stockfish 1.0 will be presented to the public. Obviously it will revolutionise the world of chess. The way players think, the way they open, the way they analyse... everything will change from now on. Cheating will also begin to be taken into account. Over time new and improved versions will be developed until we reach the one we have today: Stockfish 17. It's one of the most important moments in chess history. Do you want to go for a coffee and we'll see Marco Costalba (one of the original developers of the code) putting the finishing touches?"
It seems incredible to you how they develop Stockfish. You've looked at the engine so many times after a game. And now you're going to see the people who worked on it. When you look for the coffee machine, you see people working very concentrated.
Once you've bought your coffee, you look for a free office so that you can have a look at the code. You finally find a computer in an empty room. You look at the program's interface and notice that it's very old compared to the current version.
Suddenly, you knock over your coffee and watch as it spills all over the computer you were using, causing a short circuit and a blackout in the office. You look at Justin, who's standing next to you.
"What have you done? You have just broken the most important chess engine in the world. Do you know what the consequences could be in the future if they can't fix it? You've already broken so many things here, we have to leave. Where are you going to go next?
Kasparov runs for FIDE president
The rise of the Sicilian defence
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World Championship between Topalov and Kramnik
"It is 26 September 2006 in Russia. Today is the day of the fourth game of the World Championship between Topalov and Kramnik. This was one of the most controversial tournaments in history due to the scandal known as Toiletgate. What happened was that during the games Kramnik kept getting up to go to the toilet. Topalov's team lodged a formal protest and it was decided to close the players' private toilets and use a shared one for both. Kramnik's team decided not to turn up for the fifth game of the tournament in protest, and lost it by default. In the end, Kramnik managed to tie the game and retain the World Championship title."
You find it incredible that after all that has happened to Kramnik, he's now the one accusing dozens of players of cheating.
"The fourth game will start in a few minutes. If you want, we can stay here and watch it and rest a bit."
With a few minutes left, you decide to go to the toilet, as the game will probably last a few hours. You grab your phone to check out today's game and get a better idea of what you're going to see next. A little later, you're in the spectator area, watching the game.
When the game is over, you're very happy. It's impressive to see such good players fighting in such a tense game.
"We have to stay here for a few days to recharge the battery of the time machine. As soon as it's ready, we can move on to our next destination."
A little later the first news of the complaints from Topalov's team arrived. Just as Justin said. Now Kramnik's team will be angry and there won't be a game tomorrow. You go for a walk until dinner. When you arrive, Justin seems very upset.
"What have you done?"
You look at him in surprise, not sure what he could be referring to.
"They found a mobile phone with today's game in Kramnik's bathroom. That wasn't supposed to happen. Who knows what the consequences could be."
You look in your pocket and can't find the mobile phone you used in the bathroom.
"We don't have time to fix it, we have to move on to our next destination."
Caruana takes 7/7 at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup
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Kasparov runs for FIDE president
"We are back in Norway, at the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø. It's 11 August 2014 and today the new FIDE President will be elected. The two candidates are Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Garry Kasparov. The result was 110 to 61 in favour of Iliumzhinov. Each had a proposal. Kasparov wanted FIDE to be transparent in financial matters, better conditions for players, the introduction of chess in schools and the modernisation of chess technology... while Iliumzhinov wanted more money for the poorest federations, the creation of the 'One Billion Chess Players' programme to expand chess and the continuation of the stability achieved in recent years... Many countries voted for Ilyumzhinov because of the financial support he offered them, although they agreed with Kasparov's ideas."
One wonders how interesting it would have been if Kasparov had been president of FIDE. Maybe things would have been different for the players now (although you don't know if the change would have been for the better or for the worse). While you're pondering this, wandering the halls of the facility, you'll meet someone who tells you to come closer. He takes you into a room and starts talking to you in Russian. It seems he's mistaken you for someone else and wants you to count the votes. You try to write down the few words you understand, but you know you'll mess it up again. They tell you it's time to announce the results and that you can go now.
"Where have you been? They're going to announce the result, let's see."
After a speech in which you understand practically nothing because you are so nervous, they announce that the new FIDE President is... Garry Kasparov. You've made a mistake in the count and changed the past again. Justin looks at you, knowing that once again you've been responsible for changing history.
