Chess Masters Used To Play MIND CHESS To Pass Time (Get Your Hands On This Supernatural Thriller)

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Original Article:
www.factfiend.com/chess-master...
Souces:
books.google.co.uk/books?id=L...
www.chessmaniac.com/blindfold-...
www.factfiend.com/the-chess-ma...
www.theatlantic.com/technolog...
marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Charle...)
Images:
Chess,
Staxringold, CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/b..., via Wikimedia Commons
Smash Bros,
www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nint...
Starcraft,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCra...
Go,
Goban1, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Paul Morphy,
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Professor X,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profess...
Magneto,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magneto...
Music:
From filmmusic.io
"Two Finger Johnny" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)

[@davejones64]

One thing which bugs me about films using the "chess = intelligent" trope is how often they manage to have the board set up incorrectly, which paints the character in a rather different light than they intended

[@gaestuff204]

Yeah I tried getting 3 of my friends into chess and the most intelligent of all of them was terrible at it

[@ryanvaughn5959]

I always wanted to see two characters, preferably Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne playing chess while reciting Shakespeare in different languages.

[@smith22041]

@@ryanvaughn5959 Reminds me of the chess game between Superman and the Flash, while debating how far to go to protect people from themselves (Guns, Smoking, Speeding etc)

[@eisviechkomplettauseis8001]

They routinely mix up the positions of Queen and King or Bishop and Knight. It's really embarassing.

[@niko2239]

If you wanna show off an intelligent character by having them play chess, just look up and essentially copy the game of some grandmaster, there's resources for people to study their games

[@thedawapenjor]

I know of a boy who played 7 different games against grandmasters at the same time. He lost each one of those matches rather quickly.

[@RoarTheRapper]

Doesn't even surprise me. Those guys can think so well ahead in their games anyway, I've even had some chess friends put the board back a few moves AFTER I realized a made a mistake half a dozen moves before.

[@gavinotheshitpostartist5586]

Damn, I didn't know you watched Fact fiend

[@RoarTheRapper]

@@gavinotheshitpostartist5586 of course! 😝

[@MichaelP833]

my brother would easily beat anyone in the family with him not being able to see the board. he would even call out when i made an illegal move, sometimes if i accidentally moved something wrong earlier, or i just didnt notice something. but he did also teach us a different version of chess where neither player could see the other players pieces (and moves were not called out). need a ref to have a third board (or a mind like my brother's) to put both sets of pieces on one board, and constantly calling out if a move was legal or not, or if the game ended needless to say, although i learnt to play chess at a very young age, with a brother like that, i never had any interest in trying to get good because nothing i could ever do would allow me to compare to his level

[@redstoneactive6589]

I believe that is a type of fog of war chess. And is super unfair to anyone who has a bad memory or a poor understanding of the base game

[@lukebarron5698]

My favorite deconstruction of just because you're smart means you're good at chess. Is the fact that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen did not actually know how to play chess so for the X-Men movies they would really just randomly move pieces around the board

[@jsalas5400]

You assume that patrick stewart and ian mckellen are "smart"....they could be dumber than a pipe of bricks for a we know lol

[@psychic2021]

As someone who suffers from Neural-Dysgraphia, the fine motor function & needed dexterity and reflexes to play competitive video games is a sort of barrier for me. However, Chess merely requires mental acuity and doesn’t over extent my built-in limitations (I love open world sandbox games tho)

[@AlwaysSomeone]

A great subversion of the “genius = good at chess” is from Legend of the Galactic Heroes One of the main characters, who is a strategic genius, is pretty mediocre at chess because he can’t “cheat” like he can in real warfare. Because it turns out a field of flat terrain with equal sized armies that behave in specific ways is not a good representation of a battle. It’s just a game.

[@WulfyGames]

Hey Karl, a KZbinr actually did a speed run of breath of the wild while blindfolded

[@Voc_spooksauce]

Seriously? That's....really insane, and like any speedrun pointless but that is impressive !

