The session will showcase expert views on a broad range of issues –
legal, logistical, technological, and economic – that arise in connection
with proposed anti-cheating measures. It is expected to command wide attention
from fans of chess and other mind sports both in the U.S. and overseas, in
view of:
- The VIP panel (see below);
- Recent heavily publicized instances of alleged cheating during a major
chess tournament held in Philadelphia this past summer; and finally;
- Sensational accusations surrounding the World Chess Championship match
in Kalmykia that concluded last month.
Time will be provided for both the audience and the press to pose questions
to the panel.
Background
With the availability of grandmaster-strength chess playing software that
today retails for around $50, the potential for computer-aided cheating has
emerged in recent months as a major challenge facing the chess community.
In an episode from the 1960s TV drama “Mission: Impossible”, master-of-disguise
Rollin Hand (played by Martin Landau) impersonated a chess master competing
in an international tournament. Using a hearing aid to receive computer-generated
moves from his mission colleagues, Rollin demolished his grandmaster opponents
(“A Game of Chess”,
episode aired Jan. 14, 1968). That plot device was widely ridiculed in chess
circles. At the time, even the best chess programs could hardly compete with
casual players, let alone professionals.
Fast-forward to July 2006. In an open-to-the-public chess tournament with
a $28,600 first prize, a little-known amateur player, who Chess Life
magazine later dubbed “The Cat in the Hat,” was tearing up the
field. Suspicions
mounted after he defeated the world’s 43rd ranked player, the Israeli
Grandmaster Ilya Smirin – who was quoted saying, “I felt like I
was playing against a machine.” As the next round got under way, the
tournament director confronted the hat-wearing magician and asked to search
his person. The suspect agreed, but first ducked into a bathroom. Although
no device was found on him and no penalty applied, suspicions remain that he
used that bathroom visit to dispose of a miniature wireless receiver that might
have been hidden in the hat he wore.
In a second
incident in an all-amateurs section at the same tournament, a man who was
on the verge of winning the sectional first prize of nearly $18,000 was ejected
during the final round after a clandestine listening device was found on him
and he refused official requests to inspect him further.
Bathroom visits also figured prominently in a series of public accusations
hurled last month during the World Chess Championship match between Bulgarian
Veselin Topalov and Russian Vladimir Kramnik. Cheating charges leveled against
Kramnik by Topalov’s manager and publicist were widely covered by the
mainstream press. They almost caused the contest to abort mid-way through,
when officials responded to the complaint by denying Kramnik the use of his
private bathroom, and Kramnik in turn refused to continue playing. (He ultimately
relented and went on to win the match.)
Did the nearly 40-year old “Mission: Impossible” fantasy become
reality this summer? Only the suspected cheaters know the answer. But one thing
is certain: this time, the chess world isn’t laughing.
Event details
-
What: Chess Cheating Town Meeting – A panel discussion
and public forum about ways to safeguard
both professional and amateur chess competitions against cheating.
-
When: Monday, December 4th, 8:00-11:00 P.M. – Prepared
remarks from panel speakers: est. 8:00-9:00 P.M.; Q&A from audience
and panel: est. 9:00-11:00 P.M.
-
Where: Marshall Chess Club, 23 West 10th Street, New
York City
-
Why: With two much-discussed instances of alleged cheating
during the World Open in Philadelphia this past July, followed by sensational
accusations surrounding the recent World Championship match in Kalmykia,
the potential for computer-assisted cheating has emerged as a major challenge
facing the chess community.
Come and hear a freewheeling discussion among a panel of chess authorities
and professional and amateur competitors, covering a variety of possible measures
to combat cheating. The session will showcase expert views on a broad range
of issues – legal, logistical, technological, and economic – that
arise in connection with proposed anti-cheating measures.
The first hour will be devoted to panel members’ prepared remarks, with
the remainder of the program reserved for Q&A from the audience and from
panel members.
- Who: Confirmed panelists:
- Bill Goichberg, USCF President; and America’s dominant chess
tournament organizer.