"We'll see what the consequences are. Can't you stand still for a minute? We need to get out of here now."
The Resurgence of Freestyle Chess
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The rise of the Sicilian defence
"We are at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup. This was one of the moments when the Sicilian Defence became popular among elite players, thanks to players like Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. In that tournament, Vachier went 3/5 with Black. Since then he's specialised a lot in this opening and now has a very extensive theoretical knowledge of it. It's a rather aggressive opening with many theoretical lines, which is quite fun for spectators to watch. Today's round doesn't start for a couple of hours; if you like, we can play a couple of games while we wait."
After several games in which you haven't managed to score, you decide to innovate in the opening in order to surprise Justin. He plays e4 and you reply with g5, which is the Borg (little known because it's terrible). After a few games with this opening, you manage to win. You look to your side and see Vachier watching your game, and he smiles before going into the games room.
It's the last game of the tournament and Nakamura and Vachier are playing. You look at the databases and see that they played a Najdorf Sicilian which ended in a draw after reaching a drawn endgame. The games begin and you see that after Nakamura's e4, Vachier counters with g5. The Borg Opening! You can't believe that Vachier is playing the opening he's seen you play. After 25 moves, the game ends in a win for Black.
"It can't be that he won with your terrible opening. I hope it doesn't catch on now... We have to keep travelling".
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Caruana takes 7/7 at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup
"It is 3 September 2014 in the Sinquefield Cup. Today is the day when Caruana achieved a rating of 7/7. At the end of the tournament, he managed to score 8.5/10 with a performance of 3098 Elo points, achieving his highest and third highest rating at the time, 2844. This result brought him considerable international fame and cemented him as a contender for the world title."
It is impressive to achieve such a spectacular result against such strong players as Carlsen, Nakamura, Aronian... After the round you try to find Caruana; you would like to talk to such a strong player and learn from him. After wandering around for a while you manage to find him and you start discussing the various openings. How is it possible that some players play the Sicilian Defence, which is very aggressive, and at the same time the Berlin Defence, which is very solid? Why do so many players play e4 or e5, but not so many play the English opening? You spend several hours arguing about different lines in each opening until it's time to go back to the hotel and rest.
Three days later the tournament ends and Caruana finishes with... 10/10. How can this be? You realise that the openings you were talking about are the ones that have been played in the games over the last few days. They helped him prepare, and he managed to win every game in the tournament.
"That is impossible. Nobody can win every game in such a strong tournament. It's like an engine. We have to continue our journey."
Hou Yifan's retirement from chess
The decline of classical chess
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"It is August 2014 at the FIDE Congress in Tromsø. Here they are discussing changes to some of the rules of chess, such as one-handed moves, draws by mutual consent and the time-out period... These congresses are usually held annually, although rule changes are usually made every few years to ensure a certain stability in the rules of the game."
Justin and you start to think of some fun rules that could be implemented, such as using a clock where every second you use is added to your opponent's clock, pawns being able to move backwards once per game, or you being able to swap the position of two of your pieces... Then you see the delegates entering the congress to discuss the new rules.
When everyone has left, you have a look at the new rules. They're all there, but there's one Justin hadn't mentioned: once per game you can swap the position of two of your pieces. Someone must have overheard you talking and suggested your crazy idea.
"This can't be true. This will radically change the way we play the games. It's a very strange rule that shouldn't have been changed. It's time to move on to our next place."
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"It is November 2021. Firouzja has just won the Grand Swiss, qualifying for the 2022 Candidates Tournament and becoming the youngest player to do so. He also broke the 2800 barrier, becoming the youngest person in history to do so, and became world number 2. From that moment on he began to concentrate on fashion and neglected chess a little. This made his level more unstable and led to poorer chess results. Many thought he was the future of chess, but his level dropped exponentially. I still think he's a very good player, but much more was expected of him."
After he finishes his last game at the Grand Swiss, you decide to find him to see if you can talk to him and learn a little chess. You start talking about chess, but soon the conversation turns to fashion and you want to know his opinion about it. You show him your clothes and tell him that you think they'll be very popular in a few years' time. He looks at you disapprovingly, as if he doesn't like what you're wearing, but says nothing more and finally leaves.
"It's time to go home. We've travelled so far, and we must return to the present."
