Derren Brown vs 9 Chess Players

[@Roflmeowz]

"I've been familiarizing myself with your games, whats your name?"

[@ayylmao3480]

xD

[@davidpham4709]

Dr Seuss status confirmed

[@brianwurzburg1318]

Roflmeowz hahahaha I didn't even notice that

[@MelodyLiuJade]

Roflmeowz lol I noticed that

[@plasticbudgie]

well i believe he knew the name. it's merely good tv presenting, as it's better to hear a person introduce them selves, rather than derren do it for them.

[@dextermanus]

'I've studied you all for a year. What's your name?' Haha this is too funny, and a wonderful illusion :)

[@ROCdevelopments]

+Nick Dijkstra I thought about that too.

[@bullsquid42]

+Nick Dijkstra Yup, that was brilliant xD

[@JansenBaja]

Right! didn't catch that till you mentioned it

[@c0ven0323]

+Nick Dijkstra He never said he studied them...

[@user-iz2oj8dd6j]

I think it's just so ingrained in his system to say "What's your name?" when he speaks to someone in the audience that he just does it automatically

[@RandomTask]

he says his chess is 'shit' yet genuinely beats the president of the chess society. Bet that guy feels like shit having learned that!

[@matthewbolan8154]

Im president of a fairly large chess society. My rating is 1200. You dont need to be good to rule the good.

[@RandomTask]

Being a non-chess player myself, I have no idea what that rating means. I suspect Derren was downplaying his abilities for effect.

[@matthewbolan8154]

cartti1000 it means 4 weeks of hard study will make you better than me.

[@matthewbolan8154]

+cartti1000 Oh yeah. Derren probably plays really well actually.

[@mariusperiwinkle6587]

+Matthew Bolan I kind of suspect that the cheated somehow with the one "genuine" game. If he had lost the one game, the whole production would have to be scrapped, which probably would be too risky financially, as they would have to start from scratch and find 9 new very skilled chess players. Or he had a backup plan in case he lost. Some sort of twist, that would remove the focus on too some other aspect. I think he must have had an alternative endgame.

[@torush1xryke]

Man, off by a trillion.

[@ecxstasy347]

Man i’m dead xd

[@realname631]

Took me a while

[@Mrsilvercoo]

@@realname631 how?

[@forestsunset9617]

lol

[@ScottishPEACEguy]

Lol

[@ChadeGB]

And here's me not able to remember what i had for lunch yesterday.

[@kimono7350]

+Mayyanatai what colour is the sky in your world, m8?

[@conceptual0theorist]

Kimono haha i was trolling ;)

[@VosovioYTC]

+Kimono why? The sky's not florescent yellow in yours?

[@po2randall]

he is telling a lie when he said he couldn't remember how he got the number because he is the leader of the Illuminati *plays x files music*

[@PaladinswordSaurfang]

Well yesterday is 24 hours ago, not 20 seconds ago.

[@Frank_Nemo]

How the number prediction is done is shown at 6:18. It was a misdirection followed with the paper from the pocket being swapped for another, written after, in Derren's right hand. The later 'prediction' is then displayed with the original being hidden behind it. It also explains why the original prediction had the same first digit error as his whiteboard, he just remembered that wrong and it ended up on both. That swap took some serious skill.

[@AlexRoseGames]

the reason the first digit is "wrong" is because it was always 6, the guy's hand is holding that end of the paper the whole time and he can't swap it out. He sticks the rest of the paper onto that first sheet. So the 6 was always going to be wrong unless he just happened to get lucky. he lets the guy hold out the 6 which he knew would be a 6 because he already pre decided it would be a 6, then does a swap on the entire rest of the sheet

[@DerMichael]

@@AlexRoseGames Only that you can see the 5 at 6:16, not the 6...

[@DerMichael]

At 6:18 the numbers are already correct. You can see 7 _ 611 and the 5 at the end flashes before that already, too. The swap has to happen sooner or during a cut.

[@LucaBunny.]

Ooh interesting take

[@curtiswatson4192]

@@AlexRoseGames I agree but i also think there's a clever psychological trick in getting the first number "wrong". by getting it wrong, the audience is more inclined to belive the authenticity that it was some amazing mind reading trick from Derren. If it was all completely correct, the general public would be likely to assume its too far fetched, but if one aspect is wrong they will think, "that part was wrong, so it can't be a trick, as a trick would result in perfection". It happens often in Derren's shows I've noticed, there's always one minor thing that "goes wrong" and lends authenticity to the illusion.

[@benoid4474]

4:27 what an awkward giggle xD

[@axarabiotis]

+XxSoreThumbGamesxX xD i was about to comment it

[@Chh897]

hahaha

[@KiryuNashi]

he will get his ass whipped by his asian parents "WHY YU NOT WIN?!?!?"

[@ericlee8638]

Ser Davos racist

[@ThePat1221]

You lack appreciation for the finer points of bad behaviour...

