In-Depth with Count & Grand Master Raymond Dennis Keene, O.B.E. (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/04/15

Abstract

An interview with Count & Grand Master Raymond Dennis Keene, O.B.E.. He discusses: geographics, cultural, and linguistic background; pivotal moments in early life; influences on intellectual development; growing up gifted or not; precocious chess achievements; myths and truths around chess prodigies; interest in Goethe; personal achievements; motivation for diverse interests; benefits from being a chess Grandmaster; general transferability to other areas of life; computers surpassing humans at chess; innate versus environmental influence on ability; benefits for students learning chess; Magnus Carlsen; probable near and far future for the world of chess; ranking chess achievement; common personality traits of the great chess grandmasters; genius gone awry such as Bobby Fischer; and underrated chess Grandmasters.

Keywords: Bobby Fischer, chess, genius, grandmasters, Magnus Carlsen, Raymond Keene.

In-Depth with Count & Grand Master Raymond Dennis Keene, O.B.E. (Part One)^{[1],[2],[3],[4]}

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In terms of geography, culture, and language, where does your family background reside^[5]?

Count & Grand Master Raymond Dennis Keene, O.B.E.: We have lived in London.^[6]We do not go back hundreds of years. The records are hundred years or so, and have always been in London.^[7]

2. Jacobsen: What seem like pivotal moments in early personal life?

Keene: I was six years old. My mother wanted to take a bath. I was pestering her. She said, “Here, play with these.” She gave me chess pieces.^[8]I had never seen them before. I said, “I don’t know how to play with them. You tell me.” She never got to the bath. That was my association with chess. I went on to become a chess Grandmaster.^[9]

3. Jacobsen: How did these influence personal and intellectual development with respect to side activities such as chess, journalism, and writing?^[10]

Keene: I got into journalism and writing through chess. I was primarily a chess player. I became a Grandmaster.^[11] I won the British Championship.^[12] I got the gold medal in the European Championship.^[13]I got the bronze medal in the World Team Championship.^[14]Because I had training in literature at school and Cambridge: German, French, and English.^[15]I was fluent in writing about chess. That lead to writing 199 books, 12,000 articles, et cetera.^{[16],[17],[18],[19],[20],[21]}

4. Jacobsen: Were you gifted growing up?

Keene: I was serious; not sure I was gifted. I was serious. If I was interested in something, I applied myself to it, quite determinedly.  If I wasn’t interested in something, I really hadn’t any trouble focusing on it at all. In fact, I wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible. (Laughs) Physics, I couldn’t stand physics. Physics and math, I wasn’t interested in the slightest, but things like languages, history, Latin, German, French. I was interested in, of course, chess. I was able to apply quite serious dedication to them.

5. Jacobsen: Now, when it comes to precocious chess achievements, how did you find growing from childhood to young adulthood from childhood with this?

Keene: Precocious is a prodigy at 6, 8, or something. I didn’t show any serious talent at chess, until I was about 12 or 13. At that point, I started to take it seriously. I studied and read books on tactics, and so on.

I think it was books on strategy more than anything else. It told you how to begin a game, the right structures to aim for, and so on. I learned fast. Compared to people like Capablanca or Kasparov, or some of the modern prodigies, I was not precocious.^[22],[23]I was average, until I was at least the age of 10 or 11.  After that, it moved quickly from the age of 12 or 13.

These were real prodigies. They had some sort of cosmic link with chess. I do not think I had that. I was very intelligent and very determined at things of interest to me – serious and not distractable. If I do something, then and now, I am ruthless at its completion. I tend not to become distracted. I have been lucky. I do not need much sleep. Quite often, I could do normal stuff during the day. During the night, I could study things I wanted to study. Next morning, I would still be awake.

I never needed a huge amount of sleep. Hopefully, it will continue because I enjoy sleeping. However, I do not sleep for long periods. I prefer short naps like in a plane, a car, or a train. Go to sleep, use the dead time for sleeping, and then catch up during the night. I did all of my school homework at night. My mother used to get worried. I would be awake at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning working. She tried to get me to the bed.

6. Jacobsen: When it comes to prodigies in general, myths and mis-conceptions exist about them. What myths exist and truths dispel them?

Keene: It is said that Capablanca learned chess by watching his father. That he learned at the age of 4.^[24]That’s not impossible. It is quite possible, actually. There are stories about Paul Morphy, that he learned chess at an early age, and then being able to beat European masters.^[25]And they’re actually true because you can – games exist, you can see the games that they played, that are very impressive. They’re quite extraordinary.

Some people, like Capablanca, really were, and I think Kasparov, were truly gifted in chess.^[26],[27]I don’t think I was. I was gifted with something else. Dedication, certain kind of intelligence, focus, not easily distracted, but I was quite big. I have always been big. Some kids at school are small and weedy. Some were bullied.

Nobody did that to me because I was twice their size. I was a good rugby player at school. I have been big and heavy.

7. Jacobsen: You have an interest in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.^{[28],[29],[30]} In fact, you translated Faust into English.^[31],[32] Where does this interest, in the man and the story, originate for you – to such an extent as to translate the famous text?

Keene: The first thing of Goethe’s I read was his play, Egmont, which is a about the liberation of the Dutch in the 16^th century from the Spanish Empire.^{[33],[34],[35]} When I was at school, I was told that Goethe’s most advanced and difficult work was Faust.^[36] It was almost like, “You shouldn’t read it. It’s too difficult.” I started to read it. I found it incredibly exciting. The opening line of Goethe’s Faust are amazing.^[37] My spine was tingling as I read it. It was incredibly well-written and exciting.

Exploring what we know scientifically, what we know through magic, what we know through religion, what human ambition consists of, it was a really extraordinary play. I was impressed by Faust. I took Goethe as a special paper at Cambridge.^[38] I studied Goethe in general.^[39] I studied, not his plays and his poems alone, but his philosophy, his theory of color, which was quite different from Newton’s.^[40] I read the conversations he had, which his secretary, Eckermann, recorded.^[41] I knew a lot about Goethe. I knew the opinions.^[42]

He was a towering colossus of European thought. He was probably the giant of European culture in the first decades of the 19^th century. He knew Napoleon.^[43] He knew all the major politicians. He knew all of the artistic figures. He worked with Schuler. He was like a bridge between the 18^th century and 19^th century.

The German Shakespeare, but in many ways the German Leonardo da Vinci.^[44],[45] He was everything. He was a great polymath and a politician.^[46] He was Prime Minister of Weimer, and minister of works and roads.^[47] He was everything. It was part of this universal talent. This giant talent to cope with anything I found impressive.

