CASE № 0000-K // PARTIALLY DECLASSIFIED

THE CROWNPHENOMENON

Since 1886 the same crown has been passing from subject to subject. It is not inherited, not for sale, and it does not forgive. We observe. We record. We do not interfere — mostly.

18 bearers
140 years
64 squares

BEGIN THE DESCENT ↓

ДОСЬЕ I // 1886–1921 // 2 СУБЪЕКТ(ОВ)

The Romantics & the First King

Coffee houses, gaslight, the first surveillance protocols

▤ EXHIBIT // 1858

The Opera Game — Paris, a box at the Italian opera

Пол Морфи — Герцог Брауншвейгский и граф Изуар

· · ·MOVE 0/33SCROLL — THE GAME IS ON ↓

Fritz Schumann · Public domain

SUBJECT № 01 // DECLASSIFIED

Wilhelm Steinitz

«The First King»

REIGN: 1886–1894
BORN: 1836–1900
JURISDICTION: Austria-Hungary → USA

01 Won the first official title match: Zukertort, 1886, +10 −5 =5
02 Unbeaten in matches for 28 consecutive years — 1866 to 1894
03 Declared attacks «punishable without positional grounds» and fell out with the entire romantic era
04 Died in New York in poverty; the crown covered no expenses

⌁ INTERCEPTED
Chess is not for the faint-hearted.

Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-00457 · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

SUBJECT № 02 // DECLASSIFIED

Emanuel Lasker

«The Eternal One»

REIGN: 1894–1921
BORN: 1868–1941
JURISDICTION: German Empire

01 27 years on the throne — a record never broken by anyone
02 Doctor of mathematics: the Lasker–Noether theorem is still in textbooks
03 Played bridge and Go at tournament level; a friend of Einstein
04 Lost everything in 1933 and fled Germany; at 66 returned to the board — for food

⌁ INTERCEPTED
On the chessboard, lies and hypocrisy do not survive long.

◈ CONTROL POSITION // 1851

London, 1851. Anderssen has given up a bishop and both rooks — and is ready to give the queen. Where?

YOUR MOVE: WHITE

ДОСЬЕ II // 1921–1948 // 3 СУБЪЕКТ(ОВ)

The Art-Deco Machine

The crown travels first class and makes no mistakes

Keystone-France (anonymous) · Public domain

SUBJECT № 03 // DECLASSIFIED

José Raúl Capablanca

«The Chess Machine»

REIGN: 1921–1927
BORN: 1888–1942
JURISDICTION: Cuba

01 Eight years and 63 consecutive games without a single loss: 1916–1924
02 Learned the moves at four, watching his father play
03 Listed as a Cuban diplomat «for special assignments» — duties: being Capablanca
04 Lost the crown to Alekhine in 1927 and never got a rematch

⌁ INTERCEPTED
Above all else, study the endgame first.

George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress · Public domain

SUBJECT № 04 // DECLASSIFIED

Alexander Alekhine

«Combination Incarnate»

REIGN: 1927–1935, 1937–1946
BORN: 1892–1946
JURISDICTION: Russia → France

01 The only bearer to die with the crown: Estoril, 1946, a board beside the body
02 World blindfold record: 32 boards simultaneously, Chicago, 1933
03 Left Soviet Russia in 1921 — smuggled the crown out in his head
04 Lost the title to Euwe in 1935, regained it two years later and never let go

⌁ INTERCEPTED
For me, chess is not a game but an art.

Harry Pot / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

SUBJECT № 05 // DECLASSIFIED

Max Euwe

«The Mathematics Teacher»

REIGN: 1935–1937
BORN: 1901–1981
JURISDICTION: Netherlands

01 The only amateur on the throne: between games he taught mathematics to Amsterdam schoolgirls
02 The sensation of 1935: a Dutchman beats the great Alekhine
03 Honourably granted a rematch in 1937 — and honourably lost it
04 FIDE president in the 1970s: he was the one who pushed Fischer–Spassky to the first move

◈ CONTROL POSITION // 1910

Vienna, 1910. White’s queen and knight are both hanging. Réti spends zero seconds deciding.

