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Subject: Why Shredder is not playing...

Author: Stefan Meyer-Kahlen

Date: 03:11:04 04/18/01




A lot of discussion is going on about the planned Kramnik machine match and I
think it is necessary to give you my point of view about the whole issue. I
refused to play in this event for various reasons which I will sum up below:

·	The final version of the program playing against Kramnik must be made
available to Kramnik end of July already. This makes an match with equal chances
impossible as it will be very easy for Mr. Kramnik to prepare and win a match
against any program under this circumstances. I would even say that it is
possible for human players of my strength to win a match against any program
with this conditions.

·	For a computer to play the match against Kramnik he must win a qualifier
against some other chess programs. This qualification tournament will be called
the BGN computer world chess championships and the winner will be called the BGN
computer chess world champion. I see no reasons to have another computer chess
world championship and another computer chess world champion besides the ICCA
tournaments and the ICCA champion so I will not play there.

·	The first time I have heard about this qualification tournament was two weeks
before the scheduled start of this event.

·	The event will be played with the autoplayer and without any representative of
the programs on site.

·	The starting fee for each program will be $5000.

·	The prize fund in the human machine match will be divided quite uneven in the
case that Kramnik or the computer will win. In this respect the whole issue
seems to me like an event only for Kramnik and the organizers to make big money,
not to play a real match against a computer.

·	There are many more points like a clause that all the micro Deeps can be
kicked out anytime when IBM decides to join or severe restrictions in the
marketing of this event, but I think those given above should be sufficient to
understand my point of view.

So I have various reasons not to join this thing, each of those being enough not
to join. I hope that all the speculations, wild guesses and accusations
concerning my withdrawal will end, particularly of those guys who even haven’t
seen the contract, including one of my colleagues here.

Stefan Meyer-Kahlen, author of Shredder.






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