[@jordanekl5383]

@@Voc_spooksauce chess attracts intelligent people. Speedrunning attracts athletic people. True, spedrunning is as useless as any other activity, like chess, acting, labour work, gardening, cooking, ultimately everything is useless when you boil it down. But what matters is that it requires a ton of skill and devotion, you have to be able to train like an athlete to be a speedrunner. Just like you gotta be able to learn like an intelligent person to play chess.

[@roundcube2948]

Oh yeah, there are actually a LOT of games that people speed ran blindfolded. Look up SmallAnt if you'd like to see Mario Odyssey blindfolded.

[@alihaggis78]

Mind chess seems really hard unless you've spent a significant amount of time playing chess. In my youth I played chess competitively and got quite good. Not great but I could hold my own. I'd struggle now but then i could easily play mind chess. As part of the game you have to imagine how things will play out several moves ahead. To do that you need to be able to see the board in your head and keep track of every thing. It's a skill you develop. It looks very impressive but I wager most serious players could do it.

[@redstoneactive6589]

Not quite, as a decently rated player with aphantasia, it's just a helpful tool. It Is sad that I can never play mind chess though

[@pathkeepers]

My fellow magic the gathering players know how one dimensional chess seems after playing a 3 hour EDH game.

[@DarthBoolean]

Should switch to playing Red.

[@DKQuagmire]

last year i watched an anime called "no game no life" where a brother and sister are brought to a world were everything revolves around games. and in 2 episodes they play chess, which seems normal at first, with the pieces moving like wizards chess in harry potter, until the opponent starts ordering multiple pieces to move at once in their turn, and our protagonists are like, thats against the rules isn't it. but no, the opponent is pulling a full seto kaiba on them and screwing the rules!

[@michealthekaminoshinagami54]

Always hated the intelligent=good at chess. After you get good enough, it's just having had studied more games and strategies than your opponent.

[@jordanekl5383]

ether way, you can learn chess without knowing anything about any other subject. It draws in intelectual people, but the game itself is just like any other game. I mean hell, its played on the same board as Checkers. lol! Just play it enough times and you can master it. Doest require any other skills whatsoever.

[@pagenotfound7248]

Draughts superiority

[@Nmc01236]

No offense, but you're objectively wrong. Even at the very highest level of chess, people still regularly outplay each other, and not just because of better preparation. Sure, prep is important, especially at higher level, but the reason that Magnus Carlsen is so far above almost everyone else has very little to do with preparation and much more to do with him simply being better at the game than many of his counterparts. I definitely agree that good at chess does not equal intelligent, but it's far more than just "studying more games" than your opponent.

[@jordanekl5383]

@@Nmc01236 that doesn't change a thing. You can still aquire those skills if chess is the only thing you know. If you have never gotten any education at all. You can still learn and master chess with no external information.

[@kman9884]

@@Nmc01236 They outplay each other usually based on a single inaccuracy or blunder, because you must calculate the best move for yourself and your opponent, doing so by drawing on your memories of previous games and positions through thousands of hours of study- study that includes your opponent’s games. Magnus is the best because of how naturally intelligent he is, and how much he has studied. He has thousands of games and positions committed to memory. The games of Fisher or Morphy back before chess became a game where memorization of games, positions, and every tactic was codified and able to be studied by every chess player were more akin to being simply better than your opponent. Now, it’s trying to be as close to a computer as you can, with deliberate calculations of moves based on memorized positions and foreseeable exchanges to gain a 1 piece advantage

[@sintanan469]

I think a neat evolution for Chess would be a variant where both players play simultaneously since on grandmaster level of play white wins about 66% more often. Each player writes down or inputs their move, and both moves are played at once. Pieces can pass one another. Pieces can block one another. If two pieces step into the same square the higher valued piece takes the loser.

[@danielled8665]

66% more, or 66% of the time?

[@sintanan469]

@@danielled8665 I would have to find the report, but this is secondhand info from a friend of mine who is a huge Chess nut all through school years and plays in tournaments today. I think it has something to do with 60% of games are draws and those that aren't white wins 10% more often than black? I think it was a NY Times or something.

