Einstein versus Oppenheimer is a game of

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

said to have been played between

theoretical physicists The following is a partial list of notable theoretical physicists. Arranged by century of birth, then century of death, then year of birth, then year of death, then alphabetically by surname. For explanation of symbols, see Notes at end of this art ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

and

J. Robert Oppenheimer J. Robert Oppenheimer (born Julius Robert Oppenheimer ; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1933. In the game, Einstein plays the white pieces, and uses the

Ruy Lopez The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez remains one of the most popular chess openings, featuring many variations. In ...

opening; Oppenheimer, as black, responds with the Morphy Defense (3...a6). Einstein wins the game after 24 moves. There is no conclusive evidence that Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer ever played chess together.

History and factual accuracy

The earliest known source for the game is the 1959 book ''Freude am Schach'' by Gerhard Henschel, but provides no date or venue. The 1967 French ''Dictionaire des echecs'', cites Henschel's book but refers to the chess game in

conditional tense The conditional mood (abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood used in conditional sentences to express a proposition whose validity is dependent on some condition, possibly counterfactual. It may refer to a distinct verb form that expresses the condit ...

. Henschel's book contains unverified chess games from other famous figures including

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

Albert Einstein and chess

In a 1936 interview with a

freshman, which was reported on by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Einstein was asked if it was true that for relaxation, he reportedly played

three-dimensional chess Three-dimensional chess (or 3‑D chess) is any chess variant that replaces the two-dimensional chessboard, board with a three-dimensional array of cells between which the pieces can move. In practice, this is usually achieved by boards represent ...

. Einstein denied that report, saying "I do not play any games ... There is no time for it. When I get through work I don't want anything which requires the working of the mind". He added that he had played conventional chess, "once or twice when a boy". Einstein wrote a foreword to a biography of the chess champion

Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher. He was the second World Chess Champion, holding the title for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially ...

, who was his friend. In that foreword Einstein states, Chess grandmaster Larry Evans, writing in ''

Chess Life The monthly ''Chess Life'' and bi-monthly ''Chess Life Kids'' (formerly ''School Mates'' and ''Chess Life for Kids'') are the official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess). ''Chess Life'' is advertised as the "m ...

'' magazine, said:

Alternative players and dates

Some have suggested that the name "Einstein" might refer to another Einstein — someone other than the famous physicist. Dennis Holding, Adam Slemsen and

Andy Soltis Andrew Eden Soltis (born May 28, 1947) is an American chess grandmaster, author and columnist. He was inducted into the United States Chess Hall of Fame in September 2011. Chess career Soltis learned how the chess pieces moved at age 10 when he ...

have independently stated that it was Albert Einstein's son,

Hans Albert Einstein Hans Albert Einstein (May 14, 1904 – July 26, 1973) was a Swiss-American engineer, the second child and first son of physicists Albert Einstein and Mileva Marić. He was a long-time professor of hydraulic engineering at the University of Cal ...

; and that the game was played either in 1940 or 1945 at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where Hans Albert gave lectures. Chess historian Edward Winter has suggested the possibility that it might refer to B. Einstein, a professional chess player unrelated to Albert Einstein. The 1982 Romanian book ''Şah Cartea de Aur'' by C. Ştefaniu lists the game as played in 1940 in the United States.

The game

White: Einstein Black: Oppenheimer :1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Nf6 6.O-O Nxe4 7.Re1 d5 8.a4 b4 9.d3 Nc5 10.Nxe5 Ne7 11.Qf3 f6 12.Qh5+ g6 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Qxh8 Nxb3 15.cxb3 Qd6 16.Bh6 Kd7 17.Bxf8 Bb7 18.Qg7 Re8 19.Nd2 c5 20.Rad1 a5 21.Nc4 dxc4 22.dxc4 Qxd1 23.Rxd1+ Kc8 24.Bxe7 Black resigns.

Analysis

White, having the first move, begins with a King Pawn Opening, which on move three becomes the

. White uses the opening to develop — white castles, opens lines, and brings out his pieces. Black's development lags, and Black makes more errors than White. At move 15 White has two of Black's pieces pinned, and a winning position. White soon captures Black's queen, gains a material advantage, and develops a dynamic mating threat. Black resigns.

Levy Rozman Levy Rozman (born December 5, 1995), known online as GothamChess, is an American chess International Master, content creator, commentator, and author. Often referred to as "The Internet's Chess Teacher", he produces content on the online platfo ...

, International Chess Master. GothamChess. Youtube video.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Albert Einstein vs Robert Oppenheimer chessgames.com
Chess games Chess in the United States Albert Einstein J. Robert Oppenheimer