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Subject: Re: Fairness and good manners in chess (Tiviakov vs. Fritz)

Author: Ulrich Tuerke

Date: 05:07:04 05/17/00

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On May 17, 2000 at 07:04:19, Gerrit Reubold wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>what should be allowed for an operator of a chess program?
>
>I think that he should _only_ operate, he should _not_ influence the outcome of
>the game. Resigning ot deciding about draw offers seems to be fair to the
>opponent, but it is not fair to the opponent's competitors in the tournament. I
>don't like the idea that an operator can decide to play on (win by time), to
>make a draw (by agreement), or to resign (because of the board position). Giving
>away one or half of a point for free distorts the final results of the
>tournament and is unfair to the other players.
>
>An operator should
>- never resign, unless the program resigns by itself

Hi Gerrit, I dont agree with this. The GM will be real upset e.g. in case the
program will not resign with a rook minus. And I think he would be right. I
guess, that operators should be "respectful" here and adapt to the usual habits
in high level tournaments.
Otherwise, it will become even harder to find a GM as computer opponent.

Uli

>- never offer a draw, unless the program offers a draw
>- if the opponent offers a draw, ask the program about it, if the program can't
>be asked, decline immediately
>
>If a player wants to get a draw, he should claim it by the TD. The TD should
>decide as in a human-human game, by interpreting the rules which are in force.
>Should the operator be allowed to claim something by the TD? I'm not sure about
>it.
>
>Imagine the Fritz-Tiviakov game were played at the last round, imagine Tiviakov
>were playing for the first price, player X has just finished his game and is now
>0.5 points ahead of Tiviakov. I think it is not acceptable that an operator can
>influence the result of the tournament by resigning, offering a draw or playing
>on. I assume player X wouldn't like the operator to resign for fairness reasons.
>The drawback of these rules: There will be more work for the TD. Another one:
>Maybe some players would be even less willing to play computers.
>
>These "Do and Don't" rules apply only when participating in tournaments, not in
>exhibition matches or in online play, of course.
>
>BTW: I think Frans Morsch didn't intend to distract Tiviakov, instead he didn't
>like to win on time. Maybe he should have tried to win, to be fair to Tiviakov's
>competitors.
>
>I realize that these propositions are rather extreme, I expect most of you to
>disagree, just my opinion...
>
>Greetings,
>Gerrit



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