[@Luuklin]

@@sintanan469 The Lichess database says white wins 49% and black wins 46% of the time, but among players with at least the master title white wins 33% and black wins 24%.

[@sintanan469]

@@Luuklin Thank you. I honestly forgot I was going to sit down and look this up after a 13 hour work shift.

[@thelunatick1993]

GM Hikaru has done this on appearances KZbin channel coffee chess. Speed chess matches where he has 1 minute to the others 5. A bystander calls out the opponents piece While hikaru is facing away from the board. Btw. Hikaru has some of the best yt thumbnails out there.

[@michaelryan3818]

Wasn't Magic the Gathering named the most complicated game? Due to the 1000s of unique card abilities meaning a near infinite amount of playable combinations.

[@Maxusxavier]

It is the most complex game because it's turring complete but so is minecraft

[@joestrummer4106]

And this is why I don't let my boyfriend teach me magic the gathering

[@johnisntfunctioning1124]

RIP the green screen for a blue screen

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

I once beat the a.i. in 5D chess with multiverse time travel. I'm serious. It took 8 timelines working in tandem, but I did it.

[@Voc_spooksauce]

I agree that it's really uncriative how people keep using it to show a character is smart...but if you want to give that impression then show them do a really impressive move instead of just moving pieces like any player would

[@---l---]

That comic looks amazing. Good on ya helping out Hazaah!

[@grinreaperoftrolls7528]

I just love the idea of chess players shouting out moves like Yugioh players with no context

[@roundcube2948]

Maaaaaan, for some reason I now want a Street Fighter chess game with the characters taking on the roles of set pieces letting you pick a set that suits you. But the big change would be that instead of automatically taking a piece it turns into a 1v1 and winner takes the piece.

[@NotWellKnown]

That's basically the Chess Combat mini game in Mortal Kombat: Deception. That game had a few really neat mini games, but Chess Kombat was my favorite

[@DuckForPope]

I used to play mind chess with a guy while I studied in college. I could remember the position of the pieces quite easily but I have zero real experience with strategy, so I lost every single time 😂 sometimes our games would last days and we would just call moves out to each other as we passed in the corridors

[@callmecharlie0498]

Autitistic behaviour

[@MichaelP833]

the trope about being smart means playing chess is one thing. what bugs me is using a rubix cube for it. i went from struggling through one layer to being able to solve it (with some notes) in a single day between calls at work. even better, i once taught someone how to solve it over a meal, without any notes, without a cube!! happened to see them again a few weeks later, and they just asked me to remind them of one of the sequences. they were (as far as i know still are) a math teacher, and did actually seem very smart

[@ryansizemore5064]

I have never solved a rubik's cube but technically few have. I had a Dollar Tree one at work that had stickers instead of colors. Trying to solve where the squares reorient to align with all the stickers or cubes facing the same direction as they started in.

[@joelatkinson4967]

Most accurate representation of anyone able to play chess is Ron Weasley, he’s an average student at best but his hobby is wizard chess, he’s never amazing at it but he was good enough at 11 to beat a mystical trial designed to stop evil people from reaching immortality. I’m pretty sure in lore it’s one of the greatest chess games ever played, yet Ron even after this remains just an average student who excess in some classes but barely passes others.

[@WMD23cpa]

Sorry to hear your channel is struggling. I'm taking it upon myself to rewatch all your stuff. Hope that helps in some small way.

[@gcasey662]

This reminded me of the twitch streamer Anna Chess, who competed for Hungary as a chess Olympian but is so woeful at video games her boyfriend (call me kevin) needs to help her to play most video games like The Sims. Btw both very wholesome creators big recommend.

[@ErrorhIL]

chess is just tik tak toe but with extra steps

[@eugeneomalley6303]

Is my opinion chess isn't complicated to play, but thinking ahead fully multiple moves is.

[@gggiiillllllyyy]

Choxing is a thing, chess and boxing. Having to manage adrenaline, your next move and fighting all at the same time is really impressive.