[@20cnVision]

"Hey, I invited all of you just to prove that I can rek you easy in chess" What a gentleman.

[@mapledoctor3915]

1v1 me m8

[@ThePat1221]

9v1 me m9

[@tckchannel4435]

So the results were: Table 1: Graham Lee (Fide Master) drew Table 5: Desmond Tan (Former England Jr), Table 2: John Emms (Grandmaster) lost to Table 6: Jonathan Lewitt (Grandmaster), Table 3: Julian Hodson (Grandmaster ) won Table 7: Chris Ward (Grandmaster), Table 4: Paul Littlewood (International Master) won Table 8: Nathan Alfred (Fide Master), Table 9: Robert Chan (President of Chess Society) lost to Derren Brown.

[@kkarx]

The president should have handed in his notice for losing to an amateur or Derren did not have to do any tricks and might just play them all.

[@mirjamheijn5214]

He was smart enough to put the grandmasters against each other, so that he would at least get 1 grandmaster win.

[@gezzarandom]

@@mirjamheijn5214 Or two stalemates lol.

[@mirjamheijn5214]

@@gezzarandom at grandmaster level, two stalemates is statistically unlikely. And to be honest, 4 stalemates against grandmasters wouldn't look that bad.

[@Ibegood]

@@mirjamheijn5214 I'm really late here, but stalemates are actually far more common at higher ELO's. Look up the TCEC Championship where they have computers with 3000+ ELO's play if you don't believe me.

[@redpred3502]

I struggle to believe none of these players realised what was happening, especially when they're playing different colours with the other boards obscured from vision. They also don't seem surprised that Derren would go all the way around the circle before making his move on the opening turn. On top of the fact that this is an extremely well known chess trick for simultaneous games.

[@ToxicatedLum]

It's definitely believable in a tv setting, an odd environment and it's also why he has the number at the end.. no matter what they believe at the start it will be influenced by the number at the end.

[@Shiba9870]

ToxicatedLum maybe this is because its about 14 years old

[@aaddiis45021]

Ya it's really well known I mean I found it myself (without knowing it's a common trick). And defeated fritz at max level.

[@tombstoneharrystudios584]

The instant I saw this on the original TV show, I thought "He's doing the old Mirror Chess trick!" I was a member of my chess club at school and a mediocre one at that, but the Chess Club president was also the Mathematics Teacher and had shown us that technique as part of an end-of-term puzzle/trick. However, the pressure of being filmed, alongside with a whole load of other factors, might have meant that this slipped their minds. Or, they sort of guessed he was doing that trick, but went along with it for entertainment purposes. By the time Derren did the show he was already quite well known and not even chess grandmasters are immune to being starstruck!

[@Diffusion8]

Exactly! They were literally blinded by the bright lights of TV and DB!

[@TheGravityTurtles]

That one guy was like “I’ve been grand champion three times of course i won”

[@9k49]

That guy (Julian Hodgson) is now 222nd in the world for chess (7th in England)

[@ejstephens7918]

I mean he did beat a legitimately good opponent, just not the one he thought he did lol

[@BombDonald]

I feel like a GM would be quite skeptical after 1. e4 and their opponent simply walks away instead of playing a simple opening move.

[@albertjurcisin8944]

Especially since according to the chess rules you cannot leave the table during your own turn.

[@andrewsparkes8829]

@@albertjurcisin8944 He didn't leave any table until the turn was over, though.

[@A11sopp]

@@albertjurcisin8944 You can leave the table whenever you want during chess matches. Strong players often wander around tournament halls and watch over games between moves.

[@BaldMancTwat]

No, why would they be sceptical? It's a TV show where he plays 9 chess players at once. Of course he's gonna leave the table.

[@albertjurcisin8944]

@@A11sopp You are correct. I was misled by Peter Svidler´s story. Once he wasn´t able to leave the table for a longer period of time because of the fast moving opponent. Therefore Peter made the move, covered his eyes and left the table so that he wouldn´ t see the opponent´s immediate response.

[@WD_Unieles]

Next stage: Derren Brown (with a nuclear weapon) vs United Nation

[@nathanpalmer2581]

sanction him with their army, wait a minute they don't have an army then STFUP

[@riotpoliceTRELL]

Derren brown doesn't need a bomb to be a weapon lol

[@manictiger]

Joke's on you. They're actually nanite bombs and now there's a ring world around the sun that can comfortably house 2 trillion people, wildlife, oceans, etc. You thought I was going to destroy everything, but I deceived you and now there's nothing to fight over. There's more wealth than anyone could ever need in this lifetime! Checkmate!

[@tyleremery7088]

"Congrats, you just played -yourself- that guy over there."

[@geniegen523]

The guy he played genuinely called him on par atleast with a grandmaster...

