Why (TV) Criminals Would be the Greatest Chess Masters

When I was in grade school, I fell in love with the sport of chess. It was one of the first hobbies that gave me an insight into the way skills are developed. It tested me both mentally and emotionally. I sought mentorship from the best masters in my area, I practiced deeply against man and machine, and I learned every chess strategy under the sun. The results were amazing to me. Within a year of getting formal training, I was winning and placing in local, state, and national tournaments. In my first year, I was 2nd in California in Blitz (5 minute games), 25th in the California Open (2 hour games, the California Championship) and in the top 200 in the United States Open (the National Championship). I had never seen such a rapid growth in my abilities and I wish I had been more prepared for the highs, lows, and plateaus of the skill building process. From the outside, it seems that chess has one clear inspiration: war. The King hides away while the other pieces go off to fight the battle and checkmate the enemy king. That being said, I saw some flaws with the war metaphor. The issue I had with this metaphor is that armies are seldom matched up fairly. Chess as a game has its origins in the 7th century in India where it might have been a better metaphor, but in the era of modern warfare, world superpowers are discouraged from going to battle with each other due to the fact that they do not want to match nuclear arms against each other. Therefore, many of the wars tend to be strong nations against weak nations. A more appropriate metaphor came to me when I was watching TV. I came to a realization: many of the notable crime dramas in film and television have an uncanny resemblance to the art of chess. Some of my favorite crime films and shows, including The Godfather Part 1 and 2, Scarface, The Untouchables, Double Indemnity, The Departed, Goodfellas, House of Cards, The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, Death Note, Narcos and Breaking Bad, all seemed to me to be elaborate dramatizations of what would happen in a chess game. Many of the tactics and mindsets used by chess players are often used by characters in crime dramas. 1. Solid Planning Criminals are master strategists. Not only do they have to run a successful business enterprise, but they must also do it under the radar in order to evade law enforcement. In order to do both, they rely on their planning ability. Frank Underwood from Netflix’s House of Cards devised a plan to take revenge on the people who passed him over for the Secretary of State position. His plan suffers certain setbacks, but it is flexible enough for Frank to execute in order to achieve his goal. The need for a flexible plan is just as necessary in chess. If one’s opponent has many ways to respond to an attack or defense, then that opponent has a lot of power in the situation and it makes it harder to plan for future moves. On the other hand, if there are only a few ways the opponent can play without damaging the position or conceding the game, then the your plan can be more definite. Furthermore, the more strong responses one has to an opponent’s move, the easier it is to move forward with winning chances. When Bobby Fischer played Boris Spassky in the 1972 World Chess Championship, Fischer’s planning in Game 6 of their matchup provided for one of the greatest and most memorable in the game’s history. Fischer’s bishop was able to position itself on a square that rendered two of Spassky’s rooks useless. With this positional advantage, Fischer was able to dominate the game in such beautiful and artistic fashion that Spassky stood and applauded Fischer’s victory at the end of the game. Because of the chaotic nature of the real world, a plan is essential to the achievement of goals. For chess players, their plans help them win games. For criminals, their plan helps them make money, avoid arrest, and stay alive. 2. Resourcefulness When Walter White started his meth-manufacturing business, he had very little. He had a kid on the way, he was working two jobs, and he had credit-card issues. When Jesse Pinkman asked Walt to put up some money to start their operation, Walt had seven thousand dollars, but that wasn’t the whole story. What Walt lacked in resources and capital, he made up for in his ability to cook an above-average batch of meth using his deep knowledge of chemistry. When Walt’s brother-in-law Hank inadvertently showed Walt how meth was being made and also how lucrative an endeavor it was, Walt realized that he could make something happen with the little that he had. This realization was the catalyst to the forging of his meth empire. The two sides of a chess board begin equal, but each piece can be utilized, exchanged, or sacrificed in a way that can give one player an advantage. Take, for example, the value of the knight vs. the bishop. While in theory, both of these pieces have the same value, the value of these two pieces relates to the structure of the pawns on the board. While bishops are favored in open games where the pawns do not obstruct the center of the board, knights are favored in closed games where pawns clutter the center of the board. The need for resourcefulness goes even further. Many classic chess games include a player who sacrificed a piece and sometimes even a queen to gain a decisive advantage. When a sacrifice is made, the player making the sacrifice understands that the rest of the pieces must work together for victory. In Game 20 of the 1990 WCC between Kasparov and Karpov, Kasparov had 7 attackers against Karpov’s king. Kasparov knew that he could sacrifice pieces in order to expose Karpov’s king. He ended up sacrificing pieces including his queen to gain an overwhelming material advantage on his way to victory. Ultimately, each player must use the resources at his or her disposal in order to effect change or to defend his or her position. 