[@christiandidonna8808]

Like that one really complicated 4d chess with dimensional travel

[@simonweinandt2715]

I used to play mind chess with a third person to move and check pieces on a board but could only win by relying the other player doesn't remember my placement

[@pagenotfound7248]

Draughts superiority.

[@LBCuracao]

My new FactFiend metal shirt just arrived as I was watching this video!

[@jamescisabell]

Love the channel gang. Great video agaun.

[@thekid3947]

I remember in the Runaways comics from marvel there was this immortal little girl who claimed to have beaten all the ninja gaiden games six times. I’ve never been so intellectually threatened

[@morindilhrivanar]

as a lowely starcraft II master player who had the great fortune to work on an esports team as a commentator/streamer and thus had the opportunity to play versus pro SC2 players for fun i can atest to the inhuman reactions, multitasking abilities, mechanical skills and overall strategic prowess of really good starcraft players ^^

[@SiriusMined]

The confined chessboard actually makes it harder.

[@Parker8752]

One of the main things about Chess is that it's purely mental. Regardless of physical disability, if you can communicate then you can play chess. You can play it by email if you really want, and can even set up a board in notepad to keep track of it. Starcraft Brood War and Starcraft 2 are much more complex strategy games, but require a great deal of physical skill in addition to mental skill to play well. Differences in physical skill alone will typically decide most games below Diamond league in Starcraft 2. That's why I love watching Starcraft 2 esports, but I've pretty much given up on the multiplayer scene for myself. There aren't many video games I'd compare with Chess. The only one that comes to mind is Frozen Synapse: a simultaneous turn based tactics game that can be played by email, and where you can set the game to only show enemy units that your own units have line of sight of. All interactions are deterministic, so if you know where the opponents units are, you can work out exactly how a turn will go depending on what the opponent chooses to do.

[@markr2616]

Mind chess on horseback...? CARDGAMES ON MOTORCYCLES 🏍 !

[@Prydonus]

Whatever you have on the wall in the corner of the screen had me rubbing my screen thinking it was dirty until I realized it wasn't physically on my screen. Had a good laugh at that.

[@tsandman]

Chess Boxing! Where you can loose either be Checkmate or by K-O!

[@tybronx2446]

I NEED TO KNOW if you did the playing BotW while blinded video. I'd watch the hell out of that!

[@rocket-sprocket4616]

I know it was an off hand comment but now I want to see another Karl and Lucas plays Zelda blindfolded, id pay what money I could to see it! on they're respective channels. loved your playthrough of BOTW, I spent most of the time pissing myself, as i did through your Mobius video the other day :3

[@CursedSwallow]

My thing about chess not being the most difficult game, is the timer, like bro... you need a timer cause you take too long otherwise to work out what you are going to do with one of 16 pieces

[@danielcampbell6815]

The physical bit, about chess was tournament play. It would take all day and a large amount of mental fortune. Some people would pass out based on nutrient needs. If i remember correctly.

[@mydknightcloud]

People who describe chess as the ultimate war game have never played warhammer 40k...

[@joshuarocha4796]

I know I liked it the video 8 minutes after the video being released but y'all make good videos

[@lucassevey5989]

That honestly sounds like an amazing set up for a life long enemies kind of story just every time they fight one just yells out a chess move after a fight scene during the escape or the protagonist finds a paper with a move written on it

[@shadogiant]

Chess is held up because no dexterity is required. Only the intellect is challenged. So nobody is left out because their body fails them.

[@silentfate]

As a dude who played tcg as a kid, you agree on uncertainties and try to create a trust with the other guy. No one plays with a liar and cheater willingly

[@nahuel3433]

Go/Baduk should start being the smart person's game. That game is amazing.

[@marlaott3548]

Being able to play chess is very easy, I learned it when I was 4, you could teach it to someone in like half an hour. Of course actually becoming good at it and foreseeing your opponents move is a lot harder but that’s the case with almost everything (I.e. Tennis, Poker, Soccer…) But yeah knowing how to play chess does not equal intellect

[@myjrbs]

Karl's Jacket 😍😍😍

[@saulgallagher5668]

A sponsor that Karl actually accepts the offer from... that's an actual endorsement, not just an "I was paid to shill Raid to you".

