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"Chess Pain", Way to Die #169, is the fifth death to be featured in "Dying to Tell the Story", which aired on December 29, 2010.

Plot[]

In the 1970s, the ages-old board game of chess was considered a big deal in the Soviet Union, and being a grandmaster at the game makes one a bit of a celebrity. Nikolai was an undefeated chess grandmaster, wanting to stay on top, knowing that one loss could send him and his family to a Siberian labor camp.

One day, he was challenged by a chess-playing computer, the Comrade 5000. Its inventor had boasted that his machine could outplay any human, even the unbeatable Nikolai. The Comrade could move its pieces on a highly-charged electromagnetic chess board. Nikolai realized he was involved in the game of his life, or better yet, for it. Each move brought the computer closer to defeating Nikolai's strategy, causing him to sweat profusely. A few minutes later, he had the Comrade in check and went in for the kill, but it was checkmate for Nikolai.

The chess pieces were made of a highly conductive alloy, and the Comrade's inventor had failed to ground the chessboard properly. This design flaw killed the ill-fated Nikolai. As he touched his opponent's chess piece with a sweaty finger, he was electrocuted and suffered cardiac arrest from the extreme electrical shock, killing him instantly and sending him to heaven.

Trivia[]

  • Also called "End Game" on the Spike TV website.
  • If you look closely, there is the Soviet communist flag in the eyes in the CGI when Dr. Boyd Flinders says "Our poor chess player he's cooked."
  • This death is based on an urban legend about a Russian chess grandmaster named Nikolai Gudkov, who died the same way in 1989.
  • Maybe the Comrade 5000's Inventor goes to Siberia by make the mistake that killed Nikolai. So at the end, Nikolai died as an undefeated chess grandmaster because died before of the end of the match.
  • Nikolai's death is similar to that of Lifty's death in Happy Tree Friends TV series episode, "As You Wish", Cub's death in Happy Tree Friends Christmas short, "Kringle Presents", Tom's death in Hertz So Good, Gregory's death in Samu-Fry, Pop's death in Happy Tree Friends web series episode, "A Vicious Cycle", Eileen and Nicole's deaths in Who Ded?, Good Flippy's injury in Happy Tree Friends TV series episode, "Double Whammy Part 2", Russell's death in Happy Tree Friends TV series episode, "In a Jam", Motaro and Liu Kang's deaths in Mortal Kombat 9, and Petunia's death in Happy Tree Friends web series episode, "Stayin' Alive", Petunia's death in Happy Tree Friends TV series episode: "Home is Where the Hurt is", and Mileena's injury in Mortal Kombat 9.
  • This is one of many death's where the victim (in this case Nikolai) was innocent.

Segment Nicknames[]

  • End Game (Spike TV)
  • Killer Game
  • RAGE CHESS!

Interviewees[]

  • Timothy Taylor - International Master of Chess
  • Dr. Boyd Flanders - Surgeon

Foreign Names[]

  • Ajedrezado (Chesstrified) [Wordplay on "Ajedrez" and "Electrizado"] - Latin American Spanish dub
  • Mate eléctrico (Electric mate) - European Spanish dub
  • Xeque-Morto (Check-Dead) - Brazilian Portuguese dub
  • Takulitod na Ahedres Kuhahariyat (Shocking of Chess Instantly) - Lazoran dub

Gallery[]

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