Author: Vincent Diepeveen
Date: 08:18:12 02/17/00
Go up one level in this thread
On February 17, 2000 at 11:02:40, Enrique Irazoqui wrote: >On February 17, 2000 at 10:39:28, Mig wrote: > >>Hello Everyone, >> >>This is Mig Greengard, also of KasparovChess.com and, by the way, the mystery VP >>mentioned by my good friend, basketball star Shay Bushinsky. I thought I would >>add some comments and clarifications to what was unquestionably a total disaster >>and also a very emotional situation for Shay and Amir, as well as Mickey Adams. >> >>We've all been through about four hours of non-stop phone calls around the world >>regarding this episode tonight. [Now last night, I wrote this late last night >>but didn't want to post till I heard from Amir and/or Shay.] It was a lose-lose >>situation for all concerned and Shay and Amir lost worse than the rest. >> >>Before I go on it's VERY important to me to say that GM Adams behaved at all >>times in a very sportsmanlike manner and in no way insisted on anything >>unreasonable at any time. I don't really expect the audience here to see things >>from a human player's point of view (!), but I do wish to stress that he was >>accomodating until things just got out of hand at a very late hour. >> >>Criticism, and there is plenty to go around, should be centered on >>KasparovChess.com and our lack of proper documentation for the players. When >>things broke down we had no real rule book to refer the players to, no list of >>contingency plans or time limits for how long a communications breakdown should >>be to be considered a forfeit, etc. So instead of simply referring to a rulebook >>we had a nightmare of phonecalls and recrimination. As embarrassing as this poor >>preparation is for me and all of us, I prefer it to seeing GM Adams undeservedly >>criticized or rumors of conspiracy floated. >> >>As for human players, most of them are going to blame, and not necessarily >>incorrectly, ANY AND ALL technology-related delays on us. That's because as >>organizers we have an obligation to make sure things are working for each >>player. If it's not, the levels of stress involved are not conducive to decent >>chess, in a human. If both players had been human I believe everyone would have >>had a different attitude. Discrimination against the machine? Probably, but as >>it gets later and later, as nerves and five hours of tension build, a human is >>at a severe disadvantage against a computer. Plus, it was Junior's connection >>that went down. Adams, due to his ongoing match against Seirawan, was unable to >>change dates without breaking his commitment to the organizers and sponsor >>there, so really had no choice. Starting the second game at 7 p.m. with no >>guarantee that there would be no further problems was not a serious option. >>Eventually a deadline had to be set, he could not be expected to sit there >>through dinner time on the edge of his seat waiting for the call to start play. >> >>I don't want to air KC's dirty laundry in public as such, but actually I think >>this forum could be a good one to get more ideas about how to solve such things >>in the future and I hope Shay and Amir won't mind my butting in here on their >>home turf. Plus, I agree with just about everything Shay says, I just want to >>provide the full picture. More below. >> >>On February 16, 2000 at 19:38:09, Shay Bushinsky wrote: >> >>>Dear people, >>> >>>At this moment, I regret to say that my own company has decided to >>>discriminate our Deep Junior project and to declare >>>Michael Adams at his insistence to be the victor of our match. >>> >>>This arbitrary decision was taken in spite of the ruling of the tournament >>>official referee, Mr. Boris Postovisky, and was explained as the product >>>of the inconvenience caused to Adams as a result of the delay incurred by >>>our ISP slow connection which obviously was beyond our control. >> >>I really disagree with crediting Adams for insisting on anything. He was more >>than willing to play the second game (and continue the first, he was not the one >>who was cut off) until the delay ran into the evening. Unlike some of the >>prima-donna GMs out there I found him very accomodating over the course of our >>four phone conversations tonight. At the end he was simply hungry and tired and >>wasn't going to play, and basically didn't understand that if his opponent >>couldn't show up for two hours why he wasn't then forfeited. >> >>I should also add that due to the late hour in Russia IA Postovsky was not >>present or observing the match in question and that due to his lack of Russian >>Adams was unable to present his side of the situation. But of course playing the >>game is always the best solution and if Adams wouldn't have been at such a large >>disadvantage by the time things were ready, it should have been played. >> >>>In previous circumstances, when for instance Grandmaster Milos has disconnected >>>for over 20 minutes during his game with Morozevich no forfeit was declared >>>and the match was resumed. >>> >>>All above despite the fact that Mr. Adams himself had trouble connecting >>>and the