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Subject: Re: Will Tiger or Rebel play?

Author: Ed Schröder

Date: 07:27:21 09/06/00

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On September 06, 2000 at 05:42:53, Peter McKenzie wrote:

>On September 06, 2000 at 04:12:01, Ed Schröder wrote:
>
>>On September 06, 2000 at 02:20:28, Peter McKenzie wrote:
>>
>>>On September 06, 2000 at 01:52:00, Ed Schröder wrote:
>>>
>>>>On September 05, 2000 at 18:22:25, Jason Williamson wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On September 05, 2000 at 18:17:26, Ed Schröder wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>On September 05, 2000 at 17:51:28, Peter McKenzie wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>How about it Ed & Christophe?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Hi Peter,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I haven't changed my mind. There is still no control. Until then...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Ed
>>>>>
>>>>>What do you mean no control?
>>>>
>>>>That nobody knows the games are 100% real. To gain creditability these
>>>>games should be played in public (on the chess club or so) so everybody
>>>>can see what you are doing.
>>>>
>>>>I understand it's an obstacle but it is my reason not to participate in
>>>>this tournament. The operator can do what he want as there is no control.
>>>>He can override moves, change the time control, force a move he likes and
>>>>and and.
>>>>
>>>>Another way (although it solves not eveything) is that somebody else (the
>>>>TD) is send the program before the games and carefully checks the moves.
>>>>
>>>>I think playing serious tournaments on Internet has a great future. More
>>>>it has the power to become a serious counterpart for the yearly world
>>>>championship computer chess if these kind of things are arranged well.
>>>>
>>>>Ed
>>>
>>>With Internet events, a certain amount of trust is required.  I just don't see
>>>any way of getting around that in the near future.
>>>
>>>But consider this: does it really matter if someone tries to cheat??
>>>
>>>Can an operator really improve a program's performance?  Don't forget that the
>>>time control is quite fast (30 10, or 45 10).  I think that the programs are so
>>>strong now that even if someone cheated by manually choosing different moves, it
>>>would be very tough to do any better than letting the computer play by itself.
>>>
>>>For every move a human can improve on, there are probably 2 other moves where
>>>they just stuff up.  It might be easy to poke holes in computer play AFTER the
>>>game (hindsight is a wonderful thing), but not nearly so easy to do this
>>>confidently DURING the game.
>>>
>>>I guess someone could use another program to cheat with, but really lets not get
>>>too paranoid here.  Most of the participants are quite well known in these
>>>circles, and seem to be pretty trustworthy.
>>
>>There are many aspects, I will limit myself to one.
>>
>>Speaking only for myself: I don't want to become into the temptation to
>>cheat.
>>
>>[Q] Do I trust myself?
>>[A] Yes.
>>
>>[Q] Do I COMPLETELY trust myself?
>>[A] No.
>>
>>Here is a story from a long time ago, actually it was my first tournament
>>the WCCC 1986 in Cologne. Playing in the last round Rebel had a winning
>>position and if Rebel would win that game then Rebel was the new world
>>champion all classes.
>>
>>On a given moment it was considering 2 moves, the good move and a losing
>>move. When I saw Rebel was changing its mind to the bad move somebody told
>>me I should press the "force move" button so the good move would have been
>>played. I wasn't willing. Then the person in question moved his hand to the
>>"force move" button and "in a second" I had to decide what to do. I did the
>>right thing and pushed his hand away. Rebel played the bad move and Rebel
>>lost the game. After the game I was called stupid throwing away the title.
>>
>>In that remarkable "second" the option "why not" certainly crossed my mind
>>and I think that nobody is excluded from such temptations when so much is
>>at stake.
>>
>>[Q] What will I do next time?
>>[A] Probably the same
>>
>>So I end as I started: I don't want to become into the temptation to
>>cheat, not anymore.
>
>Do you honestly believe that you cheating would make Rebel any stronger?
>
>I'd say that if most program authors (myself included) started overriding their
>program's choice of moves then their program would just play WEAKER!
>
>It might be an interesting experiment though...

Hi Peter,

I am not against these tournaments. I was asked why Rebel did not
participate and now you know the why.

Ed



>>To make Internet tournaments trustworthy you need rules.
>>
>>Ed



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