[@saamspam6127]

Genie Gen Given his memory, it wouldn’t surprise me if the dude is rated 1800 without any serious practice. I wouldn’t put him above that though

[@NetAndyCz]

He is good chess player no magic trick to that. And he has excellent memory and practices that as well. It is no magic, it is just skill.

[@SJNaka101]

That's because he just watched the guy win against several grandmasters and also lost to him. So, in that moment, it definitely will feel like he's grandmaster level. But, if he analyzed the game later, I'm sure that he would find his opponent wasn't nearly as accurate as a grandmaster.

[@hutchyy6836]

6 fth 1800 without practice? have you ever played the game lol

[@pruke8720]

@Mikkel Grabinski he said his chess was shit lol chill

[@ShadowViking47]

2:45 this dude 100% knew as soon as he just walked away without playing. No player would ever do that in a simul

[@AlbieW7]

these players were some of the most polite and generally pleasant people I’ve seen

[@alexanderturner6670]

There are two types of English people. The rude ones and the polite ones

[@jaylenlenear3944]

Hodgson was a bit arrogant

[@noodlebomber]

I agree

[@Gemini535]

I spent a year studying you all for this, by the way whats your name again? lol

[@nicbentulan]

oh maybe it's plausible that derren brown didn't know them by face? i knew a guy in my alma mater's chess team or something, and he didn't know wesley so by face (i'm filipino). (of course derren brown just put them all against each other, so whatever. lol.)

[@ReligionAndMaterialismDebunked]

@@nicbentulan I'm in the Philippines, but I'm from America. But I'm not Filipino.

[@nicbentulan]

@@ReligionAndMaterialismDebunked i'm not in the philippines, but i'm filipino XD

[@manarhany8715]

"as for how I predicted the numbers... I don't remember good night" this guy is a legit legend what a smart-ass

[@samstevens6544]

This is really one of my very favourite Derren routines and I adore the showmanship. "Please bear in mind, my chess is shit." "Uh, good evening"

[@NeaEmrys]

Except his chess isn't shit. XD He's just lying his ass off.

[@duanedibbley258]

Nea Emrys he’s telling the truth, his method isn’t what you think it is, Derren is a magician

[@gezzarandom]

I think the grandmasters felt a lot better when they found out they were really playing postal chess with each other 😂

[@wolt3029]

not number 9 :(

[@julianhodgson1961]

Yep - we all had a pretty good idea of exactly what was going on - Derren was miked up - I’m not sure he even knew how the pieces moved - I knew within a couple of moves I was actually playing a friend of mine GM Chris Ward. I remember thinking at the time what an absolute fraud this all was so I assume that all of DBs stuff is equally fraudulent. I only found out a year or so later after the program aired how he won the ninth game. There was an IM in a far off room messaging him the moves. The IM was also using the top computer engine of the time to make sure he didn’t blunder. I know the name of the IM but obviously it’s not fair on him to reveal who it was. And finally I would agree that I did come off as a bit arrogant.

[@SathvickSatish]

@@julianhodgson1961oh damn, I knew something was off when he won against Robert. The guy mentioned that Derren played like a GM which was very surprising considering how Derren said that his chess was crap. So either Derren was lying about his chess skills or he used some external help. Unfortunately, i guess it was the latter.

[@chessmanwriter12]

@@julianhodgson1961 That's so cool to hear you talk about what happened. I'm an NM so I've been curious about this for years. That's disappointing winning the 9th game was as simple as him being mic'd up like that. It sounds like he may have even needed to be mic'd up to remember the moves between the boards lol. The last part I wonder is how he did the trick with the numbers. Sleight of hand is definitely possible but seems difficult since it was from his inner coat pocket.

[@Cream147player]

Knew there was something fishy about having a simple chess society president in amongst all these masters and grandmasters

[@stephify]

hes not just a simple chess society president, hes still 2200 rating

[@oms3752]

Cream147player and

[@declanesquire]

how the F*** did he beat someone with 2200 rating, he mustve used a computer

[@joshuaslattery2416]

probably mimicked the strongest player till the game was different.

[@mizofan]

and then?

[@skycanth1969]

Robert must feel really good knowing that he lost to a player who 'sucks' at chess.

[@iamamazing1885]

Yeah you would have thought if Derren was actually terrible he would still lose to the weakest of those people

[@oneeyedsleep4107]

iamamazing ikr

[@brdyyt6702]

Yes, I would suggest that Darren is actually a very good chess player

[@boliussa]

@@iamamazing1885 DUDE he cheated against all of them.

[@boliussa]

@@brdyyt6702 Do you not know what a magician is. You are so gullible it's ridiculous

[@rami_ungar_writer]

Those are some incredible feats of memory right there.

[@mewithmychick6960]

Why?

[@amanofculture4892]

@@mewithmychick6960 As long as you can remember the last 8 moves and not goof up, it's really easy. His sheer ability to fuck with people is out of this world, though.

[@LaughingInfidel]

He's a good player for real, so since he understands the moves, they'd be easier to remember than you might think.