8. Jacobsen: You hold the, or at least a, record, if I gather correctly, for the greatest number of written books, 199, on “Chess, Mind Sports, Genius, Mental World Records, Art and Thinking.”^[48] You wrote 12,000 articles on various topics in chess, mind sports, and so on.^{[49],[50],[51],[52],[53],[54]} You won numerous international chess prizes including the Gold Medal of Chinese Olympic Association (1981) and Global Chess Oscar (twice).^[55]You competed simultaneously against 107 opponents with 101 wins, 5 draws, and 1 loss.^[56] You co-founded and organize the World Memory Championships. You had involvement in organization of the World Chess Championships. You earned a peak rating of 2,510, which sufficed to earn the title of Grandmaster.^[57] In addition to these, you acquired “freeman of the City of London” and were “granted right to Arms by the Royal College of Arm. Knight of the Order of the White Swan conferred by Prince Marek Kasperski and Chevalier of the Order of Champagne.”^[58]  With these in mind, what remains the single greatest achievement in personal life?^[59]

Keene: I will give you one more. I have been made a Count! So, I am His Excellency Raymond Dennis Raymond Order of the British Empire (OBE), international chess Grandmaster, and Count of the Order of Torres Vedras, Portugal.^[60],[61]  I am the first person in the history of chess to be made a Count on account of his chess ability.

It is spelled Torres Vedras. It means “Green Towers.” Of course, “Torres” in Portuguese is the same as a chess rook: “Count of the Green Towers.” It’s a genuine title awarded by the legal descendants of the Imperial House of Braganza in Portugal.^[62]

It was getting the Grandmaster title. It took the longest to do: blood, sweat, and tears. It took me a long time. It was very, very close on a number of occasions. Things went wrong at the last minute. I needed to win one game in a tournament, and lost it. Things like this. Or I would get two wins, and draw them both. I was so close on so many occasions.

According to modern rules such as freeze results before the end of the tournament, you have a Grandmaster title pro rata, before the end of the tournament nowadays.^[63] If I knew that, I would be a Grandmaster two years earlier. Also, when I was doing it, 2,510 was a good rating.  Nowadays with inflation that will be a 2,700 rating, when there’s been enormous inflation since I achieved that rating.

In 1975, 1976, 1977, around that time, that was 35 or 38 years ago. In 1986, I was having dinner with Garry Kasparov in Brussels.^[64],[65] I said, “Do you think you’ll ever get to 2,800?” He said, “No, it’s impossible. It cannot be done. Absolutely impossible. Mathematically, impossible. It cannot ever be done.” Now, there are – Kasparov got over 2,800, Carlsen got over 2,800, Kramnik got over 2,800, and Anand got over 2,800, and five or six people have already done it.^{[66],[67],[68],[69],[70]}

Is it impossible? They are all very strong players. Even since 1986, there has been tremendous inflation. It is not playing strength alone. It is inflation too. 2,510 was good at the time. It would be a couple of hundred points higher were I to play at that strength now, which I cannot because I am old and tired.

Anyway, I think Grandmaster title was the thing that took the most blood, sweat, and tears. That was the most difficult professional thing that I achieved.

9. Jacobsen: In 1985, you replaced, and continue to write as a chess correspondent, for The Times following the retirement of Mr. Harry Golombek.^[71],[72] In addition, you contribute to The Sunday Times, The Spectator, The Daily Yomiuri Tokyo, The Australian and The Gulf News.^{[73],[74],[75],[76],[77]} Bearing in mind the previous question with incorporation of personal achievements, what motivates these diverse interests convergent upon the world of chess?

Keene: It all takes part from one. They are all chess columns. The one for the Gulf News, and the one I write for The Times.^[78],[79] It is a syndicated article. It is the same article in the Times and Gulf News.^[80],[81] I do two IQ questions every week. It is two questions that require a bit of thought, even a bit of knowledge. Even the rest of the chess columns, they are all about chess. I’m not writing about Mozart symphonies one week, and the sex life of the Guatemalan fruit fly the next one. It’s all chess-centric.

It is the most diverse mind-sport. The IQ questions formed a kind of mind sport, quiz questions with brain teasers. That is the linking factor. Almost everything that I have written is connected with that, and most of the books that I have written have been what happens to the brain as it gets older, and another about geniuses. What motivates a genius, who I think the main geniuses are, those are books I wrote with Tony Buzan.^[82]

Most of the books I have written have been about chess. That is the predominant theme because that is the thing. I am coming to other things like memory and other mind sports through my association with chess, and the World Memory Championship because I am biased on the conversion from chess being a hobby to being a sport.^[83] It was possible to convert chess from being a hobby to being a competitive sport through the analogy with chess.

10. Jacobsen: Does being a chess Grandmaster confer benefits to other domains in your life?

Keene: Yes, it confers social and intellectual status. It helped me to earn the OBE, the Order of the British Empire. You get a certain respect, certain credibility. People offer you opportunities.^[84] Also, the kind of thinking required for chess is transferable. Many people deny this.

They say being good at chess means you’re good at chess and nothing else. I actually subscribe to the view of Musashi, the Japanese swordsman of the 16^th century.^[85] A Book of Five Rings, he wrote a book about martial arts.^[86] He said, “From one thing, learn ten thousand. If you learn master one art, you can transfer skills.”

I believe this. I believe that by mastering chess I am – though I’m not fully mastered. It’s too complex, too difficult; it’s quasi-infinite, but by mastering a large subset of the skills required to play chess well. I can see strategic opportunities in life. Tactful opportunities, business opportunities, and I think opportunities are key. In chess, you can form a strategy, an overall play, but the real key to chess is grasping opportunities that arise. It is something that happens.

If your opponent makes a mistake, you will cease it, jump on it, and exploit it. I think one of the things that I am quite good at is seeing opportunities, using them quickly, and thinking fast. I think chess helps with this. From chess, it is possible from one thing to learn ten thousand. By mastering one thing, you can apply those techniques to other things. That was the central message of Musashi.^[87]

I wrote a book with an American martial artist called Michael Gelb.^[88] It’s called Samurai Chess in which we explain that theory.^[89] That if you master chess, this will help you in all other areas of your life. It will give you insight into the way strategy works, tactic works, opportunity ceasing works, and so on. I firmly believe that. Chess teaches the ability to cease opportunities, exploit situations, and think quickly. I’ll give you another example.

In 1968, I was coming home from a dinner at Simpsons on the Strand, which used to be a chess club. And outside my house, somebody tried to mug me. Great thug said, “Give me your wallet.” And I thought, “We’ll see about this.” This guy was there threatening, saying, “Give me all your money.” It was like I was playing a chess game, where I had to make a quick decision. Does he have a gun? Does he have a knife? Is he going to start with his fist? I rapidly summed up the situation, and punched him in the nose. He ran away. (Laughs) I think chess-playing helped with that. I had to analyze a whole bunch of factors quickly, form a conclusion, and act on it. I did; I won.

