The World Chess Championship.. Is Cursed? : Game Theory Ep. 4

Hello Chess.com!

As I finished updating my Martin Luther King Jr. blog for the last time, I had a problem. What problem, you ask? The one every Blogger faces at one point or another - What next? What about another Game Theory? But three in a row would surely be too much! I hadn't published my Levi And Hikaru Are Enemies one and the Magnus is Thor one yet, but I had them in drafts. I was thinking about the Solving World's Biggest 1v1 Debates Part 2, but decided that I wouldn't because it wouldn't be chess-related and I really want Top Blogger. Then I thought about some other random 'Dark Secrets'-blogs which weren't chess-related either. If it was not chess-related, in the bin it went. Or in an alt account - I'm thinking about that actually.

Then I thought about making one related to some upcoming tournaments. The World Chess Championship was near, of course, and I thought about making a blog about predicting the winner. But I was pretty sure that like 1000 other idiots (I didn't mean @KevinSmithIdiot to be clear, you cheeky people!) would make it. It has to be unique. Life as a ParthivPotter isn't so easy. Then I got THIS idea. And, as always, as I dug deeper into the issue, the more interesting it became and all the more convincing it was. So, people, read on, and oooh, I almost forgot - Welcome to Game Theory, where pure satisfaction meets fun and mind-blowingness! Happy Theorizing!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Something About The Tournament For Those Who Live Under A Rock
2. The Theory
3. The Proof
4. The Exception
5. The Practical, Possible Reasons For The Non-Theorists
6. The Conclusion 

The World Chess Championship -

A Brief

The World Chess Championship (WCC) is the biggest and the most prestigious tournament in chess. The winner is crowned 'the world champion of chess', so, you could figure that it's big. The two contestants in the WCC final are the current world champion, and the winner of the 'Candidates Tournament'. The current world champion is Ding Liren, and his opponent was Ian Nepomniachtchi (Oof! I will just say Nepo from now).

The Theory:-

So, without beating around the bush, let me get straight to the point. The World Chess Championship is CURSED. You heard that right - but WHY? Did a witch curse it? Or did I? What's the curse? Do the winners die? Do they get turned to ugly beasts? Will Nepo never win? (hey, that could be true, but as they say, that's just a theory). No. You did reach quite close - something happens to the winners. They.. wait for it... are GMs!!!! Ok ok. Never mind - The winners mysteriously become worse at chess. They lose more, play less and and win less tournaments than before. Don't believe me? Want proof? Take it then. 

The Proof:-

You still want proof? You guys are unbelievable! Ok. I will give you some rock-solid proof. Here are a few world champions whose play notably worsened after winning the WCC.

1. Bobby Fischer

Robert 'Bobby' James Fischer was an American Grandmaster, and he is known to be on the best chess players in history. He was very well-known for defeating defending champion Boris Spassky in their legendary duel at the world chess championship final in 1972. They conducted an unofficial rematch, 20 years later, in Belgrade. Fischer won that also. Here is one of his games at the rematch.

After his victories in both matches, Fischer's chess career took a dark turn. After the rematch, he quit chess. But he was soon proved to be mentally unstable. He worked as a coach for a few people, although he was a world champion, because of his mental illness. He was even known to coach the lady legend of chess, Judit Polgar. After the 9/11 incident, he told some anti-Jewish stuff which put him in prison. Although he did get out, he unfortunately lost his citizenship. He later received citizenship from Iceland, where his grave is even now.

Fischer eventually passed away due to kidney failure on 17th January, 2008 at the age of 64 at Iceland. Many young players are growing up with his books and games, and he is considered to be one of the best chess players of all time. But alas, his life went kaput after the rematch. Well, let's just say that.. there is a curse.

2. Ding Liren

We all love Ding! Who doesn't? Here is a very funny Ding joke I made. Ahem.

"Now, now, Parthiv, tell me something important. Your lame jokes are lamer than the lamest lame jokes!"

No! You know what they say....

Lame jokes are funny. Lamest jokes are funnier.

-Sun Tzu

This is really getting cringe now 😬. Anyway, let's talk Ding. 

Ding Liren is a Chinese Grandmaster and the highest rated Chinese chess player in history. As I have told you like 656 times in this blog, he became the world champion after defeating Nepo last year. The game was drawn 7-7 at first, but Ding managed to outwit Nepo in the tiebreakers, beating him 2.5 - 1.5. But after the tournament, Ding took out a long rest. A rest that stretched from 16 May, 2023, just 16 days after the final where he played at the Superbet Classic Romania to January 13 2024 at the Tata Steel Chess Masters. Ding later revealed the reason for the 242 day gap as "He no longer enjoys chess as a whole". After his comeback, he played a fair amount of tournaments, but had no success in anything. Ding's skill mysteriously seemed to decline. Again... the curse.

3. José Raúl Capablanca

There are a lot more examples to the curse. One of them is Jose Raul Capablanca, the Cuban chess legend. His world chess championship was all the way back in 1921, against the great Emanuel Lasker. Lasker resigned the match after 14 games, as till then, Capablanca had won 4, and Laskar, none. He did manage to get into the 1927 world championship final. Because of the world wars, there wasn't a world champion for 6 long years. But unfortunately lost against Alexander Alekhine. After that, his play declined, and he eventually lost his touch. 

The Exception

Yep, you know who this is. No further introduction.... The Real Life Thor, Bongcloud Champion, the G.O.A.T, Magnus Carlsen!!!

I don't even need to waste my time here. But still, it's my job, so...

Magnus Carlsen, born on 30 November 1990, is a Norwegian Grandmaster and a former world champion. He first became the world champion in 2013, beating Viswanathan Anand. After that, he won every single world chess championship, all the way till 2023, where he withdrew as he found classical chess boring. Even though he became the world champion a whopping FIVE times (that's not much? But of course, you would have won it like 10 times, right?), he is playing tournaments beautifully, and the curse seems to have no effect on him. Thus, he still is, and always will be the best chess player in history. And that's no theory, that's a fact.

Possible Scientific Reasons

Now, onto the boring part. There could be some scientific reasons for the curse, right? What could they be?

1. The intense pressure of maintaining the title could lead to burnout and stress, which results in loss of focus and motivation.
2. After winning, everyone would want to beat the world champion. Who wouldn't? So, players would try their very best and would target the champion particularly in tournaments.
3. The expectations and multiplied publicity from the media and from the rest of the chess world could lead to even more stress.
4. Chess is evolving, and we see new systems and young prodigies like Gukesh, Pragg, Nihal Sarin and Faustino Oro are rising. People prepare vigorously, and analyze the opponent, not only themselves.

The Conclusion

Is the curse actually real? There are a lot of examples and proof, yes, but there could be a fair amount of scientific reasons too. Whether the curse is real or not, only the chess gods know. Don't find it possible? It's real if you believe it! 

But HEY, that's JUST a theory! A GAME THEORY!

See you next time!