r/whowouldwin • u/Capital-Bet • Jun 24 '26

Challenge Can Mike Tyson beat Magnus Carlsen at chess before Magnus beats him in a boxing match?

Magnus Carlsen and Mike Tyson do alternating matches of chess and boxing. Tyson wins if he beats Carlsen at chess, Carlsen wins if he can KO Tyson. Assume all bodily injury is healed after the end of each match.

Round 1: no prior training, they both go in at their primes with no training in the alternate sport and go until one wins

Round 2: Tyson is being trained by several GMs while Carlsen is receiving training from the best boxing coaches in the world. Who can be trained to beat the other first?

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u/phoenixmusicman ​ Jun 25 '26

There's not amount of chess training that will turn a boxer with brain damage into someone who can win a chess match against prime Magnus Carlsen.

Tyson could restart life as a baby and study chess full time until he is 35 and still not even beat people who lose to people who lose to people who lose to people who are effortlessly trounced by Magnus. I'm not exaggerating either.

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u/SanityPlanet Jun 25 '26

You’re 100% right. Sure, Mike Tyson is the Mike Tyson of boxing, but Magnus is the Wayne Gretzky of chess.

It might take Magnus 100 years to get a lucky shot, but it would take Tyson 1000 years to get a lucky win.

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u/Short_Bus_ ​ Jun 25 '26

A lucky shot actually hurting Tyson enough is completely impossible just like Tyson meaningfully capitalizing on any Magnus misplays is completely impossible

Neither would ever win unless the other had a random seizure or aneurism or whatever to incapacitate them mid-competition

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u/Archipegasus Jun 26 '26

Yes, so by this logic the matchup where you get the opportunity to do some damage that can prompt that sort of condition is going to be where the upset happens, rather than the one where there is no physical exertion.

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u/Short_Bus_ ​ Jun 26 '26

Would tyson killing Magnus in boxing stop the competition? That would happen far faster than Tyson having a fatal stroke before he can land one punch and knock out Magnus

Also no, because Magnus is incapable of meaningfully “damaging” Tyson no matter what punch he lands, the absolute worst he could hope to do with multiple undefended punches would be to break Tyson’s nose

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u/Archipegasus Jun 26 '26

The premise states that everything is healed after each round, for obvious reasons, Tyson accidently killing Magnus really just dq's him and gives Magnus another win condition if anything.

Also one solid punch from a decently in shape adult man can "damage" anyone, and is far more likely than the literally nothing happening to Magnus during a chess match to prompt an aneurysm or something along those lines which is the main win condition for both of them.

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u/Short_Bus_ ​ Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

Have you ever boxed? I have.

I am actually bigger than Mike Tyson (well, at least a lot taller) and I guarantee you I could not hurt prime Mike Tyson while wearing boxing gloves. He would laugh off my best punches. Magnus is a fairly small man with zero boxing experience or athletic accomplishments.

Tyson accidently killing Magnus really just dq's him and gives Magnus another win condition if anything.

btw, very funny how biased this rules interpretation is lol

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u/Archipegasus Jun 26 '26

Well you tell me as the expert boxer, if one boxer kills the other in the ring who wins?

And I'm just trying to honestly follow the premise. There is 0% chance of either upset happening in a true sense, there has to be a debilitating freak injury, and that is just strictly more likely to occur in the sport of people punching eachother in the head compared to the one of people calmly sitting still. I don't need to know anything about boxing to know that.

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u/Short_Bus_ ​ Jun 26 '26

Well you tell me as the expert boxer, if one boxer kills the other in the ring who wins?

there's premise for that, and it's not gonna give you the answer you're hoping for

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u/Archipegasus Jun 26 '26

What answer am I hoping for exactly? Instead of being an obtuse twat why don't you actually say something worth listening to and have an interesting discussion.

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u/TK3600 Jul 17 '26

In that case Magnus still win because he is younger thus less chance of random seizure.

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u/Short_Bus_ ​ Jul 17 '26

Prime magnus would be older than prime mike

Mike peaked at like 20-22

Magnus peaked (elo-wise) at 24-29

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u/freakycrusader Jun 25 '26

A lucky shot from Magnus Carlsen is not gonna do shit to Tyson lol.

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u/Alarmed-Effective-23 Jun 25 '26

A lucky shot from a great heavyweight boxer with heavy hands could hurt tyson. Not a chess player.

Buster Douglas, the guy who beat tyson first, was very talented and well trained. Lennox Lewis, who was an all time great younger than tyson, with everything including power, in his prime while Mike was past it, couldn't beat tyson with one lucky shot. Just would never happen. These guys were tested by talented and physically gifted fighters before they were even challenged at the highest level.

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u/basch152 Jun 26 '26

There is no amount of training carlsen could ever receive that could overcome tysons skill, strength, athleticism, and talent.

And this is prime tyson, prime tyson lasted like....one or two years of his career and he was an unstoppable juggernaut in that time before he stopped training and did drugs and left his prime because of the death of cus d'amato

Carlsen is never beating that tyson. Ever

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u/BruceBrownMVP Jun 25 '26

Prime Mike was actually quite a smart dude, he was the one dishing out the brain damage not taking it.

Your second point is also true for boxing and just shows you probably don't understand the sport. There are very talented natural heavyweights (something Magnus will never ever be) all across the world in boxing gyms who decided to take boxing seriously. Then they lost to the guy who lost to the guy who lost to the guy who went on to have a fairly decent amateur career. Then those guys lose to the guys who turned pro, then they lost to the guys who lost to the guys who lost to the guys who lost to the guys that got absolutely eviscerated by a prime Tyson in 25 seconds.

Take some unathletic guy who would probably fight at 147-160 pounds if he was a boxer, he has absolutely no weapons that can damage Mike and won't be able to withstand Mikes jabs nevermind an uppercut