[@_Lionsin]

Deep Blue, the computer Kasparov played, calculated 100 million moves a second.

[@richardlandrum1966]

I was 3rd seat on my high school chess team.....1st and 2nd seat played without pieces OFTEN and never argued about positions. Always blew my mind

[@Vulcanfaux]

could have used games like advanced wars as well, it's turn based, you can move every unit you have a turn, and every unit has different interactions with other units. and positioning is key. you want your ranged units close enough to hit enemy tanks, but fat enough to not get rushed down by those same tanks. along with the enemy artillery foot soldiers, helicopters, bombers, naval units, and so on. and then you have to decide what units to make each turn depending on your funds and even more so, if you play with fog of war, anticipate what your opponent might make, and what you think they will think you will make, so you can counter the counter they made to counter your counter.

[@niceatpingpong]

mighty morbin powerranger morbius

[@TricksterJackal]

I want the smart character to be introduced playing dwarf fortess

[@adamlangdon5136]

Im kinda sad they didnt say anything about 5d chess with multiverse time travel when they went off on the different flex’s of chess it seams like the sort of thing that would be right up there ally

[@roberthodges1045]

For anyone who wants to see this done in real time, look up kurt hugoschneider vs try guys.

[@gmorgan7603]

KZbin sure is throwing in ads to your videos.

[@ManualPixarPresents]

I once was able to play some mortal kombat games without looking at the screen. I knew the sounds that each move made and could determine my position, direction, and spacing accordingly. It became more of a party trick then a flex as I wasn’t great at the games to begin with lol.

[@Kafj302]

imagine if magneto and professor xavier had a whole game going the whole series, and the on the professor's tombstone would be the final move and it would be check mate

[@RAFMnBgaming]

Mind Chess is impressive and all but I've yet to meet anyone who can beat me in a game of Mind Twister.

[@priyadarshananand2894]

thats cool to know about the comic

[@flamingbird0]

I read the thumbnail as cheese masters

[@LordBriareos]

Make Starcraft the new Hollywood smart guy trope.

[@agentwisconsin3184]

In dragon age inquisition if you have Solas and iron bull in your teem there is a chance to listen to them play a game of mental chess

[@idiotgaming6376]

I don't know how but nearly half the people in my biotechnology class don't know how to play chess like you can edit a cells DNA but can't use a rook

[@Ellohir]

Cool video! I think chess is thought of as a mind game with no physical skills whatsoever, so maybe the comparison with Smash and Starcraft is not exactly right. Maybe some card games like Magic the Gathering or Hearthstone would be better.

[@doctorleak5312]

I wouldn't like to play mind chess against professor X no wonder Magneto wears the helmet.

[@theblindone2237]

Huh, my uncle and i did battleship just for the fun of it. Wasn‘t even realizing on what we were doing till now, he won btw.

[@okyeahbutwhythoe1804]

I am top 7% worldwide at chess and I can actually do this relatively well

[@tylergrindstaff509]

A KZbinr and Streamer Otzdarva was the first in the world to beat Dark Souls 2 including dlc without taking damage. So far its the most gruling task besides maybe Elden Ring entire game no damage.

[@jessebott1879]

This video made me realize that chess is a kids game.

[@kathrynblodgett1969]

Professor X and Magneto played physical "mundane" chess Because it's was "normal".

[@The_Royal_Lobster]

Does anyone know if the shirts have been shipped yet?? I’m worried that mine won’t get here before I move 😭.

[@TheNeonSpacetime]

I beat 3 lv. 9 cpus in smash bros ultimate a couple days ago

[@richmanifesto1090]

I wanna see a chess movie but it's about high level fighting game players

[@Kafj302]

now imagine someone doing mind 5d chess. with all the time travel and multiple board BS.