He ran away. I did not. As far as I was concerned, that was victory. Chess was helpful. I felt like I was in a chess situation. Fortunately, he did not have a knife.

11. Jacobsen: A lot of research given through brain training programs, most of the experts note that there is no general transferability of ability. Here, as far as I understand, there seems to be sufficient general transferability into other domains of life.

Keene: That is right. It is what I have done in my own life. I feel that my ability transferred from chess to other things. In terms of speed of thought, grabbing opportunities, summarizing situations quickly, analyzing the long-term against the short-term, it may be that the experts, or the other experts, are looking at things too rigidly, and do not interpret at things fluidly enough. However, I can say, looking at my own experience, that I can transfer things. I feel it is possible for other people as well.

12. Jacobsen: I suspect this involves two variables. One, the length of time. Two, the complexity of the tasks. For instance, when it comes to the typical brain training programs online now, most of them do not seem to necessitate complexity. In addition, most people likely do not pursue them for long periods. Therefore, when people test them for transferability, there does not seem to be much transfer. With chess, people begin at the age of 6 or 7, might be a child prodigy, and then can train for decades to get to the desired Grandmaster title, and then from that acquire the benefits. The length time, in addition to the “quasi-infinite” status, as you noted, might indicate the level of complexity there plus time would breed some form of, at least, relative general transferability.

Keene: That is a good explanation. I would say that sounds true, yes.

13. Jacobsen: Will computers surpass the greatest competitive human chess Grandmasters on a consistent basis (if it hasn’t already happened)?

Keene: It has happened. That is the trouble. It really has happened. We have got the state now where the top Grandmasters are learning from computers. I, honestly, think that matches between humans and computers are pretty well a thing of the past. I think the top computers won. And I am afraid some of the solutions computers come up with to complex chess positions, even the best players do not think of these things. I mean they are so anti-intuitive it is not true.

There are still occasions. There was one of the games from the Carlsen-Anand match, not the last one, but the one from before in 2013, when computers were still saying the game was drawn, and Carlsen was planning a way to win it.^[90],[91] This is becoming increasingly rare, and as computers get better and better, and they will get better and better, I do not think we are ever going to catch up. I think we are going to have to accept the fact that like athletes who run, that the motor cars are always – the Formula 1 cars are always – going to be a bit faster. There’s not much we can do about it. I find it a shame. I mean it is a bit of shame. When the genie is out of the bottle, what can be done about it?

There is nothing that can be done about it. I really do not see a human player ever getting to the point where they can consistently beat computers. I think we are gonna draw games, get in situations where you do not actually lose. I think it is an uphill task. That point of no return has already been passed. It annoys me. I do not want to say that, but it sounds like the truth to me.

14. Jacobsen: An old question relates to the ratio of innate talent and environmental influence on ability. In terms of chess talent, what seems like the proper ratio of contribution between general ability and training for their influence on chess performance? 

Keene: I that there are few people with an innate talent for chess. It is rare. Even Magnus Carlsen did not have an innate talent for chess, it is not like he went to the chess board and could immediately beat his father or his brother.^[92] He could not. He was attracted to chess and then he worked at it. He could absorb information very quickly. His main talent was being able to absorb information very quickly.

I think Morphy and Capablanca had an innate talent for the game.^[93],94] Even Kasparov, I do not think had an innate talent.^[95] He was a bright guy, good at absorbing information, assimilating it, and processing it. It happens chess attracted him. I am not sure he had an innate gift for it. There is a difference between talented and gifted. Talent being good, clever, and so on. Gift means like a gift from God. I think Morphy and Capablanca had some kind of divine gift for chess.^[96],[97]

I mean their games, at early ages.  When the amount of published chess information was pretty small, compared to what it is now, they can only really pick it up from watching other people play. And improving upon the principles they saw adumbrated on the games they saw there. With all of that sort of information, to play at that level that early, argues for some sort of gift, really gifted, to me. That is not the case for many people at all. I am trying to think of artists.

I mean Mozart was really gifted, but he came from a musical environment. I guess his own kids were great musicians.^[98] Bach created a musical environment. A whole bunch of Bach’s went further on in music.^[99] They were good on their own, but not in the same league, and there are chess players who’s fathers were good chess players, and who became chess players as well. The Littlewood Brothers, there was John Littlewood. Both of them came in second in the British Championship on a number of occasions. The son of John Littlewood, Norman Littlewood, won the British Championship, and he ended up becoming Grandmaster.^[100]

Giftedness is rare, but possible. Talent is usually a talent. There is something, which gets channeled into chess. Environment can go a long way. For instance, the Polgar sisters. Now, Judith Polgar is the best of the Polgar sisters.^{[101],[102],[103]} She lived chess from a very early age, but she never became World Champion. She got into the top 10. You think that someone who is a talented person, which she clearly is, exposed to that much chess information and that much chess intuition might become World Champion. She did not.

There are some chess players like Karpov and Kramnik, and Kasparov.^{[104],[105],[106]} There were certain areas of chess that she mastered like tactics.  It was a strategically slower game. She had some troubles. You need a rare combination of talent in something, the desire to play chess, and a favorable environment before you become a great champion.

Some of those like Morphy and Capablanca were gifted, but gifted in the long run did not help them.^[107],[108] Capablanca won the World Championship once.^[109] He never dominated the way he you think he might have done afterwards.

Morphy gave up chess.^[110] Bobby Fischer was not gifted in chess.^[111]I think he was talented. He did not even have really favorable environmental conditions. He gave up chess. It is hard to tell. I think the ideal strong chess player is someone who is intellectually curious and has a talent for something which goes into chess. I think persistence is very important.

I think that Emmanuel Lasker, for example, held the World Championship for a very long time, but I do not think he was gifted at chess.^[112] He was a talented person. Intellectually active, discovered chess, fell in love with it, and stayed in the top for an extraordinary length of time. Somehow, I feel that is the ideal combination to produce someone who was a really great champion.

15. Jacobsen: Young people continue to pursue, with deep passion, the world, and mastery, of chess. Below the level of Grandmaster, what benefits accrue for students in the process of learning, competing, and honing their abilities for chess?

Keene: It trains you in many things. One of them is to a certain extent logic. I have some trouble with the concept of logic because one person’s logic is somebody else’s illogic.

Imagine a chess game, where you have two ways of getting an advantage, one is to gain more mobility; the other one is to gain extra material. Now, if you’re writing commentary on the game with the benefit of hindsight, if the thing done by the person concerned works, there’s tendency to say, “This is more logical than doing Y.” And if it doesn’t work, you can say, “More logical would have be that.”

I think there are moments when the fine-tuning of judgment in any situation. That is not just in the chess board. That is in all areas in life. What is more or less logical, is somewhat relativistic, it is; logic is, quite often, conferred by the outcome, not by the process.

