The relationship between IQ and Chess has always been a confusing one. Many argue that chess is heavily related to one’s personal intelligence, while others argue that they’re two completely different skill sets and are in no way related.
However, when we say the word IQ, one person comes to mind. That person is the myth, The Legend, Albert Einstein. However, there is one other figure when it comes to sheer intelligence. The father of Death, himself, Robert J Oppenheimer.
Many people do not know this, however, Oppenheimer and Einstein have actually played a game of Chess themselves. Will this be the game of Birlliance, indicated by both master's works, or will this prove that Chess and IQ have nothing to do with each other?
Read on to Find Out!!
THE START + FIRST MISTAKE
The game started out as a Ruy Lopez, and at move 6, the e4 pawn was captured, pretty much meaning a draw at the professional level in 2023. However, Oppenheimer made quite a mistake by retreating his knight back to E7. This is not good as it means his activity has taken a huge hit.
He played this to avoid the discovered check, which would’ve came if he did nothing, however, capturing the knight would be a much smarter approach, as there are much fewer threats. Infact, after NxE5, RxE5, Black would not even lose the pawn due to Be6 being a defensive resource.
The lesson we can take away from this inaccuracy by Oppenheimer is that retreating your pieces is almost always not the best choice. Knight to D4 would have been miles better, however, since he moved back, his activity has taken a huge hit.
F6. THE FIRST BLUNDER
After a few moves, Einstein played Queen F3. A threat which also helps develop his position. In professional chess, this is called, “developing with tempo”, meaning you develop, with a threat, and force your opponent to respond to it.
As a response, Oppenheimer played F3, which is a critical error. Take note since this tactic will appear in many of your games! Einstein plays QH5, forcing G6, which means Einstein can sacrifice his knight, in order to win that rook in the corner!
After this, he also makes an inaccuracy of taking the bishop, losing his final, somewhat active piece. This now means that his entire position has no counterplay as there now no more active pieces remaining.
Generally, when the Opponent loses their rooks in the corner like this, they are susceptible to crazy fast offensives by the enemy, which is what Einstein does, by sending his bishop to H6. This crazy fast combination results in Oppenheimer losing another piece.
EINSTEIN’S BRILLIANCY
Einstein performed a Brilliant move in this game. During move 21, he played Nc4!!, attacking the Queen! However, if the Queen moves, the knight on E7 will be captured. Therefore, the obvious move is to capture the knight, however, after a recapture, the Queen is pinned to the king, and is forced to be sacrificed.
This brilliant move teaches us to be perspicacious about tactics that are available, especially in a straight line. This will allow you to spot opportunities for pins and skewers, something really important, especially because things like this happen all the time, unlike other tactics!
CONCLUSION
While the link between IQ and Chess has been and still is unclear, we can say, without a doubt, that many of us could play better than Oppenheimer. In no way is that saying his work is not absolutely incredible, but instead just saying perhaps his chess skills could use a little work.
Thank you for reading, and please write in the comment section, have you seen the film Oppenheimer before, and if so, how was it?
