King's College London

Dr Mehmet Mars Seven was invited to discuss his work on decision-making processes behind elite-level chess as part of the Game Theory Corner, an official feature of the tournament.

“Norway Chess is the strongest event of the year and one of the strongest in recent times,” said Dr Seven. “The world’s top five players competed this year, and for the second consecutive year, Norway Chess Women also took place with equal prize money—a fantastic step for the sport.”

Since Norway Chess introduced the Game Theory Corner, led by Dr Seven, he has explored the human element of chess in the event. Moving beyond pure artificial intelligence (AI) evaluations, Dr Seven’s approach analyses how grandmasters take calculated risks rather than always choosing the objectively best move.

“Top players often avoid AI’s first recommendation to create chaos on the board,” said Dr Seven, a member of the Department of Political Economy. “They push their opponents into what we call the ‘deep dark forest’—positions full of uncertainty and pressure. This is where real human intelligence shines.”

At the heart of his research is the Game Intelligence (GI) score, a concept developed by Dr Seven to measure a player’s ability to weigh risk against potential reward. This approach goes beyond accuracy, offering insight into how players manipulate complex game states to induce mistakes from their rivals.

To build the GI model, Dr Seven analysed more than a billion chess moves, including more than a million from the world's top grandmasters. The findings revealed:

• The average human GI score is 100 (standard deviation: 15)
• Magnus Carlsen earned a record-high GI score of 161, indicating his ability to provoke errors from opponents through complex and risky decisions.
• Viswanathan Anand was found to be the most accurate player by average points missed per game.
• In Norway Chess 2025, Carlsen had the highest GI score when playing white; Hikaru Nakamura led with black.

Dr Seven’s commentary and analysis featured prominently in Norway Chess's international TV broadcasts, streamed globally and watched by millions across Europe, India, China, and the USA.