YOUR MOVE: WHITE

ДОСЬЕ III // 1948–1972 // 5 СУБЪЕКТ(ОВ)

The Soviet School

The crown is nationalised. The queue is scheduled decades ahead

Harry Pot / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

SUBJECT № 06 // DECLASSIFIED

Mikhail Botvinnik

«The Patriarch»

REIGN: 1948–1957, 1958–1960, 1961–1963
BORN: 1911–1995
JURISDICTION: USSR

01 Took the vacant throne in 1948 by winning the match-tournament of the five strongest
02 Lost the crown twice and twice took it back in return matches
03 Doctor of technical sciences: electrical engineering by day, destroying opponents by preparation at night
04 His school produced three future bearers: Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik

⌁ INTERCEPTED
Chess is the art of analysis.

Koen Suyk / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC0

SUBJECT № 07 // DECLASSIFIED

Vasily Smyslov

«Harmony»

REIGN: 1957–1958
BORN: 1921–2010
JURISDICTION: USSR

01 Reigned exactly one year — but played Botvinnik three matches and 69 games
02 A baritone: auditioned for the Bolshoi Theatre, one seat short
03 At 62 reached the Candidates final — against a 20-year-old Kasparov
04 Said he was looking for harmony on the board, not a blow

Harry Pot / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

SUBJECT № 08 // DECLASSIFIED

Mikhail Tal

«The Magician from Riga»

REIGN: 1960–1961
BORN: 1936–1992
JURISDICTION: USSR (Riga)

01 Became champion at 23 — the youngest bearer at the time
02 Sacrificed pieces in ways this commission still cannot file properly
03 One kidney, endless hospitals — and blitz from under the IV drip until his final year
04 95 games unbeaten in a row (1973–74) — the longest streak of the 20th century

⌁ INTERCEPTED
There are two types of sacrifices: correct ones and mine.

▤ EXHIBIT // 1960

World Championship match, game 6 — Moscow, Variety Theatre

Михаил Ботвинник — Михаил Таль

· · ·MOVE 0/93SCROLL — THE GAME IS ON ↓

Harry Pot / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC0

SUBJECT № 09 // DECLASSIFIED

Tigran Petrosian

«Iron Tigran»

REIGN: 1963–1969
BORN: 1929–1984
JURISDICTION: USSR (Tbilisi → Moscow)

01 Saw threats ten moves before they were born and killed them in the cradle
02 Signature device — the exchange sacrifice: give up a rook so as to give up nothing
03 His hearing aid allowed him, at the right moment, not to hear draw offers
04 Editor-in-chief of the «64» newspaper: the crown press was edited by the crown

Rob Bogaerts / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC0

SUBJECT № 10 // DECLASSIFIED

Boris Spassky

«The Universal Player»

REIGN: 1969–1972
BORN: 1937–2025
JURISDICTION: USSR → France

01 Played everything: attack, defence, gambits, endgames — the file lists no stylistic markers
02 Survived the Leningrad blockade evacuation as a child; learned chess in an orphanage near Kirov
03 Reykjavík 1972: after game six he applauded Fischer along with the audience
04 Moved to France in 1976 — further from the authorities, closer to the board

ДОСЬЕ IV // 1972–1975 // 1 СУБЪЕКТ(ОВ)

One Against the Empire

Subject-11 demands a new board, a new hall and a new era

Bert Verhoeff / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC0

SUBJECT № 11 // DECLASSIFIED

Robert James Fischer

«The Loner»

REIGN: 1972–1975
BORN: 1943–2008
JURISDICTION: USA

01 20 straight wins over the elite, including two dry matches — 6:0 and 6:0
02 Reykjavík 1972 turned chess into cold-war theatre: two superpowers, one board
03 Issued 64 conditions for the match; playing the match itself was not listed first
04 Refused to defend the crown in 1975 and vanished from surveillance for 17 years
05 Died in Reykjavík — the city of his triumph, at 64

⌁ INTERCEPTED
Chess is life.