Let’s say there are two guys moving toward you with the intention of killing you, okay? And you have a gun, and you can pick off one or the other in sequence. But one of the guys has a gun, and one of the guys has a sword, and they’re both going to kill you, alright? But there both 200 yards away, alright? You can kill both of them as long as you do it in time. Which one is it more logical to kill?

The logical thing to do is shoot the man with the gun because he can shoot you from a distance, and then turn your attention to the man with the sword who has to get much closer to you before he can do any damage. Okay?

I would say that is the logical way of looking at it, okay? But what if you don’t know that the man with the sword has the ability to throw the sword 200 yards and kill you? And then you shoot the guy with the gun, and while you’re doing that, the man with the sword hurls the sword and kills you. So the logic suddenly becomes more hazy because it becomes more dependent on a lot of factors you cannot necessarily determine.

Therefore, what is prima facie logical can be influenced by hidden factors to be illogical.^[113] What I am saying is there are so many factors in complex situations that what may or may not appear logical may, in fact, be, or not be, logical. So, logic is harder to determine than, “Oh that’s logical and that’s not logical.”

There are shades of distinction. And in chess, you can often make the case for something being logical, but if you work hard at it, you can make an equally good case that somebody else is being logical too. So when I say chess develops the skill of logic – yes, it does in general – but I have trouble with the question of logic because I’m not too sure that logic always holds up.

It fosters the skill of analysis. It teaches you to analyze. You cannot get by in chess without seeing an abstract pattern, and seeing combinations and maneuvers in your head that it definitely helps through. I think it also helps with concentration. So kids who do chess at school will concentrate better at maths or science, or whatever, because they’ve learned to focus on chess.

And I think the other thing it helps with, and I think this is very important, and I think this is the major attraction is that it enables you to win, because so often in life is what you try to achieve has an opaque outcome, can’t see the outcome, the outcome is deferred. You play a game of chess, and you can win it. You can win it quite quickly.

And if you play, within ten minutes, you can win. Winning, I think, is the basis of the prime human commodity, which is identity. I think the more commodities that human beings crave, whether they know it or not, the most important, the most significant, the most enriching, is identity. And winning a game of chess confers identity on you.

Let me give you an example, modern life for a lot of people is anonymous. You do a lot of things online. You don’t interact with human beings. You don’t feel as though you’re a real person, and the machine is replying to you. And quite often, say you want to complain about something, let’s say that somebody is dumping rubbish in your street, but you want to complain to the local government.

Certainly in the UK, this can be a long process for somebody who tends to your needs and takes you seriously, or like the government owes you a tax rebate.^[114] It can take you a long time to get a tax rebate. And there’s a tendency in modern life that is mechanized, computerized. Voice mail systems that say, “Press button 1, now press button 2, and press button 3.”

And as an individual, you find that your identity is attenuated. That you’re not being recognized. That other human beings are saying that you do not exist. It is a wide-spread disease in modern Westernized societies. I think playing a game of chess. You beat somebody. That person resigns. You see them concede your victory. You suddenly ratchet up your ontological rating considerably. Your identity becomes confirmed.

Something out in the universe identifies that you exist. And I think that all goods in the sense of money, fame, wealth, sex; all these things are roots to serve validation, ontological validation: an identity. I think that chess can do wonders for one’s own identity.

Ergo, it is pretty good to teach to kids who come from underprivileged backgrounds that they suddenly feel a sense of self-worth, achievement, and a very quick sense of self-worth and achievement. Okay, you’re going to lose games, draw some games, but you’re going to win some games. But the wins are more valuable to their psyche than their losses, and their losses and draws are inimical.

16. Jacobsen: Of the present crop of the young Grandmasters, Magnus Carlsen stands above the rest.^[115] What are your thoughts on his achievements, talent, and future trajectory?

Keene: I think his main talent is in preventing games from drying up, becoming drawn. And I don’t think he tries to take a big advantage after the opening like Kasparov did.^[116] I don’t think he tried to destroy the opponents. He simply tried to keep the battle going, and thinks that if it goes on long enough the other guy will make a mistake and he’ll win. So his games are very hard to read.

Quite often, “What on Earth is he trying to do?” All he’s trying to do is to stop the game from going drawn. He’s not badly off, or it is level, but not dead; he can play on, and on, and on, and win in the end. I think that is his main talent. I think that if he carries on he has the capacity to equal the achievements of people like Kasparov and Karpov as champion. I do not see anyone remotely threatening his reign as champion.

There are other guys like Wesley So, or Anish Gurie, or Nakamura, or Caruano, but I think he’s got the measure of all of them.^{[117],[118],[119],[120]} I don’t he’s got a serious rival at all. He’s still dreadfully young.^[121] He could be world champion in 20 years. He could end up as the greatest player ever. I do not think his games will turn out as the most attractive games ever. In terms of sheer results, he’s got the potential, if he carries on to get the best sporting results of any of the world champions. He has a weakness.

His weakness is arrogance. Occasionally, he just gets overconfident, and plays like a complete idiot because he thinks that he can do anything and win. He lost a couple of games in the chess Olympiad last year by being arrogant. But if sticks to what he’s doing, does not relax, he could be the greatest ever.

17. Jacobsen: For the world of chess, the people and sport, what seems like the most probable near and far future?

Keene: There are a lot of people that say we should be using randomized opening positions, that the pieces should be shuffled at the start of the game. It’s called Fischer Random. I don’t think highly of that idea at all. It’s a bad idea. The pieces are where they are at the beginning of the game because they are most harmoniously placed for military action, and if you mess this up you get stranger portions. I think chess is sufficiently infinite to be carried on playing in its current form for a very long time. There may come a point when computers solve it.

Computers have more or less solved checkers. It’s a long time before computers completely solve chess. I think it’s too complicated. When they can tell you what is going on at any given position to play a couple openers and analyze how every possible game, and every possible conclusion, is a long way off.

I think if chess were to be played out in its current form rather than put the pieces on random different squares. I am prepared to expand the board to a 100 squares in a continental draft, which is a 10×10 board. Add a couple extra pieces, a piece that moves, like a rook or a knight or something like that.

A queen with a rook and a bishop, and a piece that moves like a rook and a knight, and I think a small simple change – Japanese chess is played on a 9×9 board. Continental draft is 10×10. 8×8 is a convention. You can easily play on a 9×9 board or a 10×10 board, but mixing up the pieces at the start I really do not like at all.

My prediction on the exhaustibility, or inexhaustibility, of chess. Tamburlaine the Great, the great Mongol conqueror used to play on a much bigger board with more pieces.^{[122],[123],[124]}They used to have camels and things like that. There is precedent for that sort of thing.

