Dark Side of Chess: The Mental Game

Chess is widely considered to be one of the greatest mental games that has ever been conceived, where the psychological pressure on each player often lingers with them long after the game is over. While the game of chess itself has been shown to reduce one's stress and support mental wellbeing by releasing dopamine and endorphins while playing, the competitive nature of chess and its high ceiling has created such a large skill disparity that it has also been shown to be the cause of mental illness. While there are many environmental and biological factors when dissecting mental health as a whole, within the realm of chess, a player's obsession with chess, coupled with the belief that if they do not reach the lofty goal they set, they themselves are failures has resulted in many tragedies.

Contents

• Learned Helplessness
• The Legends
• The Greats
• The Aspiring
• The Casual
• Conclusion

Learned Helplessness

Learned helplessness can be induced by a manipulation of cognitive contingencies

was the conclusion of Fernand R. Gobet's Psychological Research Paper Learned Helplessness in Chess Players in 1992. Using the three components of Seligman's Learned Helplessness Theory in 1967 (contingency, cognation and behavior) in relation to chess can explain why. When a player continues to put themself in an environment (against stronger players) where they predominantly lose, while being aware that it's because they are worse than their opponents, and then react negatively to this, they end up feeling helpless. This happens at every level of chess, regardless of whether you are a legend, a great, aspiring or are playing casually.

For many chess players, including myself, chess is mostly a game that is played for fun, whether to wind down after a long day, a sneaky match in the bathroom while at work or a few matches while on the treadmill. Chess should only be life and death to the pieces that are being taken over the board or on the phone/ computer. However, this isn't the case for everyone. Over the years, many prominent players, as well as players from all walks of life have suffered over their love, and gradual distain for chess, as the pressure they placed on themselves slowly took its toll.

The Legends

Wilhelm Steinitz

Wilhelm was often considered the greatest chess player of the 19th century, becoming the first ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1886 and holding this prestigious title for the next eight years. However, after losing his title and then failing in his pursuit to reclaim it, Steinitz tragically went so mad that he was confined to a sanitarium (now commonly known as a mental health hospital) in Russia and ended up believing that he played chess against God... and won. The New York times addressed Steinitz’ erratic behaviour and eventual mental breakdown in 1897, writing “It is not without significance that the death of Steinitz should have been due to mental disorder….His death seems to be another admonition that ‘serious chess’ is a very serious thing indeed.”

 

Lembit Oll

Sadly, Wilhelm Steinitz wasn't the only Grand Master whose life ended tragically. While many players in this blog suffered greatly due to their losses and struggles over the board, it should be highlighted that there are struggles even in winning. Estonian Grandmaster Lembit Oll was ranked 43rd in the world when he took his own life. Oll was driven to become one of the all-time greats in chess. This ambition put so much pressure on his home life that his wife ended up divorcing him and taking custody of their two children. Sadly, Lembit Oll jumped out of his fourth-floor apartment window in Tallinn on May the 16th, 1999.

To this day, people can be found debating over the mental state of chess legends Bobby Fischer, who exhibited paranoid delusions and hallucinations (he was never officially diagnosed with any mental illness) and Paul Morphy, who also showed signs of paranoia (he refused to go to a mental institution that his family attempted to place him in), however, what the two had in common was their mutual obsession for chess and the fact that both were the best of their generation.

 

Sage Mo’s Law of Increasing Sorrow acknowledged that “The higher rated a player becomes, the more painful it is to lose!”, so perhaps Paul Morphy and Bobby Fischer were able to survive what others could not, because of the simple fact that they rarely experienced losses. Bobby Fisher famously stated "If you don't win, it's not a great tragedy - the worst that happens is that you lose a game", which is an easier sentiment to have when winning almost every game. What many chess enthusiasts are unaware of, is that this was only half of what Fischer said. Crucially, he continued by stating "Don't even mention losing to me. I can't stand to think of it." Sadly, many great players didn't reach the same heights of these legends, never reached their goal of becoming a Grand Master, did have to think about their losses more often, and in turn were not so fortunate.