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The Resurgence of Freestyle Chess
"It is February 2024. This afternoon the first freestyle chess tournament, the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge, sponsored by millionaire Jan Henric Buettner, will be announced. Based on the success of this first tournament, an attempt will be made to create a world championship for this modality, which will lead to several disputes between players and FIDE. This is a modality invented by Fischer in which the initial position of the pieces is random (with some rules such as the bishops must be of different colours or the king must be placed between the two rooks). It's a modality that many chess players like because there are no openings and you have to think from the first position, without the lengthy preparations that some players make. The idea of a few hours will be announced; if you want, we can spend time playing a few games".
You spend a while playing a few games, but you get tired of playing the same openings over and over again. You see a draft on one of the tables and ask Justin if he'd like to play a few games of Duck Chess. Jan Henric Buettner passes by and greets you just before he enters to make the announcement.
Everyone sits down, but Jan Henric Buettner doesn't come out to announce the news. After a while they say that the announcement has been delayed due to an unforeseen event and will be made the next day.
When you return the next day, Jan is ready to make the big announcement. Suddenly you can't believe what you've just heard. It's just been announced... the Duck Chess G.O.A.T Challenge.
"Jan must have been fascinated by the variation he saw us playing and changed his mind at the last minute. There's nothing we can do now, it's time to return to the present."
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"It's 2018. Today is the first time that Nakamura will be broadcasting live on Twitch. Although his popularity increased significantly during the months of the pandemic. At that time his audience multiplied by ten and he became the most famous chess streamer in the world. From then on, he increasingly specialised in fast-paced games and stopped focusing so much on classical tournaments (as they required a lot of preparation), except for the tournaments that serve to qualify for the Candidates. As a result, he played less than 30 classical games in 2024, although he is currently ranked number 2 in the world with more than 2,800 Elo points."
Nakamura starts broadcasting live. You go to the chat and type: "Naka, I believe in you. I know you'll be a world champion if you work hard." Suddenly Nakamura stops talking for a few seconds. Then he continues as if nothing had happened, but you know he's read your message and that you've made him doubt what he wants to do with his future. Shortly afterwards, he says goodbye to his viewers and stops broadcasting live. This is the first time you've deliberately tried to change the future, but you want him to become world champion, and you know he came very close at the 2022 Candidates Tournament.
"You know what you did wasn't right. It's time to go home."
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"It is the year 2021, during the pandemic. It was a critical moment for the chess world. Many face-to-face tournaments had to be cancelled for reasons of player safety and travel. As a result, online chess exploded. Dozens of online tournaments were set up between the world's best players. Chess streams and the television series 'The Queen's Gambit' also began to gain popularity. All this helped many people to become interested in chess."
You visit the website chess.com. It's hard to get in because it's overcrowded with players. After so many days of thinking about chess you don't even feel like playing a game. You see the forums full of people talking about their current situation and you write: "Anyone want to play a game of Among Us?" People start asking you what it is, since it obviously hasn't been a very popular game. When you explain, quite a few people are encouraged to play with you. Everyone leaves the chess website to learn how to play another game where you can play with more friends and socialise with people who can't leave their homes either.
"We are not here for you to play Among Us. It's time to go home".
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Hou Yifan's retirement from chess
"It is the year 2020 at Shenzhen University, the time when Hou Yifan started to reduce the number of in-person tournaments she played. Since then, she has been a professor at the university and plays tournaments sporadically. Hou Yifan has always been regarded as one of the best players in history, winning the GM title at the age of 14. She became World Champion at the age of 16 and has held the title three more times (not consecutively). She also participated in open tournaments and achieved very good results. She reached world number 59 and confirmed her position as the strongest player of her time. Had she continued to devote herself to chess, she could have achieved impressive results for women's chess. If you like, you can look around and see if you can find her."
You walk around the classrooms and it brings back memories of your time as a student. Then you see Hou Yifan in one of the classrooms. You approach her to talk to her, but you trip over a cable and knock over a projector. You get so scared that you run to find Justin.
"Didn't you find her?"
You see Hou Yifan again a short time later. She's carrying all her things and it looks like the principal is yelling at her. He tells her she's fired and leaves.
"She's fired? This shouldn't happen. There's no time to fix it, we have to go home".