One of the big developments will be more female players. Personally, I cannot understand why there shouldn’t be more female players. It is more cultural than anything else rather than brain power. I think fewer women, culturally, have played chess professionally, made a career out of it. There will become more, and more, strong female players.

Manahel, for example, is a very bright person.^{[125],[126],[127],[128],[129]}I am sure if she had taken up chess as a young person she would have done well. A very sharp mind. I think more female players, and younger players. I think players are getting younger and younger, and both sexes are taking it up. I am not immediately worried about the possibility of chess being exhausted. It is more or less infinite. If there is a problem, rather than shuffle the pieces at the start, I would rather add two more pieces to the board than 10×10. I know that would solve the problem.

Japanese chess, for example, Shogi, they have a rule, when you catch an opponent’s piece it becomes yours, and it is a gain on your side.^[130]Maybe, that is something we should consider as well.  However, I do not think that crisis has been reached. I don’t think it will be reached for some time.

18. Jacobsen: Some methodologies in chess combine human pattern recognition and computer massive serial processing with chess algorithms. How does this process work at the highest level of achievement in chess (say, greater than or equal to 2,700 FIDE rating)?

Keene: The very top players nowadays, certainly players above 2,500, are learning from computers. The kind of chess they’re playing is often quite antithetical to what you would call “classical chess.” I mean there are all of these anti-intuitive move of players at the highest level nowadays. To be frank, I do not know what they are doing. Some of their strategic ideas or long-term moves I find really weird. I’m sure this is influenced by computers. They’re using computers to analyze. They invent moves in their own games that a computer will improve, which wouldn’t necessarily have been used by human analysts. Human are already revolutionizing even quite standard positions. They’re coming up with ideas that are totally alien to all that’s gone before.

19. Jacobsen: What common personality trait do the great chess Grandmasters have in common?

Keene: I would say it is determination. All of the top chess grandmasters are very determined. It is not just good enough to be able to understand chess. You’ve got to be able a sportsman as well. And sportsman in the sense of wanting to win and being able to adapt to difficult or changing circumstances on the move as it were. For example, there was a big tournament in St. Louis recently. It was a million dollar international grand prix. One of the talented players in it is a Philippine grandmaster name Wesley So. A very good player, he’s been up-and-coming for a long time. He’s born in the Philippines, but now he represents the USA. But he came near the bottom. The reason he came near the bottom is because he doesn’t have the same killer instinct that the other players in the tournament did, and not all of the other players, Anand, for instance, who was the former world champion, who has “been there and done that,” but his ambition is waning. I mean, he’s still a superb player, but he still doesn’t have the hunger that the others have; unless you have that, if you are in a bad position, or about to make a loss, total commitment, total determination, you normally succeed at the top. It’s a sporting quality, not just chess talent. You can have great comprehension of chess without necessarily having that killer instinct that makes you a supreme practitioner.

20. Jacobsen: Some unfortunate cases of chess genius going awry come to mind such as the late Bobby Fischer, for instance. Does this happen often in the chess world?

Keene: No, I do not think it happens any more in the chess world that I think it happens in any other area of high performance. I think Fischer, I think he was bonkers, went completely insane, especially towards the end.  These players can go mad. For example, Tony Miles was clinically insane. He had drug treatments to suppress his insanity. There were one or two others. I do not think it is any worse than in any other area of high performance. I think people in any area of high performance will be subjected to exceptional stress and all sorts of mental problems can occur. I mean most of the top chess players – Garry Kasparov, Karpov, Carlsen, Kramnik – are very sane, rational people. I don’t think chess causes mental illness at all. In fact, one chess commentator said, “Chess is one way of keeping crazy people sane.”

21. Jacobsen: What chess Grandmasters remain underrated?

Keene: In the modern world, it is very difficult to be underrated because the rating system is mathematically based on results. If you score well, you will rise in the rating system. I would say none of the modern players are underrated. They are rated exactly where they should be because their results place them in the place where they ought to be. So the question is only really relevant to historical characters. I would say a prime example of someone who is underrated is a guy named Efim Boguljubov.

He’s often dismissed because he lost the World Championship matches twice to Alexander Alekhine. People tend to dismiss saying, “He didn’t deserve to be in the World Championship.” Actually, if you look at this guy’s results, he won the Russian Championship or, as it was, the Soviet Championship. He then emigrated and won the German Championship. Then he held the German and Russian Championships in the same year. He won major international tournaments. He thoroughly deserved his crack at the title. The fact that Alekhine defeated him easily is not a comment on Boguljubov, but a comment on Alekhine. I think he deserved a much higher ranking than he is normally accorded. He is one that deserves a lot more credit than he’s got.

In the modern era, I don’t think there is anybody who is underrated because the rating system tends to put people exactly where they should be. The only player I can think of, and this is not a question of underrating but it is a question of bad luck, was man named Paul Keres, an Estonian Grandmaster, who was number 3 in the world for a long time. He was number 3 in the world in 1948 and probably number 2, or 3, in 1938. Even in 1969, he was still very much near the top. In 1962, he was number 3 in the world. He maintained these positions for a very long time. He was always coming second in the qualifiers. He was somebody who I think people would have liked to see become World Champion, but he never quite got through that final hurdle of ruthlessness that characterizes the great champions like Alekhine, Botvinnnik, and Kasparov. So I think Keres and Boguljubov are the two that are the most underrated.

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Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Knight of the Order of the White Swan, (conferred by ) Prince Marek Kasperski Chevalier of the Order of Champagne; Chair, Outside in Pathways; Director, Brain Trust Charity; Former British Chess Champion; Bronze Medal, World Team Championship; Right to Arms, Royal College of Arms; Freeman of the City of London; Winner (Two Times), Global Chess Oscar; Ex-Head (1994-2000), Mind Sports Faculty; Ex-Chess Tutor, Imperial Court of Iran; Gold Medal, Chinese Olympic Association; Gold Medalist, European Championship; Honorary Board Member, World Intelligence Network (WIN); The Global Media and PR Director, World Memory Sports Council; Ex-Head (2013/2014), Leadership Academies Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein and President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, in Leon; Britain’s Senior International Chess Grandmaster; International Arbiter, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) or World Chess Federation; Co-Founder, World Memory Championships; Count of the Order of Torres Madras, Portugal; Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE); journalist; columnist; and author.

[2] First publication on April 15, 2018 at http://www.in-sightjournal.com/keene-one.

[3] Photograph courtesy of Count & Grand Master Raymond Dennis Keene, O.B.E and Byron Jacobs.

[4] Master of Arts, Modern Languages, Dulwich College, Trinity College, Cambridge.

[5] According to The Gifted Academy Distinguished Patron (2015), it states:

“MA Trinity College Cambridge; Officer of British Empire, awarded by HM the Queen in person. Britain’s senior International chess Grandmaster, former British chess champion and Gold medallist in European Championship, writes every day in The Times. Ray has also written the world record 197 books (translated into 13 languages) on Chess, Mind Sports, Genius, Mental World Records, Art  and Thinking, and has won numerous first prizes in  international chess tournaments across five continents.