[@shawnlong4039]

This is why a true Simul (Simultaneous Exhibition) has 1 expert chess player playing White against everyone else with Black, so that you can't mirror moves like this (Seems like these GM's should have objected). Usually, White will make a move and go on to the next player and each Black player will wait for them to come back around so that the White player can see their opponent actually making the next move. Also, since it is indeed a challenge to play so many games at once, having the same color helps avoid confusion. Thus we end up with a better chess simul exhibition all around. This was still very clever and interesting. I don't know how he did the numbers. I think he might have switched out the papers by slight of hand at the end there. He tells the player whom had received the envelope before play commenced to now open the envelope. Notice that he starts touching the envelope at the same time as him and helping him. I think he switched it with a new one where he wrote down the correct number of remaining pieces and hid the other. (The one error, wrong number of remaining pieces, was done on purpose to add realism).

[@AlexRoseGames]

the remaining number wasn't done on purpose to add realism, it was done because that's where he made the swap at 6:17 . the guy's hand was always clasping on the left hand, he tells him "you just take that there" and lets him hold the 6. the 6 was always a 6, and that's why he "incorrectly predicts it", he literally just incorrectly predicted that one. the rest of the numbers he then affixes to the first sheet to make one long sheet that he is controlling and all the folds make it unclear where it was stuck on. every number other than the 6 he pushes, the 6 is the only one that was always in the envelope I don't know how he beat the other chess guy though without an earpiece. maybe something to do with the screens, or the cameraman somehow giving signals or something with another master off screen playing that game

[@LickNand]

One of my favorite segments!

[@corey613io]

Wait what!? You're not gonna tell us how you got the numbers????

[@alicjagryzbowski964]

+corey yoo Magic *snort snort*

[@ccccoooooollll]

+corey yoo its fake dude, those grand masters arent so stupid and they should know at the first moves that he is mirrowing, no good chess player let the opponent move and then go away without moving, espically if it is the opening and you can actually respond very fast

[@RunnyMoney6]

How is it faked? Anyone could literally do this. He was mirroring the games so one of the had to lose and one had to win....

[@ccccoooooollll]

WristyTheMod its fake because the grandmasters are fucking actors, they are like "oooh how the fuck did he beat us? he is soooo goood" its just everything fucking acted and the thing with the paper is pure fake, for real there is no other way to explain how he got the numbers, i am professional chess player if you want to know it you can trust me

[@RunnyMoney6]

ccccoooooollll I think the only thing faked is the numbers but the logic in the chess playing was flawless. I don't care if you think you're a professional chess player, this video works out legit.

[@billmotley]

I would have been well stunned if he had only demonstrated how it is hypothetically possible to pull off playing 8 masters against each other, with the difficulty being the need to remember each corresponding move. Getting it done floors me. Although the polished finish was astonishing, in order to show the number of all of the opponent's remaining pieces (well, almost all), he likely flipped to working his stage "magic" to accomplish that.

[@johnmcgurk1690]

I took part in a rehearsal of this in Warren Street in London in late 2003. I can tell you that in our rehearsal the exact same thing happened minus a couple of production issues with the crew. The main difference is that the number on the envelope was spot on, 9/9, in my case, and not 8/9 like here. Still figuring it out... As for the choice of players, I personally play a bit (I was contacted through a chess union) so I was avoided as the 9th player. My friend on the other hand introduced herself with " Nice to meet you, although I haven't played chess since I was about 3!" He had his 9th player identified right there

[@arandombard1197]

He swapped the letter at some point. It's quite straight forward when you think about it because there is no other physical way such a thing could be done. He even admitted he didn't play the game himself so it was impossible to influence the results (not that it would be particularly doable anyway.

[@ianwebb6182]

They were probably all playing against a computer which forced endings that had the right number of pieces. Not an exact science but close enough to amaze people. It also needed to force equal number of wins/loses/draws to give the impression that he was playing the players against each other - which wasn't actually happening.

[@jonfromtheuk467]

@@arandombard1197 Agreed - he simply switched the envelopes - he is a master pickpocket

[@Jack-qp9ky]

“I genuinely cant remember” my arse

[@kristofferlinden6306]

Read a book by dominic o'brien

[@dabeveryday9991]

no shit sherlock, have you ever thought about becoming a human lie detector? it would suit you perfectly

[@Xyponx]

Gotta keep some secrets my guy, it'd be boring if we always knew how it worked ;)

[@dogsgottaloveem383]

LOL, hes making them play eachother basically, that is wonderful

[@RodZilla11]

Amaya K That explanation does not adequately relay HOW he remembered each MOVE, given the complexity of world class chess strategy. There is no way, that a Grand Master followed a specific course that a novice would be able to navigate since two players at different tables would be responding differently.

[@damianstarr1696]

you remember the position the piece lands on... not too hard is it? Derran isn't doing any of the strategic thinking apart from in game 9

[@Devilofdoom]

David Rodgers I have no idea what you're on about. The complexity of the games is irrelevant. He only has to remember the one move from each table.