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The decline of classical chess
"It's December 2018 in London. A few days ago the World Chess Championship ended, with every game ending in a draw. Since then there's been a lot of talk about whether classical chess is over. With the rise of online chess, fast-paced games are becoming increasingly popular, and more and more players are specialising in these rhythms of play. As you know, there will be more and more online tournaments in a few years' time, but classical tournaments will continue to exist alongside them."
You begin to tell Justin that this was one of the reasons why Carlsen stopped playing in the World Championship. He found it boring that the players had to prepare for so long and hardly played on their own for the first hour. Also, fast rhythms have always appealed to the public, as many mistakes are made and the game can be turned around in a few moves when there's little time left on the clock. Suddenly a man approaches you (he looks familiar, but you don't know why) and tells you that he really liked your arguments in favour of fast rhythms.
"Do you know who that was? Arkady Dvorkovich, the President of FIDE. I hope your arguments didn't convince him to make radical changes to the World Championship. Well, we don't have time to check, it's time to go home."
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"It is November 2018 in China. Today is the day that Ding Liren's unbeaten streak ends. He has 29 wins and 71 draws. But Maxime Vachier-Lagrave managed to beat him in the seventh round of the Shenzhen tournament. This brought him a lot of international recognition. It made him break the 2800 rating barrier and positioned him as the world number 2. He became a serious contender to become the next World Champion, and all the while playing against elite players. He became the highest rated Chinese player in history. Ding is an impressive player at the highest level, it's just a shame that he's not able to show his full potential at the moment. Let's have a look at today's round."
There comes the moment in the game when Ding makes his first mistake: d5. Justin and you start discussing why the move isn't good. Ding is moving his hand towards the d-pawn when someone in the staff tells you to shut up because you're talking too loudly. Suddenly Ding stops and moves his hand back before touching the piece. It seems he's heard you too and is reconsidering his move. A few minutes later he makes gxh3, the best move in the position. After a few hours of play, he finally wins the position.
"Ding won thanks to us. We shouldn't have changed this moment in history. There's nothing we can do now, we have to go home."
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"We are at the African Individual Chess Championship in Lagos in 2022. It's one of the moments when FIDE has tried to develop chess on the African continent. Many Asian countries like India or Uzbekistan have produced a large number of chess prodigies in recent years thanks to government financial support. However, many African countries can't afford to invest in chess. There are certainly many talented children here, but if no one gives them the opportunity to learn, we'll never see a promising young African."
You see some children playing games with each other, and you decide to go and try to teach them something. You may not be the most knowledgeable person, but maybe they can learn something from you. After teaching them the basics for a while, you play a few games with them. Most of them still have a lot to learn and will be fairly easy to beat, but others will make it quite difficult and even manage to draw. If these kids keep practising, they might go far.
"It's getting late, time to go home."
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After a long journey, you return to the awards ceremony. Everything seems normal until you see that the player receiving the award is not Gukesh, but... Firouzja. He begins to give a speech, thanking his family and his team of analysts for their support, without which he would never have been able to prepare for the matches. You check your phone to see how the match went and realise that you can't use the engine to check it. Of course, it's possible that they couldn't fix the computers you damaged and couldn't develop the engines they had before. Firouzja continues his speech and thanks FIDE President... Kasparov for the support he's given to the young players. Finally, before the ceremony ends, there's a Rubik's Cube exhibition by the current world number one... Magnus Carlsen.
You can't believe that you have changed the course of history so much. Everything is so different now. You should have listened to Justin. You'll have to get used to the new present, because there's nothing you can do about it, right?
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After a long journey, you arrive at the awards ceremony. Everything seems normal; thank God you haven't changed anything. You go out to check the games that have been played and see that you can't; the engine doesn't work. It seems they couldn't fix the computers that got wet. You check the news to see what you've missed over the past few days and see that FIDE President... Kasparov has announced some very shocking news: the first World Duck Chess Championship is about to be held. They've invited many celebrities from outside the chess world, including the world's number one Rubik's Cube player, Magnus Carlsen.
You can't believe you've changed the course of history so much. Everything is so different now. You should have listened to Justin. You'll have to get used to the new present, because there's nothing you can do about it, right?
