There might be some other trickery at work here, but I found this fascinating. If it went down how Derren Brown says it did, it shows remarkable intelligence and foresight. I also think it proves that being smart isn’t just being smart — it’s not linear. Obviously, these chess grandmasters and fide masters are intelligent (the processing is remarkable, those interested should watch the newish Bobby Fischer documentary) but Derren uses deceit and misdirection to deceive them. It’s intelligence of another kind; the whole pairing them up to do battle idea is pretty fucking brilliant.
