Author: Albert Silver
Date: 10:24:27 08/20/00
Go up one level in this thread
On August 19, 2000 at 08:29:01, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>On August 19, 2000 at 00:56:54, Ed Schröder wrote:
>
>>On August 18, 2000 at 23:43:07, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>
>>>On August 17, 2000 at 12:12:20, Ernst A. Heinz wrote:
>>>
>>>>Hi Vincent,
>>>>
>>>>>My surprise was also big, but nevertheless i join!
>>>>>Nothing wrong with joining a tournament that's
>>>>>already under a lot of attack, or the tournament fades away!
>>>>
>>>>IMO, your story is quite different than ours because "Diep" is
>>>>optimized for PCs and has always been so. Hence, you planned to
>>>>attend from the beginning I suppose -- your surprise was only
>>>>related to the fact that you must bring your own PC now.
>>>>
>>>>For us it was totally different -- we had no plans to attend
>>>>_since last year_!
>>>>
>>>>>>The low number of participants is probably due to the fact that
>>>>>>information flow regarding this tournament was almost non-existent
>>>>>>until mid-July or so.
>>>>
>>>>I like to add something to my remark above.
>>>>
>>>>Now, everybody here should now that I am a strong supporter of
>>>>the ICCA and do not intend to bash them or any of their volunteers'
>>>>efforts to promote computer chess and related events.
>>>>
>>>>Nevertheless, I personally deem this year's participation fee of
>>>>US-$ 100 for amateurs _prohibitively high_. This might be another
>>>>reason for amateur programmers not to join the tournament.
>>>>
>>>>Just my humble opinion, of course ...
>>>>
>>>>=Ernst=
>>>
>>>
>>>I agree. In fact, since I can't go due to classes and the expense of going
>>>to England, I get to pay 200 bucks to get crafty in. I have _never_ paid an
>>>entry fee in 25 years of ACM competition. I don't see the reasoning behind
>>>this myself...
>>
>>It is not so difficult. Let me explain. The ICCA is a non-profit organization
>>to promote computer chess in its widest form. The new rules are just meant to
>>make it more easy for chess programmers to join the tournament.
>>
>>Clap, clap clap.
>>
>>Ed (sarcastic)
>
>
>:)
>
>In my case, adding $100 to the cost of participating is just one more thing to
>make me think hard about whether I want to go or not.
>
>I had always suggested the following about entry fees:
>
>1. If a non-commercial (not-for-sale-anywhere) engine participates, no entry
>fee.
>
>2. If a commercial program is entered as an "experimental" engine, and the
>programmer/company agrees to not use the results on the front of the box or in
>advertisements, no entry fee.
>
>3. If a company enters a program, and wants to use a good result for
>advertising purposes, then charge them a fee if it is needed to hold the
>tournament.
>
>IE in this event, assuming there are 16 entries and all 16 are non-commercial
>(not true of course) I can't believe that $1,600 (16 * 100 entry fee) would be
>a 'make or break' condition for the event. But it is likely that it would be
>a 'make or break' for one or two of the competitors.
>
>I think the events like the ICC tournament are going to be the future of these
>competitions. No fees. No travel.
I know that as a spectator it is far better to be able to watch the games live
over the Internet. The reasons are fairly obvious:
- Visiting the locale can be somewhat tricky for those who live elsewhere so the
Internet becomes the only possibility. Holding it in a place like Rio de
Janeiro, far from the center of Computer Chess action, seems as likely as it
being staged in some bizarre place such as Jakarta...
- This allows fans to get together virtually and watch and talk about the games
from the comfort of their homes.
- Watching live games with the aid of one's computer allows one to make use of
it to help understand the action going on (run engines, search databases for
opening references, search tablebases for final verdict on endgames, etc...).
- Zero cost except for whatever costs accessing the Internet incurs.
Unfortunately, in order to be completely fair, one must also speak of the
distinct disadvantages:
- Cannot follow-up personally on the latest fashion changes dictated by the hip
programmers such as in hair, clothes, and the inline skates they use.
- Miss out on the opportunity to see the heroes live. Just seeing that different
'F' on the screen of the unreleased version of Fritz gives me goosebumps.
Brrrr!....
- All those computers over 800 Mhz outside a computer store or university will
have any serious enthusiast singing and dancing in sheer delight. And a room
full of singing and dancing computer chess enthusiasts is a sight to behold!
Albert Silver
(without a trace of sarcasm)
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