▤ EXHIBIT // 1956

The Game of the Century — New York, Rosenwald Memorial

Дональд Бирн — Роберт Фишер, 13 лет

· · ·MOVE 0/82SCROLL — THE GAME IS ON ↓

ДОСЬЕ V // 1975–2000 // 2 СУБЪЕКТ(ОВ)

K versus K

Two neons. Forty-eight games in a row. The match they had to stop

Veni Markovski · CC BY-SA 4.0

SUBJECT № 12 // DECLASSIFIED

Anatoly Karpov

«The Boa»

REIGN: 1975–1985
BORN: род. 1951
JURISDICTION: USSR

01 Received the crown without a single move — Fischer never showed. Then spent ten years proving it was his
02 Over 100 tournament victories — more than anyone in the history of this surveillance
03 1984: the match against Kasparov was stopped with no winner after 48 games and five months
04 Built one of the world’s largest stamp collections — a dossier man through and through

Fryta 73 · CC BY-SA 2.0

SUBJECT № 13 // DECLASSIFIED

Garry Kasparov

«The Hurricane from Baku»

REIGN: 1985–2000
BORN: род. 1963
JURISDICTION: USSR → Russia

01 The crown at 22 — the youngest bearer of the twentieth century
02 255 months as world number one: two decades on top
03 Five matches against Karpov: 144 games, the margin — a single point
04 1997: lost to an IBM machine — the first recorded fright of the entire species
05 Retired in 2005 — still ranked number one

⌁ INTERCEPTED
Chess is mental torture.

▤ EXHIBIT // 1999

Kasparov's Immortal — Wijk aan Zee, round 4

Гарри Каспаров — Веселин Топалов

· · ·MOVE 0/87SCROLL — THE GAME IS ON ↓

ДОСЬЕ X // 1997 // ОШИБКА ЧТЕНИЯ

Subject Not on the List

READ ERROR: crown bearer is not a person

▌

James the photographer · CC BY 2.0

SUBJECT № X // DECLASSIFIED

DEEP BLUE

«Subject Not on the List»

REIGN: 11.05.1997 — 6 ПАРТИЙ
BORN: 1993–1997 (РАЗОБРАН)
JURISDICTION: IBM, USA

01 480 chess processors, 200,000,000 positions per second
02 The first machine to beat a crown bearer in a match: 3½–2½
03 No rematch was given: IBM unplugged the machine and closed the project
04 Parts of the chassis are in two museums. The crown is in neither

⌁ SYSTEM LOG (RECONSTRUCTION)
VICTORY LOGGED. POWER OFF.

▤ EXHIBIT // 1997

Rematch, game 6 — New York, 35th floor, Equitable Center

DEEP BLUE — Гарри Каспаров

· · ·MOVE 0/37SCROLL — THE GAME IS ON ↓

ДОСЬЕ VI // 2000–2026 // 5 СУБЪЕКТ(ОВ)

The New Crown

Sterile light, streaming, real-time evaluation

Vladimir Barskij · CC BY-SA 3.0

SUBJECT № 14 // DECLASSIFIED

Vladimir Kramnik

«The Berlin Wall»

REIGN: 2000–2007
BORN: род. 1975
JURISDICTION: Russia

01 Removed Kasparov from the throne without losing a game: London, 2000
02 Built the «Berlin Wall» — an endgame the hurricane crashed against
03 In 2006 reunited the crown that had been split in two
04 That same year blundered mate-in-one to a machine — the commission prefers not to recall it

Wolfgang Jekel · CC BY 2.0

SUBJECT № 15 // DECLASSIFIED

Viswanathan Anand

«The Lightning from Madras»

REIGN: 2007–2013
BORN: род. 1969
JURISDICTION: India

01 The first bearer from India — the land where the game was born fifteen centuries ago
02 Five world titles across four different formats
03 Calculation speed that earned him a nickname before it earned him the crown
04 His academy raised the next Indian bearer — Gukesh

Miroslav Vajdić · CC BY 4.0

SUBJECT № 16 // DECLASSIFIED

Magnus Carlsen

«The Mozart of Chess»

REIGN: 2013–2023
BORN: род. 1990
JURISDICTION: Norway

01 Rating 2882 — the highest ever measured
02 125 consecutive games unbeaten: 2018–2020
03 The triple crown: classical, rapid and blitz simultaneously
04 In 2023 returned the crown voluntarily. Reason on file: «lack of motivation»

⌁ INTERCEPTED
Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it's OK to lose. I don't.

