Editing 1628: Magnus

{{comic
| number    = 1628
| date      = January 11, 2016
| title     = Magnus
| image     = magnus.png
| titletext = In the latest round, 9-year-old Muhammad Ali beat 10-year-old JFK at air hockey, while Secretariat lost the hot-dog-eating crown to 12-year-old Ken Jennings. Meanwhile, in a huge upset, 11-year-old Martha Stewart knocked out the adult Ronda Rousey.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|}}

[[Cueball]] shows [[Megan]] an [https://itunes.apple.com/app/play-magnus/id808138395?mt=8 iOS app] that allows one to simulate playing {{w|chess}} against {{w|Magnus Carlsen}} at various ages. Magnus is a {{w|chess grandmaster}} who was ranked no. 1 in the world when this comic, sharing his named, was released.

The idea behind the app is that as Magnus grows up he becomes better at chess and thus it become exceedingly difficult to beat him as he gets older. Cueball could actually have beaten Magnus when he was just 8½ years old, but already half a year later Magnus had progressed beyond Cueball's chess skills.

Megan then exclaims that she wants to have such an app for other games as well, and mentions two types of sport, {{w|tennis}} and {{w|Swimming (sport)|swimming}}, where a persons skill cannot be simulated in an app as with chess. She want's to compare herself to an eight year old {{W|Serena Williams}}, a professional tennis player who was ranked no. 1 on the women's singles player world ranking when this comic was released. Or to a six year old {{W|Michael Phelps}} who is the most decorated Olympian swimmer of all time, with a total of 22 medals in three Olympiads. 

Cueball is not even satisfied with just looking into sport, and wish to find out if he could cook better than for instance an 11 years old {{W|Martha Stewart}}, who among other things, has published several cookbooks. ''Martha Stewart's Cooking School'', debuted on {{w|PBS}} in October 2012. Each episode covers cooking techniques based on her book of the same name.

Being the nerds that they are, Cueball and Megan continues developing their idea into a program that simulates what famous people (or animals) could do at a certain age, often not even looking at the things they are famous. They finally end up comparing 8 year old Magnus' swimming skill against 9 year old Martha's (he wins). But those two would both loose a hot dog eating contest against the horse{{W|Secretariat (horse)|Secretariat}} which won the Triple Crown in 1973 (but is now dead). At this point even Megan realizes their project is weird.

The title text continues the theme of the last panel with more comparisons, leading to the ludicrous situation of a young Martha Stewart knocking an adult {{W|Ronda Rousey}} unconscious. Ronda is a "{{W|mixed martial arts}}" fighter and "{{W|judoka}}" who was famous for her fighting skills. Rousey was the first U.S. woman to earn an Olympic medal in judo (Bronze) in 2008. When this comic was released Rousey was ranked the no. 1 female bantamweight fighter in the world, at least according to the {{w|Ultimate Fighting Championship}} (UFC). This is why it is so ridicules that she should loose to a girl, and it is rightly named a ''huge upset'' in the title text. Of course this is just simulations, and if you do those enough times then anything can happen...

Amongst the others famous/known people mentioned in the title text are two that play {{w|air hockey}}, {{W|Muhammad Ali}}, a boxer who is "among the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport". He manages (at nine years old) to beat a ten years old {{W|John F. Kennedy}} (JFK). He was the 35th President of the United States, and got assassinated in 1963. The horse is also mentioned again, this time loosing in a hot dog eating contest against {{W|Ken Jennings}} (11 years old). He currently holds the record for the longest winning streak on {{W|Jeopardy!}}.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Magnus Carlsen has an app where you can play chess against a simulated version of him at different ages. I can beat the 8½-year-old, but lose to him at 9.
:Megan: I want that, but for other games. Can I beat 8-year-old Serena Williams at Tennis? Swim laps faster than a 6-year-olf Michael Phelps?
:Cueball: We should make a simulator.
:Cueball: ...Why limit it to games? Can I cook a better chicken than 11-year-old Martha Stewart?
:Megan: Win an election against 12-year-old JFK?
:Soon...
:[Cueball and Megan sitting at laptops in the bottom of the panel.]
:Megan: Looks like 8-year-old Magnus Carlsen can swim faster than 9-year-old Martha Stewart.
:Cueball: But they both lose a Hot-Dog-Eating contest to 2-year-old Secretariat.
:Megan: This project has gotten weird.

==Trivia==
The app they are talking about is called [http://magnuscarlsen.com/playmagnus Play Magnus].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Chess]]
[[Category:Sport]]