[@christopherknight893]

David Rodgers not sure if you’re still interested... BUT you should look up “Scam School The most epic chess scam of all time” if you don’t believe that is how he won a bunch of games

[@gamerdio2503]

There have been Grandmasters who played multiple games at once

[@AwkwardTurtle311]

I was told a story by a navy sailer who said a woman interrupted 2 chess masters on the ship asking to play, the old masters didn’t want to stop their game to teach/beat a beginner. So she challenged them both and bet that she could at least win 1 game. She ended up winning 1 game by copying 1 of her opponents responses and playing it against the other master. I’m happy to now understand that this story was more than just possible.

[@Bobstew68]

The pairing thing must've been incredibly obvious to the chess players at the time. Starting off by watching the first move of four tables without replying?

[@Mo_998]

12 years old content, and I still got this shit on a hard drive!

[@PsychedbE]

+Mahmood S ...Can"t ever catch up on downloading the whole internet anymore... everything is out there in kazillion formats n channels n clouds n backbones n ... NLP loop of madness.

[@Mo_998]

Too right pal.

[@Sorenbaa]

I will comment again on this in 12 see you until then

[@themistysnowfield5095]

13 year content now

[@chaytonarthur9984]

Garden tools is nice 11 more years

[@ctsirkass]

My god. When I saw the title of this video I thought to myself "I hope this is not the old classic trick when you transfer the moves between boards!". Yeap, all chess players know this trick and you can bet the grandmasters knew even before the went there. When I saw that the opponents had different colours I immediately knew. You see, simultaneous games place all opponents on the same colour (usually black), just to avoid this little trick.

[@g.dejong7804]

Christos Tsirkas You are a genius. Now fix the Greek financial crisis

[@1001011011010]

G.B de Jong it's not too hard to guess especially when he said he wasn't that good

[@Justin-so1xs]

Christos Tsirkas And you think it’s that easy to play one actual game while also memorizing all the moves of the 8 others?

[@meowlmeowl-gi4925]

J Kooch66 if you do play chess it's not that difficult also, he was essentially memoring 4 games GMs or IMs can essentially play opponents blindfolded i.e., board in their mind so yeah its very possible and not that hard with practice

[@martinconneally8756]

J Kooch66 it actually is pretty simple

[@nicbentulan]

4:20 Robert Chan isn't that good or experienced at chess. Robert probably views a grandmaster just as good as any 2200 rapid lichess. There's no way that good or experienced a player will seriously think some nobody in the chess or 9LX world is on par with Wesley So or Magnus Carlsen.

[@_SliK_]

Love how he left us hanging at the end about remembering the numbers lol😂

[@DerGesellschaftskritiker]

Krasses Experiment! Die Auflösung danach ist verblüffend und genial! :D Es waren 4 Großmeister in der Runde und Derren Brown konnte sich sämtliche Stellungen und Züge souverän merken und entsprechend die Züge wiederholen, er ist ein ausgezeichneter Magier und seine Magie kann er einen selbst im Schach spüren lassen ;). Einfach ein genialer Trick, die Großmeister unwissend gegeneinander spielen zu lassen!

[@travispickle7591]

This entire show is like one big fever dream

[@ianwebb6182]

This is clever, its like doing 2 tricks where the players know how he did the first one (winning the games by playing them against each other), and then a separate trick where he reveals the prediction. Whereas, its actually all just 1 trick where the first part was to send them down the wrong path so that the reveal is even more specular. Amazing showmanship

[@billygladman9644]

4:29 that awkward laugh when you don’t get the joke..

[@MAXIMUMv]

I know there are opening patterns, but i dont believe every player would play the same mirror match perfectly the same allowing him to do this.

[@SanRemoMotelBar]

"As for how I predicted the number of pieces left on each board; I genuinely can't remember." Nice touch.

[@MrKockabilly]

In real chess simultaneous exhibition games, the exhibitor plays white and all the opponents play black precisely to avoid this kind of scam. There's no way these pro players wouldnt be alerted that something is amiss by the time they realize that about half of them would play white and about half would play black.

[@Lugmillord]

That's brilliant. He's basically for the most part just the mailman.

[@sstevensuperbike9964]

I was very good at chess when I was a kid.. I used to play at county level and used to beat all my mates, teachers and even the chess teacher at another school where I learnt to play chess after school in another village, it really is trying to remember the best possible move in any situation, there are so may different combinations, the first 4-6 moves lead you onto a specific chess game and within that game can be several mini battles on the board. When u meet a certain criteria with the pieces you know how to attack the hardest and smartest.

[@johnking5174]

2:55 - Right, this guy here actually weathers a leather glove to play chess, why?

