Today is the 10th anniversary of Viktor Korchnoi’s death. This story has a little something for everyone: history, chess, and the horror of greedy corporations using AI to find new ways to exploit us long after we’re gone. Read it here: https://www.adventitious.net/stories/kings-gambit-exe-yelena-crane/

A gambit is taking a calculated risk, something Korchnoi had done most of his life.

The 1978 match between Karpov and Korchnoi was one of the most controversial matches of all time. There were accusations about hypnosis, x-rays, poison, secret yogurt signals, and more going both ways. The more you read about it, the more drama there is to find. Korchnoi wasn’t even supposed to play! That was the match we got in reality.

I didn’t want to summarize history so Kings_Gambit.exe pushes beyond that. I am not the first to wonder what if?

Throughout his life, Korchnoi had to defend his love of the game. Not just against opponents, but against his country. While it was convenient, the USSR used him but when it wanted him to step aside, he refused. All these are reasons why he’s the main character in King’s_Gambit.exe. It’s why Bobby Fischer, riddled with his own issues in life, is another important character. Any pursuit of perfection can and has destroyed lives.

The horror here is that after death Viktor Korchnoi is resurrected as a construct (a la Dixie in Neuromancer) and forced to train others in the game. Sure he can play with his old pals, and even against new world champion constructs, but he has to do it forever. Some may argue this would be heaven for Korchnoi, who played to the very end. I think he’s always been a man who played on his own terms, not others. How many wins does it to take to miss humanity?

What happens when someone who gave up everything for the game: country, home, family (including wife and child), has had enough but must keep playing?

You don’t need to love chess in order to love this story. The real meat, as with most of my work, is about what makes us human. How do we keep our humanity when everything is stripped away from it, when we’re resurrected from our graves into wires? Should we try to cling on or accept our fate?

What are we consenting to when we put our lives online and how will future technology remake us for profit?

What would you have done in his place?

I dedicate this to my grandpa, my дідусь, who used to take me to parks as an excuse to play chess with strangers. Thank you for teaching me to admire the game, even if the talent skipped my generation.

Let me know what you think of Kings_Gambit.exe in the comments.