3. Hiding One’s Intentions “Never tell anyone outside the family what you are thinking again.” The protagonist of The Godfather, Vito Corleone admonishes his son Sonny not to reveal his intentions to outsiders again. After Sonny’s outburst in front of the drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo, Sollozzo realizes that the family is split in its decision not to get into the drug game. It is only because Sonny revealed his intentions that Sollozzo believed that assassinating Don Corleone would bring forward a new leader who was friendlier to Sollozzo’s own cause. This tactic is utilized by successful chess players who want to create dynamic plans. If a plan is too obvious in its intentions, then it is easily defended against. This happens when a plan has only one tactical focus and if that plan is stopped, the plan is rendered utterly useless. For this reason, it is vital that certain intentions are kept as covert as possible. In Vishy Anand’s now famous 2013 “Tata Steel” game against Levon Aronian, Anand hid his intentions during and after the game. It seemed as if Aronian had a strong battery of pieces attacking Anand’s king, but Anand’s hidden plan for a counter-attack ended up spelling a swift and dynamic defeat of Aronian. After the game, Anand said that he didn’t want to talk too much about the alternate moves that could have been played in that situation, and commentators speculated that he wanted to use his preparation in future games. 4. Decision Making Light Yagami from Death Note forges his own life by the decisions he makes from the time he is in high school. When he is presented with a notebook that gives the user the ability to kill anyone by writing the victim’s name while picturing the victim’s face, he begins to use the notebook to kill off the world’s criminals. Irony creeps into the picture when Light is the last criminal left and is forced to try to kill the highly skilled detective who goes by the pseudonym, “L,” who is trying to bring the killer to justice. Light is presented with many choices. When he is first given the notebook, a Death God (shinigami) tells him that anyone who uses the notebook forgoes heaven and hell. Light decides to use it to create the world that he wants to see, and, for better or worse, he lives out the consequences. Strong decision-making ability is a necessity in chess. When a player is faced with a certain game for hours on end, they must be able to make moves that they are satisfied with. Moves that are passive are wasted moves, and looked on in hindsight as weaknesses in one’s skill set or position. International Master and world-famous chess teacher Jeremy Silman is famous for instructions in how to decide how to make moves that serve a certain purpose. He advocates decision-making on several major imbalances that every chess game could have. His methods are taught in his books that sell and teach generations of chess students. 5. Zero-Sum Mentality (or Willingness to be Aggressive) The Departed’s Frank Costello responded to the death of his enemy by saying, “One of us had to die. With me, it tends to be the other guy.” In crime, there are clear winners and clear losers. While factions might join to create what seem to be win-win situations, those friendships invariably turn to enmity. Nucky Thompson fights with his friend Arnold Rothstein in Boardwalk Empire. Former lovers and partners in crime become enemies in Double Indemnity. Walter and Jesse fight. There is usually a finite amount of money to be made, and partnerships tend to go sour. Mikhail Tal was faced with the opportunity to draw a game with Roman Toran Albero in 1961. Albero had Tal in perpetual check. Instead of accepting the draw, Tal decided to sacrifice his queen for a knight and executed a perfect attack that led him to victory. In chess, you win, lose, or draw. There is one point to be won, split or not gained. Draws cost a player in tournament play when that player is matched with other players who won, and therefore, it doesn’t make sense to keep playing for draws if one is trying to win a tournament. Champions play to win. 6. Reacting Swiftly and Competently When Al Capone finds out the Elliot Ness has intercepted a shipment of alcohol, he erupts. “I want him dead! I want his family dead! I want his house burned to the ground!” Capone knew that interference from law enforcement would mean that his business would take a financial hit. He needed to send a message quickly in order to ensure success for the future of his enterprise. The tactic of killing law enforcement, as dark as it sounds, is a tried and true method of instilling the opposition with fear and clearing a path for further operations. When chess players are presented with new situations, they must be able to find solutions within the allotted time. In 1996 at the Blitz Chess Final of the Credit Suisse Masters, Garry Kasparov had a two pawn advantage as well as a positional advantage. He seemed to exchange a piece in what would have been a logical simplification of the game. What Anand did in reaction was unexpected. If he had traded pieces, he would have ended up in a much less favorable position. Instead, he was able to quickly calculate a move which unleashed an incredibly dangerous counterattack on Karparov’s pieces. If Anand had only acted swiftly, he would not have been able to put himself in a position to succeed. It was because that he could act both swiftly and competently that he threw Kasparov for a loop and rattled his opponent. By making a swift, accurate decision, one puts the onus on the opposition to react precisely as well. A constant stream of accurate moves (in both chess and crime) gives the opponent more chances to slip and in turn, gives the aggressor more opportunities to be victorious. 