Mouthpiece Sports: The Jake Peavy Negotiations, As Illustrated On The Chess Board

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Now, let’s take a look at the Cubs. After a long period of back-and-forth, the Cubs finally decided that the Padres were asking too much for Peavy, so they gave up on him.

Take a look at this board….

This is from this year’s World Chess Championship between Kramnik and Anand. To the untrained eye, neither side seems to have much of an advantage, right? Black has one more Pawn than White, but interestingly, Black decided he had had enough, and resigned the match at this point. The reasons are a bit complicated to explain, but after studying the board for a while, it becomes clear that Black is doomed here.

Casual fans often grow frustrated when they see their teams shy away from blockbuster deals. Plenty of Cubs fans surely thought that Peavy was worth a handful of minor leaguers, but it was a series of seemingly unimportant details that led the Cubs to give up on the deal. Just as these chess Grandmasters had seen countless chess scenarios and knew how this match would play out, the Cubs seemed to recognize that further negotiations would simply have been a waste of time and energy.

Hat tip en passant to Deadspin.