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After a long journey you return to the awards ceremony. Everything seems normal until you see that it's not Gukesh receiving the World Champion award, but... Nakamura. It seems he's decided to stop streaming in order to achieve his dream. During the speech, Nakamura thanks his team of analysts for the great effort they've put into studying the opening that made him world champion... the Borg. You pick up your phone to check the games played and see that there's no engine. Maybe they couldn't fix the computers you broke. What you can see is that the Rubik's Cube world record has been broken by... Magnus Carlsen.
You can't believe you've changed the course of history so much. Everything is so different now. You should have listened to Justin. You'll have to get used to the new present, because there's nothing you can do about it, right?
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After a long journey, you arrive at the awards ceremony. Everything seems normal until you see that they're not giving the prize to the World Chess Champion, but to the...Among Us Champion. You check your phone to see what's happened to the chess tournament and see that there are almost no players registered on the platform. You check some of the games of the few remaining players and see that they're all using...the Borg Opening; it seems to have become fashionable. Finally, you try to look at the engine to see which lines they've managed to improve to gain an advantage, but the engine isn't working. Maybe they couldn't fix the computers you broke. What you can see is that the Rubik's Cube world record has been broken by... Magnus Carlsen.
You can't believe you've changed the course of history so much. Everything is so different now. You should have listened to Justin. You'll have to get used to the new present, because there's nothing you can do about it, right?
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After a long journey, you arrive at the awards ceremony. Everything seems normal until you see that to enter the room you have to go through a metal detector and leave your mobile phone behind. You read a sign that forbids 'any instrument that could be used to cheat, we don't want an unfair World Championship to happen again'. When you finally manage to enter the ceremony room, you see that the match wasn't between Ding and Gukesh, but between... Caruana and Hou Yifan. They've brought a special guest to the ceremony: the world's number one Rubik's Cube expert... Magnus Carlsen.
You can't believe that you have changed the course of history so much. Everything is so different now. You should have listened to Justin. You'll have to get used to the new present, because there's nothing you can do about it, right?
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After a long journey, you arrive at the awards ceremony. Everything seems normal until you see that to enter the room you have to go through a metal detector and leave your mobile phone behind. You read a sign forbidding 'any instrument that can be used to cheat, we don't want an unfair World Championship to happen again'. When you manage to enter the game room, you see that the person receiving the prize is not Gukesh, but... Caruana. You try to watch the games and see that there are a lot of them and they have quite a few mistakes. When you look a little closer you see that ...100 games have been played at bullet speed. You look at the stage and see a special guest: the world's number one Rubik's Cube player... Magnus Carlsen.
You can't believe you've changed the course of history so much. Everything is so different now. You should have listened to Justin; you'll have to get used to the new present, because there's nothing you can do about it, right?
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After a long journey, you arrive at the awards ceremony. Everything seems normal until you see that to enter the room you have to go through a metal detector and leave your mobile phone behind. You read a sign forbidding 'any instrument that could be used to cheat, we don't want an unfair World Championship to happen again'. When you finally manage to enter the room, you see that the person receiving the award is not Gukesh, but... Ding. You check the games that have been played and see that Ding managed to win the last game, and thus the World Championship, by using the special move... pawn for bishop swap. You look at the stage and see a special guest: the number one Rubik's Cube player... Magnus Carlsen.
You can't believe you've changed the course of history so much. Everything is so different now. You should have listened to Justin; you have to get used to the new present, because there's nothing you can do about it, right?
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After a long journey, you arrive at the awards ceremony. Everything seems normal until you see that to enter the room you have to go through a metal detector and leave your mobile phone behind. You read a sign forbidding 'any instrument that could be used to cheat, we don't want an unfair World Championship to happen again'. When you finally enter the game room, you see that the winner was not Gukesh, but... a boy you know, but you don't know his name. He's the African boy who beat you! You check the games he's played and see that the last one he won was with the special move... swap a rook for a knight. You look at the stage and see a special guest: the world's number one Rubik's Cube player... Magnus Carlsen.
You can't believe you've changed the course of history so much. Everything is so different now. You should have listened to Justin. You'll have to get used to the new present, because there's nothing you can do about it, right?
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There were eight possible stories in this blog, each with a different ending. I hope you have enjoyed this journey through time. If you want to try a new story, you can go back to the beginning. See you in the next blog.