- Grandmaster Alex Stripunsky, 2005 US Chess Championship runner-up
- Dr. Danny Kopec, Brooklyn College computer professor, chess and computer
author, International Master
- Nelson Farber, practicing attorney and active chess player
- Steve Immitt, US "Tournament Director of the Year" for 2005
- Jon Jacobs, active non-professional competitor, chess author, anti-cheating
activist.
Panel member bios
Bill Goichberg is the President of the U.S. Chess Federation,
elected in 2005. He is also America’s pre-eminent organizer of chess
tournaments through his Continental Chess Association, which he founded in
1968 and continues to operate. Bill is a FIDE Master.
GM Alexandr Stripunsky tied for 1st place in the 2005 US
Championship, and won a number of tournaments in Europe and the US over the
last several years. He tied for 1st in the US Open in 2002, and won the USCF
Grand Prix in 1998, the year after he moved to the United States.
IM Dr. Danny Kopec is an associate professor at Brooklyn
College, where he is graduate deputy chair of the Department of Computer and
Information Science. His academic interests include artificial intelligence
and the genesis and avoidance of errors in medical treatment and other fields,
including chess. Dr. Kopec is the author of 6 chess books, 8 chess DVDs and
some 80 academic articles, and runs one of the best-known chess instruction
summer camps. He relishes the time when chess was the "Royal Game."
Nelson Farber is a practicing attorney in Manhattan and an
active member of the Marshall Chess Club.
Steve Immitt is a national-level TD who has directed over
2,200 chess tournaments since 1991, when the US Chess Federation began publishing
its statistics, and was the USCF's most active tournament director from 1986-1991.
Last year the USCF honored him as “Tournament Director of the Year.”
He has been directing the Marshall Chess Club’s Thursday “4 Rated
Games Tonight” tournaments and many of the weekend events since 1994.
Jon Jacobs is a non-professional tournament competitor based
in Brooklyn. He maintains the “Blockade Chess Cheaters” Web site,
www.seniorchess.zoomshare.com. He became interested in the danger of computer-aided
cheating after a local tournament encounter with a player who later figured
in a notorious incident in a class section of a big national event.
Contact:
Jon Jacobs, (347) 782-3393. Email: jacobs310@optonline.net
(Principal contact, available at all hours)
Marshall Chess Club, (212) 477-3716. Email: marshall.cc@verizon.net.
Web: www.marshallchessclub.org
(Note: The club is open only on evenings and weekends.)
ChessBase articles on the subject
Chess,
cycling, hearing and other aids
26.08.2006
Seldom
has a report generated such intense feedback as our series on cheating.
It turns out that the communications device worn by a player at the
World Open, the Phonito, was indeed a hearing aid, but one that is
ideal for wireless communication as well. It is made by a company that
sponsors cycling. Interesting
information.
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Cheating
at the World Open – more details
17.08.2006
Last
week we reported that two players were accused of using computer assistance
during their games at the World Open in Philadelphia in July. The story
was in the New York Times, but contained some inaccuracies. The tournament
director who found the secret communication device sets the record
straight. And one of the victims sent us analysis of his game. You'll
probably guess
who played it.
|
Cheating
Accusations at the World Open
10.08.2006
Two
players are under suspicion of having received help from computers
at the World Open in Philadelphia. One locked himself in a bathroom
stall, the other, who was leading the event before the last round and
stood to win $18,000, was caught wearing a "hearing aid" which turned
out to be a wireless receiver used for surreptitious communications.
The
New York Times reports.
|
Scandal
in Lampertsheim – cheating in the loo
07.01.2003
At
the Open Tournament in Lampertsheim a player was caught cheating. He
was consulting the program Pocket Fritz during the game in the toilet.
While we in ChessBase condemn every form of electronic performance
enhancement we would like to express our thanks to the player for choosing
Pocket Fritz for his devious behaviour. We recommend that the next
time he use the new Pocket
Fritz 2 and carefully follow the
instructions.
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