match was delayed for over 90 minutes mainly because of his >>>computers not being able to connect. >> >>True, but the bottom line is that unless we consider them intentional delays, KC >>as organizer has a responsibility to avoid these technical problems. I was in >>Bermuda for his first match and all went well, and I take responsibility for not >>leaving things in sufficient order for them to avoid problems in the second >>round. We tested everything with that same computer and had no problems at all. >>That's technology. And when both players are human, both are getting tired and >>nervous; no advantage is being gained by a long delay. >> >>>This is a very low point in our career as developers of Deep Junior >>>and we apologize to all our fans and to the spectators who expected us to >>>play a decent match. >> >>Hey, Junior played a great match and everyone here knows it. And very few people >>wanted to see you play Garry more than me. It would have been great to see and >>incredibly great for the site. >> >>>It is a great embarrassment to the company I work for and to myself especially >>>towards Amir Ban my partner and friend who is just an impartial participant in >>>this event as any of the other players. >>> >>>Mr. Adams who initially agreed to our draw offer in the adjourned game (lost >>>position for him) and was willing to continue and play a second game >>>until he changed his mind and said that after speaking to a VP of our company >>>was led to understand that he can claim a forfeit. >> >>Adams did accept the draw offer in the first game, and it will be recorded as a >>draw. (He was of course completely lost, although Junior was exhibiting strange >>time management as Amir mentions in his post.) The forfeit was the second game, >>in which a delay of several hours took place. Adams never said he would continue >>to wait all night and play whenever Junior was ready. He said he would play and >>waited. By the time of the final phone call, and Carol Jarecki recorded the >>clock times of the delays and many phone calls, it was almost two hours after >>the first game was interrupted and he had just about had it. After four or five >>rounds of calls by me to Shay in Israel and Adams in Bermuda, he said that he >>wasn't going to play at all unless it could happen before 7pm (maybe it was 6pm, >>I don't remember if we were talking NY time or Bermuda time). So I talked to >>Shay again and asked how long it would take to get Junior back on the net and as >>always he was honest and said he wasn't sure, that it could take 35 minutes to >>get the modem installed, etc. He was the first to mention the word "forfeit" as >>the potential consequence of the excessive delay. So when I talked to Mickey >>again I said that in my opinion, if they couldn't get online before the hour it >>would probably be considered a forfeit. No, I'm not an arbiter, but common sense >>said that we couldn't expect him to sit there with no idea what was going on for >>so long. Respect for all the players is very important. Adams in no way pushed >>for a forfeit. >> >>In the end, I think seeing Adams play at that point, until nine at night or >>later, and get slaughtered would not have left a very good taste in anyone's >>mouth. And that assumes no further technical problems. If Junior's clock had >>been ticking the entire time it would have lost game two on time. Of course it >>wasn't Junior's fault, it worked great as Adams (and Illescas) found out. Amir >>and Shay are clearly victims here, but no sword proved sharp enough to cut the >>Gordian knot presented us. >> >>To sum up, please reserve your accusations and criticism for me and the rest of >>the KC staff that never found the time to put together a comprehensive rulebook >>that would have avoided the worst of this situation. The rulebook would have >>something similar to "If one player disconnects for whatever reason and is >>unable to resume play for XX minutes, that player will forfeit that game." >>(Adjourning to another day would potentially be incredibly unfair depending on >>the situation on the board and/or clock. Playing the next day was impossible in >>this case regardless.) So Junior would most likely have been forfeited under the >>rules. > >Adams would have been forfeited under the rules due to his inability to connect >for over one hour in game 1. The fact that Junior had to forfeit and not Adams >is incredibly unfair. >This is done and beyond repair. As some sort of compensation, and in the name of >fairness and general interest, how about Junior playing a 2 game match against >the winner of Kasparov's Grand Prix? I bet for an additional 100k$ that is no problem >Enrique > >> But it is to our great shame that no such rule exists and that it took >>something as horrible as this to get it done. >> >>Suggestions about what this rulebook should contain are welcome. Professional >>chess does have a future on the internet, but we have a ways to go and a lot to >>learn. >> >>Saludos, Mig >> >>VP Content & Editor-in-chief >>KasparovChess.com >>mig@kasparovchess.com
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