53 bicycles: A lateral thinking puzzle

Thread Games
1001

This is not a full enough explanation. There is more to it than this.

He had a very specific, and I think interesting, situation around his blind chess “big show” playing. By big show, I mean the 1 vs 45 style play, which is really amazing.

Perhaps I should have asked “why did he put on performances like that and what made him stop so suddenly and permanently?”

Note: this is a true story(don’t google it!) and I also am not the author of the puzzle. I typed it out word for word, but I do see value in making the question clearer.

1002

Sorry for being off-topic, but I’m having trouble grokking how that’s even possible, outside of maybe a handful of genius savants. Are the strategies different? Are they recognizable chess games that would seem normal played the regular way?

1003
  1. Was the performance part of a scam or con?
1004

Michael was a genius savant, probably. It’s as incredible as you think.

No.

1005

Was the death a suicide?

Was the death a murder?

1006

  1. No.

  2. Yes.

1007

OK, now the plot begins to thicken.

1: Is the identity of the murderer relevant?
2: Is the murderer known to Michael?
3: Is Michael himself the murderer?

1008
  1. Not to getting the solution, no. It mattered to Michael, though.
  2. Does he know the murderer(s) personally? No. Does he personally know who the murderer(s) is/are? Yes.
  3. No.
1009

Was there more than one murderer?
Did this have to do with a war?

1010
  1. Yes.
  2. Yes.
1011

Did Michael enlist or get called into service?
Did the war prevent Michael from participating in blind chess?

1012

No to both.

1013

1: Was the war in question World War II?
2: Was anyone relevant Jewish?
3: Was Michael Jewish?
4: Was the person who died Jewish?

(and just in case)
5: Was the war WWI?
6: Was the war the Korean War?
7: Was the war the Vietnam War?
8: Was the war the First Iraq War?
9: Was the war one the US was not involved in?

1014

One more, on a hunch:
10: Was Michael famous for something other than chess?

1015

Did Michael stop playing to protest the war?
Were his opponents technically his enemies?

1016
  1. Yes.
  2. Yes.
  3. Yes.
  4. Yes.

5-9. No.

No.

  1. No.
  2. No.
1017

Was the person who died a casualty of war?
Was the person imprisoned?
If so, was it a concentration camp?
Was Michael related to or married to that person?

1018

It’s more than one person, folks. I can’t find a subtle way to correct this. I will answer the above questions about “people”.

  1. Yes, they were.
  2. Yes they were.
  3. Yes they were.
  4. Yes, he was.

To have this solved, I need you all to determine:

  • why he stopped playing
  • how all that related to the deaths and the situation around their deaths
1019

I have heard* that the Nazis declared chess to be exclusively for Aryans, and banned Jews from playing. Was this the reason? Was it connected to the reason?

  • On the TV show Foyles War. This is fiction, and thus not a reliable cite, but it has the reputation of being well researched and historically accurate.
1020

No, not the reason.

No, not connected at all.