[@tombstoneharrystudios584]

If he knew he was going to be on TV maybe he chose to do that to stand out Maybe they told him too! Ot maybe he has hand problems/issues (like eczema) and prefers to hide his hands

[@wiiremote7976]

So he doesn't spread the coronavirus

[@aguyishappy3988]

Looks like a pretty cold studio, he doesnt exactly look young tbh

[@maxnullifidian]

I thought it was something along those lines, having read a novel by Sidney Sheldon in which the protagonist did something very similar, except with only two grandmasters.

[@leodf1]

On a cruise ship? 'If Tomorrow Comes' was the name. I didn't read the book but saw the TV movie.

[@derrickbird1256]

My favorite thing about Derren is how he explains how he does his demonstrations.

[@peterbucek2136]

Yeah like into detail and never leaves out anything.

[@AwsomeIceDragon]

+Peter Bucek except the numbers....

[@peterbucek2136]

+Dragon of magic You know that I was being sarcastic, right?

[@AwsomeIceDragon]

Peter Bucek Good for you mate.

[@nikkichockawonga]

+Dragon of magic lmao

[@PlanetRockJesus]

Derren Brown is obviously a great chess player (but decided that chess would not be his #1 focus in life), but the envelope was passed to him surreptitiously after the sequence was printed out and enclosed in the envelope by the producers of this segment. Of course, any chance of that being seen was edited out of this program. He's not a psychic. He's a great magician, but one who is fantastic in his powers of observation.

[@peterbucek2136]

That laugh at 4:29 lmao!

[@darkmatterbeats6613]

He Felt the Feels of hes Defeat.I think

[@GaryMcKinnonUFO]

I'm only 1:58 in to the video, but it opens with a photo and intro of each player, with Derren describing them. Then, when Derren speaks with them (i've spent a year planning this, he says, analysing all of your games), the first person he converses with, Derren asks his name. Derren knows his name, he's been studying them, so this can only be a small psychological ploy to slightly destabilise all of their confidence (If he doesn't know his name then he probably doesn't know my name? Has he even researched us? I thought i was important?). So straight away he's put them on a bit of a a back foot. This is a man who does his research so there's no way he hasn't matched faces to names yet.

[@GaryMcKinnonUFO]

I rarely use Americanisms but Oh My God - he played them off against each other. Fucking amazing, wish i'd thought of that !

[@GaryMcKinnonUFO]

Liked and subbed, Derren did a great interview with Joe Rogan : kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJDXoYqoq5xph5o

[@GaryMcKinnonUFO]

I wonder for how long the indentation of comments works ?

[@GaryMcKinnonUFO]

Is it just this long or is there some kind of limit ?

[@GaryMcKinnonUFO]

My space is getting smaller but my sentences are getting longer and longer and even more longer!

[@connors2388]

It was pretty clear early on that he was gonna make them play each other. there is no magical winning in chess. and that's really the only possible way to pull this off and be so shit at chess.

[@floob247]

Connor Smutny I want to know how he got the number right.

[@douglasquaid7550]

He is an illusionist, he probably switched the paper inside the envelope, with the correct numbers that he got from the production team.

[@floob247]

Douglas Quaid I'm content with that answer.

[@anonymoussecret5948]

mentalist*

[@wadetisthammer3612]

Then how did he beat the 👑 college dude?

[@Shroudey]

"This is all genuinely above board" so the secret lies beneath the board/table? ;D

[@jameshogge]

Called the trick with them playing each other!

[@Trimza42]

Those masters were just getting their 15 minutes of fame, in any simultanious match the challenged plays white on all boards. I'm sure they knew that and knew what was going on.

[@harrybroughton4999]

I think the number at the end was a bit more of a typical magic trick

[@1001011011010]

MediumWave LongWave but how does that work I wonder

[@MisterL2_yt]

any of you know how he did the numbers part - I believe he likely put these numbers in a combination where he could pull out any combination he needs but I'm not sure :D

[@jaydenbaker5074]

Brilliant!!!

[@john33333]

Do people commenting about mirror chess seriously not know the actual trick was getting the games to end with specific predicted numbers of opponent's pieces remaining on the board? Mirror chess was involved but would not explain that, which is the most impressive part. Derren Brown doesn't reveal his actual tricks.

[@Arenki1992]

Someone has an explanation how he predicted the numbers of chess pieces left on each board?

[@fiieeldy]

I told him what the outcome would be. I taught him all his moves

[@seriously_wtf]

how he got the exact numbers on the paper? he used slight of hand to swap the original paper when the guy was taking it out. so he wrote the numbers after he played them and swapped it when it came to reveal.

[@adamwolf2376]

Gotta respect making a vid 3 sec under the min ad revenue time even if he vid is pirated

[@ericksalas7256]

What is the saxophone music in the background at the end

[@gigglysamentz2021]

I once played copied my opponent's movs at go (symmetry through the centre) cuz I do't know how to play go. We both had a great time!

[@tombstoneharrystudios584]

pretty much how i blagged my way into chess club the first time!