Alvis Vītoliņš

Alvis Vītoliņš was an International Master dubbed The Livonian Knight by those who had faced his aggressive, Talesque style of chess, receiving praise from the Eighth World Chess Champion, Mikhail Tal himself. Vītoliņš would breathtakingly sacrifice his pieces, holding onto the romanticism of chess that had almost left the chess world. However, to become truly great at chess, one has to allow chess to become an obsession. Vītoliņš was consumed with wanting to become a Grand Master, however, he never quite made it there. An Indian Proverb stated "The game of chess is a lake in which a mosquito can bathe and an elephant can drown". In 1997, Alvis Vītoliņš threw himself from a railway bridge into the Gauja river, which had been frozen over. 

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Karen Ashotovich Grigorian

In relation to Mikhail Tal, Vladislav Zubok once wrote (chronicled in his story Zhivago's Children) "Every game for him was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem". Karen Ashotovich Grigorian (not to be confused with Karen H. Grigoryan, an Arminian Grand Master) played in the style of a poet, with his biggest win coming when he beat Mikhail Tal himself. Grigorian was also an International Master. Befittingly, his father Ashot Grashi, was a renowned Arminian poet who had written about friendship as well as the struggle for peace. Ironic as it is poetic, Grigorian was close friends with Vītoliņš and had his own struggles with peace. A day after losing a game, he repeated that he found his play (in chess) repulsive and that his life was of no use to anyone. Grigorian tragically died after jumping from the highest bridge in Yerevan.

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The Aspiring

The Rise and Untimely Fall of Craig Woolcock

Craig Woolcock loved the lavish lifestyle. He once worked two jobs so that he could drive a BMW. He indulged on fine wine and often dressed to impress. However, above all, he adored the refined and classy game of chess, so much so that after 20 years of playing at Barry Chess Club, Craig decided to quit his job so that he could concentrate on solely on chess.

 

Chess became an obsession to Craig, and while he was known for being warm-natured and calm, his mood often ran parallel to the wins and losses he had over the board. Initially, his greater focus and commitment to chess paid off, as Craig won the South Wales Autumn Championships in October 2014, sweeping the competition and qualifying for the British tournament for the first time in the process. However, this turned out to be his final tournament victory. After losing in The British Tournament, his mental health began to spiral downwards. In February 2015, he entered the Kidlington Chess Tournament, one he had entered for many years, and while he finished a commendable 21st out of 54 competitors (a considerable improvement from previous years, where he had placed 31st and 34th respectfully), Craig had expected more from himself. This ended up being Craig's final tournament.

The Casual

A Personal Reflection

My dad taught me chess. We played against each other throughout my childhood. He often told me a story about how a chess master once visited his school to compete against 30 students at the same time. My dad was the only one who managed a draw against him. My dad was so proud of this story, and I was proud of him. He is the reason I am so fond of chess and the reason I became the chess captain in high school.

When I was 17 years old, I just stopped playing, and suddenly half of my lifetime passed me by. However, in 2021, at the age of 34, I decided to play chess online. My dad passed away a year later after being unresponsive for 9 days. I didn't leave the hospital. All I could do was sit next to him, hold his hand and have one-way conversations. There were times in the hospital where I would play games with one hand, still holding his hand with my other, telling him what was happening in each game. Those 9 days were another lifetime to me.

Afterwards, I began using chess as an escape each time my anxiety would rise. However, in this mental state, I often lost, continued to play and spiraled into anxiety attacks that until I felt paralysed. One day, in late 2022 while anxious, I faced a player who was beating me soundly. Every time he won, he would send me a rematch, and each time, I would irrationally accept. My anxiety got so extreme, questioning their ethics as well as my foolishness, that it reached a point where I began crying in the gym bathroom. I still remember sitting there on the gym toilet, frozen for hours.

 

I logged out of chess.com for three months after this incident, because chess had become an unhealthy coping mechanism for me. Since coming back to chess in 2023, I have a rule where I will stop playing if I lose three games in a row. It has helped me see the signs. I now run a chess club at the school I teach in, and I am proud of how far my students are coming along, enjoying the game.

Conclusion

References