Claim: Chess player's head explodes.
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002]
Doctors are blaming a rare electrical imbalance in the brain for the bizarre death of a chess player whose head literally exploded in the middle of a championship game! No one else was hurt in the fatal explosion but four players and three officials at the Moscow Candidate Masters' Chess Championships were sprayed with blood and brain matter when Nikolai Titov's head suddenly blew apart. Experts say he suffered from a condition called Hyper-Cerebral Electrosis or HCE. "He was deep in concentration with his eyes focused on the board," says Titov's opponent, Vladimir Dobrynin. "All of a sudden his hands flew to his temples and he screamed in pain. Everyone looked up from their games, startled by the noise. Then, as if someone had put a bomb in his cranium, his head popped like a firecracker." Incredibly, Titiov's is not the first case in which a person's head has spontaneously exploded. Five people are known to have died of HCE in the last Although Dr. Martinenko says there are probably many undiagnosed cases, he hastens to add that very few people will die from HCE. "Most people who have it will never know. At this point, medical science still In the meantime, the doctor urges people to take it easy and not think too hard for long periods of time. "Take frequent relaxation breaks when you're doing things that take lots of mental focus," he recommends. |
Origins: In 1994 the story of the
unfortunate Mr. Titov graced the pages of the Weekly World News, an American tabloid rarely devoted to the reportage of actual news. Once again, the WWN failed to disappoint
No chess players (or anyone else, for that matter) have expired of exploded cerebellums. Credence has been given to this tale by its subsequent appearance in more reputable journalistic outlets. Though each of these surfacings has been of the tongue-in-cheek variety, casual readers could easily have been misled into thinking this was a valid news story.
Thinking too hard will not endanger your health, much less cause cranial explosions culminating in sudden death. Were this true, bridge players would be risking their all with each new rubber.
Barbara "vulcanized" Mikkelson
Last updated: 18 March 2007
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