7. Deep and Accurate Analysis of Situations Chess is a game where there are many possible permutations and combinations of moves that can be played. Therefore, in analyzing a position, the player must be prepared for anything. Some chess teachers advocate looking at the best moves the opponent can play in response to a move that might be played. By looking at the best-case scenarios for the opponent, the player can prepare more moves in advance in order to appraise the deepest position that they can visualize. In game 20 of the Kasparov-Karpov match at the WCC, Karpov made a fatal passive move that gave Kasparov the ability to sacrifice a knight which left Karpov with very few ways to defend. Kasparov was able to determine a winning response to every single move Karpov could have made. This preparation led Kasparov to an amazing win. Improper analysis leads to wasted time and effort. When Frank Costello is trying to smoke out the police mole within his gang, he employs certain tactics that help him in his search process. He tests Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio’s character) by giving him information and seeing if his own mole within the police force is given the information. Since Costigan reports to someone who doesn’t work directly with Costello’s mole, Costello mistakenly disqualifies Costigan as a potential mole. Costello’s efforts were useless because he didn’t assess the situation fully. In contrast, proper analysis can lead to favorable outcomes. In a seemingly insignificant moment, Jimmy Darmody and Al Capone smoked a cigarette as their bosses had a meeting. When Al Capone mentioned off-handedly that his boss Jim Colosimo had no interest in pursuing liquor as a business enterprise during prohibition, the process of elimination led Jimmy to realize that Nucky would only end up making a deal with the other decision-maker in the room, Arnold Rothstein. Because neither Jimmy nor Capone worked for Rothstein, the two found a way to make a power-play where they didn’t risk hurting their respective bosses’ business. They robbed Rothstein of his supply and split the profits for themselves. Without proper analysis, there can be no strong decision-making process, nor can there be solid planning. 8. Recovering from Set-Backs In 1956, Bobby Fischer was 13 years old and facing one of the strongest players in the United States, Donald Byrne. Fischer was down in material and facing the loss of his queen. Instead of moving his queen and playing a typical game, he sacrificed his queen in order to create a game-winning attack on Bryne’s king that resulted in the loss of much material for Byrne. This game went on to be known in chess history as “The Game of the Century.” Fischer was famous for making comebacks. In 1972, Fischer found himself trailing 0-2 after the first two games of the match. He was rattled mentally and had unsuccessfully demanded that all cameras be removed from the tournament room. He realized that the tournament organizers had had enough of his antics and it was up to him to play to win. Fischer went on to dominate the rest of the match and outscore Spassky by 6 points in the final 18 games to win the title. Furthermore, 20 years after the 1972 WCC, Fischer emerged from reclusiveness to face Spassky. Many commentators speculated that Fischer was out of practice, but Fischer showed that he was still at the top of the chess world by defeating his old rival. When Frank Underwood is passed up for the Secretary of State position, he could have easily gotten discouraged. Instead, he took the set-back as motivation for what he wanted to accomplish. He recovered from the initial anger and resentment and was able to harness this energy into something creative and productive. The vicious Gustavo Fring wanted to stop Walter White’s DEA agent brother-in-law Hank from investigating him by killing him. Gustavo threatened to kill everyone in Walt’s family if he did anything to stop the assassination. Walt initially panics. He tries to flee with his family, but realizes that he doesn’t have enough money to do so. Walt could have given up. He was having a mental breakdown and he had endangered his family. Instead of collapsing emotionally, Walter decided to bounce back and take responsibility for the situation. He devised a plan to take out his rival once and for all, and once he had executed it, he and his family were able to walk away unscathed. In life, we face many set-backs and it is our duty to see them as opportunities or necessary to solve in order to achieve our goals. 9. Hierarchy Chess is a pure meritocracy. Winners ratings increase while losers see their ratings decrease. The best players in the world have a good record against each other, otherwise they would fall in rating score. Crime and business are similar. The market choses the winners and the winners invariably have more power than the smaller organizations. Pablo Escobar, portrayed in Narcos, succeeded in business and was therefore able to expand his empire. His wealth allowed him to run for political office to put an open bounty on law enforcement agents in order to protect his empire. He bribes local law enforcement as well in an effort to make his smuggling efforts easier. His money bred power and his power grew until it hit critical mass. The point is that there is a spoken or unspoken law in the world of crime that the people at the top are to be respected. Tommy in Goodfellas killed a “made man” and faced the consequences. Frank Underwood knew that he would never achieve the amount of power he wanted until he was President. The Godfather always demanded and expected respect. The street hustlers in The Wire were well aware of the fact that they were pawns in the hustling game and that they deeply desired to be the king. Jimmy Darmody and Al Capone wanted to be rich like Nucky or Lucky Luciano. Walter White wanted to be the best meth cook in the world and he wanted people to submit to his power. With the power comes responsibility. Chess players cannot let their skill set slip or they will see their ratings slip. Vasily Ivanchuk and Vladimir Kramnik used to be World Champion class players, but they have been overtaken by younger, more hungry players like Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. The Godfather Part 1 is about Vito’s decision of who will succeed him in his empire. Vito takes an incredible amount of thought into this because the leader will have many responsibilities. Frank Costello goes insane when realizes that there is a rat in his gang. He knows that the fate of his organization is in his hands. Hierarchy is one of the most powerful driving forces in both chess and crime, but it does not ensure success. It is only a measure of past performance. Therefore, the people at the top of the food chain must always stay vigilant and hungry if they care to defend their position at the top.