[@ryank2812]

What is that thing in the top left hand corner of the video, I keep thinking it's a smug on my phone and when I go to wipe it clean it doesn't go away to realise its in the background of the video itself on the wall

[@cubangod2726]

chess was like sliced bread for people who had no entertainment i dont find it surprising that people mastered the funniest form of game they had

[@caseycarson9418]

The various ways that chess can be played like mail I'm chess where the two players have a chess board at home and mail each other their moves. Making the game months long!

[@alexfranz817]

It only took 20 years for an American to win the World Starcraft tournament

[@applehack97]

one deconstruction of the "chess master = smart", watch Hikaru Nakamura's streams on Twitch. With enough time you'll realize that, outside of chess, the guy is really not that bright. He's a cool dude tho, but it's really funny how he's a beast at the game and then when he reacts to memes he can't understand the most basic of jokes

[@miguelcortez9125]

Feels illegal to be this early

[@itayvolk]

There's at most 2.6 ten to the 35th power (assuming any piece can be at any place on the board)

[@aldenstromberg7273]

Lvl 9 cpu is smash is absolutely cracked and also complete garbage at the same time like I've never seen it miss a single tech in my years of playing but I can also 5 stock them (in a 5 stock match) every once in a while

[@MF_RUNE]

Level 9 Kazuya cpu could win majors

[@coledibiase5971]

Great video Karl. So, about that fucking Zrex book? Care to explain?

[@zoidsfan12]

You'd genuinely be surprised at how many people can't play chess. My uncle and I are the only people in my family that can play chess. We'll sometimes teach other family members how to play but usually they don't want to play after showing them the basic movement of pieces. Heck when we played during a cruise on a chess board that just happened to be in the lounge area we started having a crowd gather. They'd be asking who was winning etc. At least in America we got a lot of people that have no idea how to play chess. Heck when I was telling a story from when I was in a chess club I realized that not a single person of the 40 people that work at my job knew how to play chess. Americans are just dumb honestly. It's why that sort of thing is used to portray smart people in films because most Americans view it as this nebulous game that requires high IQ to play. Not the very simple game with only 6 unique units it is. Legit about the only complex thing is the fact pawns can move either one or 2 squares at the start. Bishops and Rooks are two half's of the same coin diagonal movement and straight line movement, queen is a combination of the 2, a knight is a T move, a pawn is one direction, and the king is omnidirectional. It's legit as basic of movement as you can get compared to the complexity of modern games. But that's the other issue, people nowadays view people that are good at games as achieving something great. Got a lot of very low skilled people that don't apply themselves past the effort it takes to turn on Netflix. This is the same reason we have bog standard excuses for film nowadays because these people consume them sheerly for entertainment and don't even think about the internal logic of what they just watched.

[@wimscheers6523]

It's ... so blue?

[@KiomonDuck]

I'm mostly stupid but petty good at Chess. Sadly nobody to play in the crap town I live in.

[@Voc_spooksauce]

You can always play it online :)

[@KiomonDuck]

@@Voc_spooksauce it's not the same as playing it irl. Being able to see and talk to the person your playing is as much a part of chess as moving the pieces and having a counter to other people's plays. I've played online after being in the chess club and playing the old people in the town I went to school in and it's like playing half the game for me.

[@Voc_spooksauce]

@@KiomonDuck Oh i agree, it is way more interesting to play it with people

[@egads3696]

There are more possible games of chess than atoms in the odservable universe.

[@michaelw1669]

Want to play mind chess? Ha I beat you. Want to play again? Ha I beat you again! Want to play again? No you beat me how you cheated I am taking my mind chess board and going home.

[@jyaafi8158]

How about 5d chess?

[@christiandidonna8808]

Yeah I love chess

[@DemoBytom]

Wait is that really that uncomon in chess world? I mean, I once saw 2 studens playing mind chess in a city buss, when I was at University. They just sat between people and called moves one after another.

[@Nmc01236]

In the chess world, no, it's not that uncommon to be able to play blindfolded. I'd wager that most titled players could do it, and probably some strong amateur players as well.

[@Zenthex]

apparently chess grandmasters have the stigma of because they're good at chess that means they're going to be good at everything they do. turns out chess skills are generally non-transferable.