▤ EXHIBIT // 2016

World Championship tie-break, deciding game — New York

Магнус Карлсен — Сергей Карякин

· · ·MOVE 0/99SCROLL — THE GAME IS ON ↓

Stefan64 · CC BY-SA 3.0

SUBJECT № 17 // DECLASSIFIED

Ding Liren

«The Quiet Mountain»

REIGN: 2023–2024
BORN: род. 1992
JURISDICTION: China

01 The first crown bearer from China
02 100 consecutive games unbeaten: 2017–2018
03 Spent the whole 2023 match coming from behind — and took the crown in the tie-break
04 Spoke openly about depression and still came to the board

Frans Peeters · CC BY-SA 2.0

SUBJECT № 18 // DECLASSIFIED

Gukesh Dommaraju

«The Eighteenth»

REIGN: 2024 — н.в.
BORN: род. 2006
JURISDICTION: India (Chennai)

01 18 years old — the youngest bearer in the history of this surveillance
02 A grandmaster at 12 years, 7 months
03 Singapore, game 14: one slip by Ding in a drawn endgame — and the crown moved to Chennai
04 Raised in Anand’s academy: case №15 prepared case №18

APPENDIX ∞ // CANNOT BE CLOSED

THE ETERNAL GAME

When the archive empties, the board keeps playing itself. Moves of the great games repeat in the dark — the crown rehearsing its next bearer.

▸ A lightning miniature — Vienna // 1910

▣ YOUR PERSONAL FILE

CLEARANCE STAMPS0/6

22.Qf6+!!9.Qd8+!!21…Кf4!?17…Сe6!!24.Лxd4!!50.Фh6+!!

TIME IN THE ARCHIVE00:00

VISIT№0

SOURCES & ATTRIBUTION +

3D: «Chess Set» — Riley Queen, Poly Haven (CC0)

GAMES: Wikipedia (movetext transcribed verbatim)

Wilhelm Steinitz: Fritz Schumann · Public domain

Emanuel Lasker: Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-00457 · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

José Raúl Capablanca: Keystone-France (anonymous) · Public domain

Alexander Alekhine: George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress · Public domain

Max Euwe: Harry Pot / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

Mikhail Botvinnik: Harry Pot / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

Vasily Smyslov: Koen Suyk / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC0

Mikhail Tal: Harry Pot / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

Tigran Petrosian: Harry Pot / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC0

Boris Spassky: Rob Bogaerts / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC0

Bobby Fischer: Bert Verhoeff / Anefo, Nationaal Archief · CC0

Anatoly Karpov: Veni Markovski · CC BY-SA 4.0

Garry Kasparov: Fryta 73 · CC BY-SA 2.0

Vladimir Kramnik: Vladimir Barskij · CC BY-SA 3.0

Viswanathan Anand: Wolfgang Jekel · CC BY 2.0

Magnus Carlsen: Miroslav Vajdić · CC BY 4.0

Ding Liren: Stefan64 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Gukesh Dommaraju: Frans Peeters · CC BY-SA 2.0

IBM Deep Blue: James the photographer · CC BY 2.0

TYPE: Playfair Display, Unbounded, JetBrains Mono (OFL)

SOUND: fully synthesised in-browser (WebAudio)

CLEARANCE CHECK

THE CROWNPHENOMENON

The Romantics & the First King

The Art-Deco Machine

The Soviet School

One Against the Empire

K versus K

Subject Not on the List

The New Crown

THE ETERNAL GAME

▣ YOUR PERSONAL FILE