Ray also writes regularly for The Sunday Times, The Spectator, The Daily Yomiuri Tokyo, The Australian and The Gulf News. Ray studied German at Trinity where Ray shared lodgings with H R H Prince Charles. In 1981 Ray was awarded Gold Medal of Chinese Olympic Association; before 1975 was chess tutor to The Imperial Court of Iran. Raised £1.4m for 3 Mind Sports Olympiads 1997, 1998, 1999 – organised 1st ever Man vs Computer World Championship in any thinking sport -World Draughts Championship London 1992. Ray was appointed head of Mind Sports Faculty for 1994-2000 and 2013/2014 Leadership Academies of Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein and President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, in Leon. Twice winner of Global Chess Oscar as world’s best chess writer.

Ray co-founded and organised the World Memory Championship 22 times since 1991. Personal bests in chess displays  challenging multiple opponents at the same time,107 simultaneous opponents at Oxford 1973 where he won 101, drew 5 and lost one, and Leon Mexico 2013, defeating 17 opponents simultaneously without sight of the boards or pieces. Translator of Goethe’s Faust into English.  Freeman of the City of London and granted right to Arms by the Royal College of Arms.”

Please see The Gifted Academy. (2015). Distinguished Patron. Retrieved from http://www.thegiftedacademy.com/the-board.

[6] Please see London. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/place/London.

[7] Please see London. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/place/London.

[8] Please see chess. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/chess.

[9] In The World Championship and FIDE (2015) of the Encyclopedia Britannica, it states:

“IDE also took over the Women’s World Championship and biennial Olympiad team championships, which originated in the 1920s. In addition, the federation developed new championship titles, particularly for junior players in various age groups. It also created a system for recognizing top players by arithmetic rating and by titles based on tournament performance. The highest title, after World Champion, is International Grandmaster, of whom there are now more than 500 in the world.”

Please see chess. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/chess.

[10] Please see The Spectator. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://www.spectator.co.uk/author/raymond-keene/.

[11] Please see The Spectator. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://www.spectator.co.uk/author/raymond-keene/.

[12] Please see British Championship 2015. (2015). British Championship 2015. Retrieved from http://www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk/2015/.

[13] Please see Chessdom.com (2015). European Chess Championship 2015 LIVE!. Retrieved from http://www.chessdom.com/european-individual-chess-championship-2015-jerusalem/.

[14] Please see World Chess Championship 2015. (2015). World Team Chess Championship 2015. Retrieved from http://tsaghkadzor2015.fide.com/.

[15] Please see University of Cambridge. (2015). University of Cambridge. Retrieved from https://www.cam.ac.uk/.

[16] Please see Barnes and Noble. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://www1.barnesandnoble.com/c/raymond-keene.

[17] Please see JacketFlap. (2015). About Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://www.jacketflap.com/raymond-keene/129027.

[18] Please see Simon and Schuster. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Raymond-Keene/706694.

[19] Please see The Croyden Citizen. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from https://www.google.ca/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=K4vGVc6hEIyV8QfIjZmoDg&gws_rd=ssl#q=Raymond+Keene&start=40.

[20] Please see The Spectator. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://www.spectator.co.uk/author/raymond-keene/.

[21] Please see Waterstones. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from https://www.waterstones.com/author/raymond-keene/184662.

[22] Please see Jose Raul Capablanca. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Raul-Capablanca.

[23] Please see Garry Kasparov. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Garry-Kasparov.

[24] Please see Jose Raul Capablanca. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Raul-Capablanca.

[25] Please see Paul Charles Morphy. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Charles-Morphy.

[26] Please see Jose Raul Capablanca. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Raul-Capablanca.

[27] Please see Garry Kasparov. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Garry-Kasparov.

[28] In Encyclopedia Britannica Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2015), it, in part, states:

“Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (born August 28, 1749, Frankfurt am Main [Germany]—died March 22, 1832, Weimar, Saxe-Weimar), German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist, considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern era.

Goethe is the only German literary figure whose range and international standing equal those of Germany’s supreme philosophers (who have often drawn on his works and ideas) and composers (who have often set his works to music). In the literary culture of the German-speaking countries, he has had so dominant a position that, since the end of the 18th century, his writings have been described as “classical.” In a European perspective he appears as the central and unsurpassed representative of the Romantic Movement, broadly understood. He could be said to stand in the same relation to the culture of the era that began with the Enlightenment and continues to the present day as William Shakespeare does to the culture of the Renaissance and Dante to the culture of the High Middle Ages. His Faust, though eminently stageworthy when suitably edited, is also Europe’s greatest long poem since John Milton’s Paradise Lost, if not since Dante’s The Divine Comedy.”

Please see Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe.

[29] Please see Romanticism. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/art/Romanticism.

[30] Please see Enlightenment. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history.

[31] Please see Goethe, J.W.V. (1808). Faust. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14591/14591-h/14591-h.htm.

[32] In Encyclopedia Britannica Faust (2015), it, in part, states:

“Faust, two-part dramatic work by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Part I was published in 1808 and Part II in 1832, after the author’s death. The supreme work of Goethe’s later years, Faust is sometimes considered Germany’s greatest contribution to world literature.

Part I sets out the magician Faust’s despair, his pact with Mephistopheles, and his love for Gretchen. Part II covers Faust’s life at court, the wooing and winning of Helen of Troy, and his purification and salvation.

In earlier eras the play was often decried as formless because of its array of lyric, epic, dramatic, operatic, and balletic elements. It includes almost every known poetic metre, from doggerel through terza rima to six-foot trimetre (a line of verse consisting of three measures), and a number of styles ranging from Greek tragedy through medieval mystery, baroque allegory, Renaissance masque, and commedia dell’arte to something akin to the modern revue.”

Please see Faust. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/Faust-play.

[33] Please see Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe.

[34] Please see Goethe, J.W.V. (1788). Egmont. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1945/1945-h/1945-h.htm.

[35] In Encyclopedia Britannica Egmont (2015), it, in part, states:

“Egmont, tragic drama in five acts by J.W. von Goethe, published in 1788 and produced in 1789. The hero is based upon the historical figure of Lamoraal, count of Egmond (Egmont), a 16th-century Dutch leader during the Counter-Reformation. The work had great appeal for European audiences excited by the new movements toward democracy and nationalism.

The play is set during the period in which the Netherlands was suffering under the harsh rule of Roman Catholic Spain. The story pits the sympathetic and tolerant Egmont against the fierce and brutal Spanish Duke of Alva (a character based on Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3^er duque de Alba), who is sent to repress further Protestant rebellion. Egmont proves to be no match for the scheming Alva, and he is sentenced to die. At the conclusion of the play, however, he has a vision of the eventual triumph of freedom.”