[@animationeverywhere]

The trope that better chess players see further ahead is ridiculous. There are near infinite combinations. Yes if you know a lot of opening theory or there is a forced sequence you can see lots of moves ahead, but this is not on a consistent basis.

[@Tossphate]

During the post match interviews, the only played to specifically discuss derrens chess skill was r ninth player. All the others just talked about their own performance against their opponent "him". They would have known what was going on, but would have been fun for them anyway. Ultimately "what he did today was truly impressive" is correct

[@insanezombieman753]

They're all paid. Its fake. When grandmasters play simultaneous matches with people, they make sure everyone has the same colour. They're chess grandmasters, man. They're not that stupid

[@deRoland87]

Is there a way to link up pairs of three games?

[@eyajin]

4:28 when your clingy GF tells you a joke and you don’t get it

[@chrischibnall593]

Is the music from the famous chess scene in "The Thomas Crown Affair"?

[@LoadPast]

I'm sure chan was no pushover, to be able to keep all that information in his head AND play a game of chess at the same time seems almost more impressive than if he actually played the games straight up.

[@JamieScottLow]

He could of thought of the number before, and had a chess supercomputer like stock fish playing each game. Eg the camera in the corner could be watched by an assistant putting the move into stock fish, which could easily beat any player in circa 30 moves. And set a variable so the player has to be left with X number of pieces. Darren then could use an earpiece to just play whatever move Stockfish says to play

[@johnmcphee3136]

That would be very difficult, if not impossible. Even if you could get a chess computer working so it perfectly predicts the best moves to have the precise amount of pieces left on the board at the end of the game, not by simulating against a perfect opponent like a chess computer usually does, but against a simulated GM human (which you can't), it would be extremely easy for the players to know he was cheating. Chess engines play moves which humans would never play if they had a million years to think, and any player of the esteemed accomplishments of the players shown in the video would instantly know.

[@AjaLuck]

4:28 That Laugh U Make When Someone Tells A Joke About Ur Mom To U And U Want To Kill Them

[@MarcusMusique]

nice freemason thumb over the knuckle handshake @2:43 lol. Highly relevant on the black and white chequered board too. ;)

[@harrymooney1305]

"Let me just remind you my chess is SHIT"' xD

[@duanedibbley258]

I know he says he’s not using an ear piece but after he says that we don’t see his right ear, I think it’s more likely that there’s another guy writing all the moves down and feeding it to him except for the last guy who would play a computer - Derren would not leave it up to chance, he needs a way he can do this with a 100% success rate every time.

[@TheDom0]

He's had this of Columbo "the most dangerous match"

[@gamma_v1]

Any idea about the numbers?

[@egretzhars9984]

Oh, the moment when you spend a whole year studying the work of a few people but you can't remember their names. Don't you just hate when that happens?

[@KitsyX]

He could have studied the moves and names, but not their pictures lol That or their appearance could change somewhat since pictures or footage was taken... But yeah, it was a bit odd.

[@santishorts]

IM Jovanka Houska yesterday during the broadcast of the New In Chess Classic finals (day 1) suggested to have known that Derren had help from someone or some-"thing" during that last game. If you are getting help from a chess engine (far stronger than any human since about 2005) you don't need an earpiece.

[@jiweep]

the paper that he wrote in the beginning was quickly written and close together, like writing a signarture. The paper at the end was very far apart and neatly written which means that he switched it during the games, or this whole thing is fake. (I don't see why it would be though besides beating one of the players with his own skill. I mean the guy even said he was as good as a grandmaster so thats pretty hard to believe)

[@Sal13414]

+jiweep No that was the envelope the paper was in.

[@jiweep]

***** oops, it still doesn't explain how he beat the one guy and the guy even said he was at the level of a grandmaster though

[@jiweep]

***** Yeah but the host even said that his chess was shit and if the other guy is the leader of a chess club he must be skilled at the game, so I doubt that it actually happened. Like I said before too, he said he was at the level of a grandmaster as well

[@1001011011010]

jiweep He explained how he played grandmasters. Table 9 wasn't GM level

[@ANOOPBAL]

He switched the paper at the end. You can see him trying very hard to grab the paper from the other guy before he opens it.

[@MasterMerc13]

My big concern is what could he do if the move was unviable? Say, a pawn blocking a diagonal or something. What would he do, improvise?

[@harrybroughton4999]

It would be impossible for that to happen ... e.g the two tables he's paired together are just effectively always identical to each other

[@YourBroTekk]

and then they all just clapped at the end of the day because "hey, were still getting payed to be on cam"

[@quasarproductions2690]

He watches each move before performing one. So that gives him plenty of time to have the moves decided. In this time, someone is instructing him with the aid of a super-high level computer, giving him the best moves.. Obviously this is the most logical conclusion. There are a bunch of ways he can be signalled. Whether its through a series of vibrations on a device hes wearing to tell him what piece to move, or a signal from somewhere in the room, that makes the most sense. This can also be used to get the numbers in order. The only thing missing is the envelope going in the guys pocket beforehand. Sleight of hand? Seems tough though, unless we were missing something.

