Chess player’s head explodes

By Frank "Boy" Pestaño
Chessmoso

AFTER the recent Cepca vs. Cebu Selection matches last week, a few of us gathered for dinner, and Jojo Muralla happened to mention an incident which happened during a Moscow tournament, wherein a chess player’s head literally exploded in the middle of a game.

I researched further on the matter and the source is the May 24, 1994 issue of the magazine Weekly World News, whose authenticity is questionable, but nevertheless, here are the details.

No one else was hurt in the fatal explosion but several players and some officials were sprayed with blood and brain matter when Nikolai Titov’s head suddenly blew apart. Experts later said that what happened was caused by a rare condition called Hyper-Celebral Electrosis or HCE.

“He was in deep concentration with his eyes focused on the board,” says his opponent, Vladimir Dobrynin. “All of a sudden his hands flew to his temples and he screamed in pain. Everyone looked up from their games, startled by the noise. Then, as if someone had put a bomb in his cranium, his head popped like a firecracker.”

HCE is extremely rare and only five people have died all over the world in the last 25 years. The most recent occurred in 1991, when psychic Barbara Nicole’s head burst.

Dr. Anatoly Martinenko, a neurologist who did the autopsy on the unfortunate chess player says, “HCE is an extremely rare physical imbalance. It is a condition in which the circuits of the brain become overloaded with the body’s own electricity. The explosion happens during periods of intense mental activity when lots of current is surging through the brain. Victims are normally highly-intelligent people with great powers of concentration. In a way, both Nicole and Titov were too smart for their own good.

Although there are probably more cases not officially reported, the chance of your head exploding is one in a billion, and you have more chance of getting hit by lightning unless you are a chess player.

KRAMNIK VS LEKO. Vladimir Kramnik retained the World Classical Championship by the skin of his teeth by winning the last game of the 14-game match to equalize the score at 7-7. According to the rules, all he needed was to tie the match.

The match was a quality one with most games full of innovations. Kramnik won the first while Leko won the fifth and eighth.

“I had to give everything to win against such an opponent. Peter Leko is an incredible defender. For me it was more difficult than my match against Kasparov,” said Kramnik after the game.

On the other hand, his 25-year-old challenger from Hungary said: “It was a very hard fight. In the end, it was not enough for me to win the title. I’m disappointed, but I’m looking forward to the future. I’m 25-years-old, and I hope to get a new chance to become world champion.”

The match was sponsored by tobacco manufacturer Dannemann with a prize fund of one million Swiss francs or about $775,000 and was held in Brissago, Switzerland.

Kramnik will now play against the winner of the forthcoming match between current world No.1 Garry Kasparov and Fide champion Rustam Ka-simdzhanov, which will be held in Dubai this coming Jan. 7-24.

CHESS OLYMPIAD. Despite all the problems the RP teams encountered, they arrived on time in Majorca for the opening ceremonies, thanks to Sec. Alberto Romulo for expediting their Spanish visas.

Here are the results thus far after round 5. The Men’s team won over Malta, 4-0; over Colombia, 2.5-1.5; lost to India, 3-1; won over Ireland, 3-1; and lost to Canada, 2.5-1.5.

The Women’s team lost to Cuba, 0.5-2.5; won over Malaysia and Finland by identical 2-1; and drew with Denmark and Estonia. By the way, the team has no reserve player, as Aices Salvador could not join the team for personal reasons.

After five rounds, Ukraine is leading in the Men’s division with 16.5 points, followed by Israel with 16 and Azerbaijan with 15, while our team is tied at 24t-35th with 12 points. China, meantime, is in a class of its own in the Women’s section with 14 points while our team has 7.5.