Please see Egmont. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/Egmont.

[36] Please see Goethe, J.W.V. (1808). Faust. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14591/14591-h/14591-h.htm.

[37] Please see Goethe, J.W.V. (1808). Faust. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14591/14591-h/14591-h.htm.

[38] Please see Goethe, J.W.V. (1808). Faust. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14591/14591-h/14591-h.htm.

[39] Please see Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe.

[40] Please see Sir Isaac Newton. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Newton.

[41] Please see Johann Peter Eckermann. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Peter-Eckermann.

[42] Please see Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe.

[43] Please see Napoleon I. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Napoleon-I.

[44] A reference to the polymath nature of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Please see Leonardo da Vinci. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-da-Vinci.

[45] Please see William Shakespeare. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Shakespeare.

[46] Please see Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe.

[47] Please see Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe.

[48] Please see The Brain Trust Charity (2015). Raymond Keene OBE. Retrieved from http://www.braintrust.org.uk/about-us/raymond-keene-obe/.

[49] Please see Barnes and Noble. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://www1.barnesandnoble.com/c/raymond-keene.

[50] Please see JacketFlap. (2015). About Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://www.jacketflap.com/raymond-keene/129027.

[51] Please see Simon and Schuster. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Raymond-Keene/706694.

[52] Please see The Croyden Citizen. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from https://www.google.ca/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=K4vGVc6hEIyV8QfIjZmoDg&gws_rd=ssl#q=Raymond+Keene&start=40.

[53] Please see The Spectator. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://www.spectator.co.uk/author/raymond-keene/.

[54] Please see Waterstones. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from https://www.waterstones.com/author/raymond-keene/184662.

[55] Please see The Brain Trust Charity (2015). Raymond Keene OBE. Retrieved from http://www.braintrust.org.uk/about-us/raymond-keene-obe/.

[56] Please see The Brain Trust Charity (2015). Raymond Keene OBE. Retrieved from http://www.braintrust.org.uk/about-us/raymond-keene-obe/.

[57] Please see The Brain Trust Charity (2015). Raymond Keene OBE. Retrieved from http://www.braintrust.org.uk/about-us/raymond-keene-obe/.

[58] Please see The Brain Trust Charity (2015). Raymond Keene OBE. Retrieved from http://www.braintrust.org.uk/about-us/raymond-keene-obe/.

[59] Please see The Brain Trust Charity (2015). Raymond Keene OBE. Retrieved from http://www.braintrust.org.uk/about-us/raymond-keene-obe/.

[60] Please see The Brain Trust Charity (2015). Raymond Keene OBE. Retrieved from http://www.braintrust.org.uk/about-us/raymond-keene-obe/.

[61] Please see The Brain Trust Charity (2015). Raymond Keene OBE. Retrieved from http://www.braintrust.org.uk/about-us/raymond-keene-obe/.

[62] In Encyclopedia Britannica House of Bragança (2015), it, in part, states:

“House of Bragança, English Braganza, ruling dynasty of Portugal from 1640 to 1910 and of the empire of Brazil from 1822 to 1889.

The first duke of Bragança was Afonso (d. 1461), an illegitimate son of the Portuguese king John I. When Portugal gained its independence from Spain in 1640, João II, 8th duke of Bragança, ascended the Portuguese throne as John IV. Thereafter the title duke of Bragança was borne by the heir presumptive to the throne. The new dynasty lasted until the death of Maria II in 1853. Her two sons (Peter V and Louis), grandson (Charles), and great grandson (Manuel II), all of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Koháry (their father’s dynastic house), ruled until the end of the monarchy in 1910.”

Please see House of Braganca. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Braganca.

[63] “Pro rata” means “proportional ratio.”

[64] Please see Garry Kasparov. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Garry-Kasparov.

[65] Please see Brussels. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/place/Brussels.

[66] Please see Garry Kasparov. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Garry-Kasparov.

[67] Please see Vladimir Kramnik. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Vladimir-Kramnik.

[68] Please see Viswanathan Anand. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Vishwanathan-Anand.

[69] Please see World Chess Federation. (2015). FIDE: Standard Top 100 Players August 2015. Retrieved from https://ratings.fide.com/top.phtml?list=men.

[70] Please see Carlsen, M. (2015). About. Retrieved from http://magnuscarlsen.com/about.

[71] Please see Harry Golombek. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Harry-Golombek.

[72] Please see The Times. (2015). The Times. Retrieved from http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/.

[73] Please see The Sunday Times. (2015). The Sunday Times. Retrieved from http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/.

[74] Please see The Brain Trust Charity (2015). Raymond Keene OBE. Retrieved from http://www.braintrust.org.uk/about-us/raymond-keene-obe/.

[75] Please see The Australian. (2015). The Australian. Retrieved from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/.

[76] Please see The Spectator. (2015). Raymond Keene. Retrieved from http://www.spectator.co.uk/author/raymond-keene/.

[77] Please see The Times. (2015). The Times. Retrieved from http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/.

[78] Please see The Times. (2015). The Times. Retrieved from http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/.

[79] Please see Gulf News. (2015). Gulf News. Retrieved from http://gulfnews.com/.

[80] Please see The Times. (2015). The Times. Retrieved from http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/.

[81] Please see Gulf News. (2015). Gulf News. Retrieved from http://gulfnews.com/.

[82] In About: Tony Buzan – Inventor of Mind Mapping (2015), it, in full, states:

“Tony Buzan is the world-renowned inventor of Mind Mapping and expert on the brain, memory, speed reading, creativity and innovation. He has been named as one of the world’s top 5 speakers by Forbes magazine.

Through over 40 years of research into the workings of the brain, Tony Buzan is dedicating his life to developing and refining techniques to help individuals think better and more creatively, and reach their full potential. He has awakened the brains of millions worldwide.

Described as “one of the most influential leaders in the field of thinking creatively”, Tony utilises his accredited training courses to build a network of highly specialised experts in creative thinking, memory and speed reading techniques. Tony Buzan imparts his knowledge and expertise on the three ThinkBuzan Licensed Instructor courses in Mind Mapping, Memory and Speed Reading, which he both leads and accredits. The ThinkBuzan accredited training courses bring practical skills to delegates all over the world including individuals from FTSE multinational corporations, leading global universities and Government departments.”

Please see Buzan, T. (2015). About. Retrieved from http://www.tonybuzan.com/about/.

[83] Please see World Memory Championships. (2015). About Us. Retrieved from http://www.worldmemorychampionships.com/about-2/.

[84] Please see The Brain Trust Charity (2015). Raymond Keene OBE. Retrieved from http://www.braintrust.org.uk/about-us/raymond-keene-obe/.

