Inexplicable Communications: The Surprising Scientific Evidence for Mediumship

In 1985, the strangest chess match in history began. Wolfgang Eisenbeiss, a Swiss amateur chess player with an interest in parapsychology, decided to try to arrange a match between a deceased grandmaster, and a living one. He approached the living grandmaster, Viktor Korchnoi—known for his own interest in parapsychology—who agreed to the experiment. The medium, Robert Rollans, claimed to contact a Hungarian grandmaster called Geza Maroczy, who had died in 1950. Maroczy was a Hungarian who had once been ranked the third-best player in the world.

Robert Rollans didn’t play chess himself, but Maroczy communicated the moves to him. The game continued for 48 moves, with Korchnoi winning. Analysis by chess experts, including Bobby Fischer, the most famous player of his time, verified that Maroczy’s abilities were at grandmaster level. The experts also attested that Maroczy’s style of play was rather old-fashioned, and consistent with Maroczy’s actual style.

In addition to the game, the discarnate (as in non-physical) Maroczy “wrote” a 38-page text containing many specific details about his life. Wolfgang Eisenbeiss followed this up with 91 detailed and specific questions, which he directed to Maroczy through the medium. An investigator found that, of the 81 answers where information was available, 79 were correct.How can we explain this strange case? Although Robert Rollans claimed not to play chess, perhaps he was really a highly proficient player. However, given that he would have to play at the level of a grandmaster, this seems unlikely. Perhaps the medium (or Eisenbeiss) phoned other living grandmasters to ask their advice. This is theoretically possible, but no grandmasters have ever reported being contacted. In addition, this wouldn’t fit with Maroczy’s distinctive, old-fashioned style....<<<Read More>>>...