Musk predicts chess about to get 'solved', gets grandmasters' attention

Elon Musk's prediction that chess will be "solved" within a decade, akin to checkers, has sparked intense reactions from prominent grandmasters and members of the chess community worldwide.

The Tesla CEO stoked a controversy with a post on X that read, "Computers are so much better than humans at chess, it’s absurd. I predict that chess will be essentially fully solved (like checkers) within 10 years."

Recently, Musk shared a photo of a device, prompting speculation that US grandmaster Hans Niemann was cheating with a sex toy.

An Investigatory Panel of FIDE’S (the international chess federation) Fair Play Commission found no evidence of Niemann cheating in over-the-board games.

Niemann took it to X to express, "Although my innocence has been proven by multiple official chess organizations, I understand the comedic value behind this conspiracy theory. I look forward to becoming world chess champion, and letting the chess speak for itself."

Emil Sutovsky, the CEO of FIDE, said, "Engines haven’t advanced much for few years now. Even the task of solving all positions with 9 pieces can’t be completed. It’ll take years to cover 10 pieces, and you have 32. Engines are incomparably better than humans for 20 years now, but no checkers-type solution expected," as quoted by the Indian Express.

Peter Heine Nielsen, who has been a trainer for both Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen, however agreed with Musk.

"From a technical aspect I quite agree with Musk's takes on chess. For practical purposes chess is close to being solved. And from a general game perspective, the lag of 'fog of war' hurts chess. But chess is the perfect game from a sporting perspective, and truly global," he said.

In 2022, Musk clashed with former world champion Garry Kasparov over the Ukraine-Russia war, and called chess "too simple" for real-life application. The incident arose when Kasparov criticised Musk for his remarks on the conflict.

Responding to that, Musk posted on X, "While it’s true that Kasparov is almost as good at playing chess as my iPhone, he is otherwise an idiot."

Then, talking about playing chess, Musk posted: "I did (play chess) as a child, but found it to be too simple to be useful in real life: a mere 8 by 8 grid, no fog of war, no technology tree, no random map or spawn position, only 2 players, both sides exact same pieces, etc."