[85] Please see Miyamoto Musashi. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Miyamoto-Musashi-Japanese-soldier-artist.

[86] Please see Miyamoto Musashi. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Miyamoto-Musashi-Japanese-soldier-artist.

[87] Please see Miyamoto Musashi. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Miyamoto-Musashi-Japanese-soldier-artist.

[88] Please see Gelb, M. (2015). Michael Gelb. Retrieved from http://michaelgelb.com/.

[89] Please see Amazon. (2015). Samurai Chess. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Chess-Mastering-Strategic-Thinking/dp/0802775497.

[90] Please see Viswanathan Anand. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Vishwanathan-Anand.

[91] Please see Carlsen, M. (2015). About. Retrieved from http://magnuscarlsen.com/about.

[92] Please see Carlsen, M. (2015). About. Retrieved from http://magnuscarlsen.com/about.

[93] Please see Paul Charles Morphy. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Charles-Morphy.

[94] Please see Jose Raul Capablanca. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Raul-Capablanca.

[95] Please see Garry Kasparov. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Garry-Kasparov.

[96] Please see Paul Charles Morphy. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Charles-Morphy.

[97] Please see Jose Raul Capablanca. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Raul-Capablanca.

[98] Please see Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart.

[99] Please see Johann Sebastian Bach. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Sebastian-Bach.

[100] Please see British Championship 2015. (2015). British Championship 2015. Retrieved from http://www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk/2015/.

[101] In Encyclopedia Britannica Susan Polar (2015), it states:

“Susan Polgar, original name Zsuzsanna Polgár (born April 19, 1969, Budapest, Hung.), Hungarian-born American chess player who won the women’s world championship in 1996 from Xie Jun of China. In 1999 Polgar was stripped of her title by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE; the international chess organization) for failing to agree to match conditions.”

Please see Susan Polgar. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Susan-Polgar.

[102] In Encyclopedia Britannica Judit Polgar (2015), it stats:

“Judit Polgár, (born July 23, 1976, Budapest, Hung.), the youngest of three chess-playing sisters (see also Susan Polgar). She earned the (men’s) International Master (IM) chess title at the age of 12 and set a new record (since beaten) by becoming the youngest (men’s) International Grandmaster (GM) in history at the age of 15 years 4 months, eclipsing Bobby Fischer’s record by a month.

Apart from her gold-medal-winning appearances for the Hungarian women’s Olympiad teams of 1988 and 1990, Polgár has spurned women-only events. She defeated former world chess champion Boris Spassky in a match in 1993. In 1994 she went undefeated in winning a chess tournament in Madrid, Spain, the first woman to win a strong grandmaster tournament open to both genders.”

Please see Judit Polgar. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Judit-Polgar.

[103] Please see chess. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/chess.

[104] Please see Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Anatoly-Yevgenyevich-Karpov.

[105] Please see Vladimir Kramnik. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Vladimir-Kramnik.

[106] Please see Garry Kasparov. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Garry-Kasparov.

[107] Please see Paul Charles Morphy. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Charles-Morphy.

[108] Please see Jose Raul Capablanca. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Raul-Capablanca.

[109] Please see Jose Raul Capablanca. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Raul-Capablanca.

[110] Please see Paul Charles Morphy. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Charles-Morphy.

[111] Please see Bobby Fischer. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Bobby-Fischer.

[112] Please see Emanuel Lasker. (2015). In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://0-academic.eb.com.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/EBchecked/topic/330989/Emanuel-Lasker.

[113] “Prima Facie” means “at first appearance.”

[114] Please see United Kingdom. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom.

[115] Please see Carlsen, M. (2015). About. Retrieved from http://magnuscarlsen.com/about.

[116] Please see Garry Kasparov. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Garry-Kasparov.

[117] Please see So, W. (2015). Wesley So. Retrieved from http://wesleyso.com/.

[118] Please see Giri, A. (2015). Anish Giri. Retrieved from http://anishgiri.nl/.

[119] Please see Nakamura, H. (2015). Hikaru Nakamura. Retrieved from http://hikarunakamura.com/.

[120] Please see Caruano, F. (2015). Fabiano Caruano. Retrieved from http://www.caruanachess.com/.

[121] At the time of publication, Magnus Carlsen is 24 years old.

[122] Please see Timur. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Timur.

[123] Please see Mongol. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/Mongol.

[124] Please see Tamburlaine the Great. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/Tamburlaine-the-Great.

[125] Please see In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal. (2015). Dr. Manahel Thabet. Retrieved from http://in-sightjournal.com/in-sight-people/.

[126] Please see World Genius Directory. (2015). Dr. Manahel Thabet. Retrieved from http://www.psiq.org/world_genius_directory_awards/goty2013manahelthabet.pdf.

[127] In The Gifted Academy About: Principals… (2015), it, in full, states:

“Dr Manahel Thabet is ranked among the 30 Smartest people alive by SuperScholar and Brain of the Year Award Winner 2015-2016. In 2014 she was selected the AVICENNA award Laureate, as a successor to Professor Tony Buzan, given every year to those who present best practice in science , connecting East with West through science and knowledge. She also represents The Brain Trust Foundation as President of the MENA region, with one objective, which is to unlock and deploy the vast capacity of the human brain.

She is a PhD holder; Youngest winner of Woman of the Year 2000 from Woman Federation for World Peace. In 2013 Dr. Thabet won Genius of the Year 2013 by the World Genius Directory representing ASIA.

She is the President of WIQF (World IQ Foundation), the High IQ society and Vice President of ‘WIN’ (World Intelligence Network), with more than 60,000 high IQ members from all over the world; in 2012 Dr. Thabet was the Chairperson of the Scientific Comittee, Recommendation Commitee and Senior Advisor to the International Asia Pacific Giftedness Conference held in Dubai – UAE hosted by Hamdan Bin Rashis Awards for Distinguished Academic Performance. The conference hosted specialists from 42 countries, 320 papers and more than 2000 participants in the field of Talent and Gifted Education.

Dr. Thabet obtained the “Excellence of Global International Environmental and Humanitarian Award” given for outstanding efforts in undertaking environmental and humanitarian support. Dr. Thabet is also the winner of Middle East Achievement Awards in Science and was ranked among the 100 most powerful Women in the Middle East and most powerful 500 Arabs in the World by Arabian Business. Dr. Thabet is a Royal Grand Cross Officer of the White Swan Companionate and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in London, UK.”

Please see The Gifted Academy. (2015). About: Principals…. Retrieved from http://www.thegiftedacademy.com/about.

[128] Please see Thabet, M. (2015). Smart Tips Consultants. Retrieved from http://drmanahel.com/#about-us.

[129] Please see WIQF. (2015). WIQF. Retrieved from http://wiqf.org/.

[130] Please see shogi. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/shogi.

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