[@mewithmychick6960]

He just copies the moves from the other tables dude. He makes them play each other basically

[@kerfuritogonzales]

"I genuinely can'y remember" I NEED ANSWERS

[@arcade8078]

If I were to take a guess I'd say it's either all staged or those are just the most common ending numbers for chess games. In addition it's a single number so he's free to pick and choose the combinations of digits to form the remaining amount. Plus he's not going around in a circle when asking for the numbers, giving even more leeway for getting the right numbers. (Plus the mistake 6, though that could've also been there just to make it appear more real dunno)

[@epsleon]

Like he said at the start, he's been analysing their games for a year. Pair them off properly and you can predict the most likely outcome, since chess is a nearly solved game and you know what kind of playstyle they favour.

[@ActionableFreedom]

@@epsleon He was lying. Obviously he did not spend 1 year of his life doing that.

[@9k49]

He probably memorised them all and found a way to get it onto the paper, but miscounted / misremembered the one he got wrong

[@arandombard1197]

Considering magic isn't real, he swapped the paper. No need for complicated solutions when the simplest will do.

[@Luiz-rt8eo]

Question: how did he predict the numbers? I kind of guess the folks didn't count, he just showed him the numbers at the end and they just kind of accepted it

[@linky0064]

Holy shit, that's genius.

[@xxdalek15xx69]

Not sure if I’m high or not but at the end during the interview at 7:10 roughly does he not have 7 pieces instead of the six he said

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

"As for how I predicted the number of pieces left on each board, I genuinely can't remember. Good night." Oh, come on, Derren! You're killing me here!

[@monsieurhonorificfishface5621]

I caught on to the fact that some of the opponents were playing black and some white and figured that probably he was mirroring the moves between two and two people. However I was curious to see what was in the envelope and when that was shown I was curious to know the trick for that. Too bad he didn't want to reveal how he did that.

[@joelrivardguitar]

Grandmasters only think a few moves in advance. They just have crazy good intuition for what moves will work. Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura both said this.

[@PatricksFrogMush]

this guys a genius. WTF. I wonder if he could hypnotize me into running from a 9:39 two mile to 9:20. I'm competing in indoor states tomorrow and this idea really intrigues me

[@billygowhoop]

How's he win the one legit game? That still seems pretty impressive to beat a real chess player while having no experience.

[@calvinengime816]

He cheated, of course. He really was wearing an earpiece (which nobody was invited to check for), or he had something in his pocket buzzing in Morse code, and someone was giving him moves chosen by a computer. The same person probably kept track of the moves played in the other games. If he loses the ninth game, the trick is a flop. No professional magician would take the chance that such a crucial part of the trick could go wrong.

[@mick727xd]

Calvin Engime he didn’t. He just copied the moves of the previous player. In other words, they were playing against eachother. Derren didn’t play at all. Therefore he’s going to split wins and losses.

[@PutonyourSundayBests]

@@mick727xd Pay attention to the video man. There are an odd number of games. They all play each other except for the chairman of King's College Chess Society, who Derren claims to have legitimately played and beaten.

[@billygowhoop]

@@calvinengime816 I mean that's possible. I don't think that's really Derren's style though. But magic tricks generally have a very disappointing explanation. I'm just a bit doubtful of that one.

[@IgiWhiteman]

I still don´t get it. I mean what if one of the chess players reacted completely differently to Derren´s (respectively the other chess player´s) move? The game would then fall apart and he would be doing nonsensical moves in the eyes of the opponent, because mirroring would no longer make sense in terms of the game.

[@johnmcphee3136]

You don't get it. Derren isn't playing moves on his own, he is playing what the other person in the match-up played. He isn't playing any games (other than number 9, which is a source of debate among chess players). He is no more than a courier, playing the moves that he has already memorized. If they play a different move than he expected, that's fine, he just copies that move on the opposite board and plays the response the other player plays.

[@xxx_khz_optic_xxx9575]

This man could take over the world and we wouldn’t know

[@blucat4]

Ahh, that's already happened, there are a lot more people like Derren and much better, running things.

[@tiddleto2te]

Not gunna lie, I figured this out instantly, so I’m pretty sure the chess players would have guessed what’s going on. The numbers I think was just slight of hand?

[@MrSupernova111]

I'm an avid chess player with an expert rating (just below the master level) and this is absolutely incredible in the truest sense! By far, one of the best illusions/ricks I have ever. Great job!!

[@OcarinaIsGaming]

I love that. The trick worked so simply, and... it just makes me happy.

[@m4rv2n]

Just off the top of my hat. He makes them play each other by copying their moves.

[@MagicTurtle643]

And the envelope in the jacket.... just pick-pocketing skills in reverse updating it with the final counts?