Author: Roger D Davis
Date: 10:18:01 11/30/03
Go up one level in this thread
On November 30, 2003 at 01:50:19, Jim Bodkins wrote: >On November 29, 2003 at 22:48:42, Roger D Davis wrote: > >>I have to wonder how the latest screw up should be interpreted in the total >>history of the tournament. One perspective is that the Law of Karma is finally >>kicking in. In this scenario, the tournament committee handled the List affair >>awkwardly by being too rigid and authoritarian in their interpretation of the >>rules. Ironically, they essentially quote the charter on the Chessbase site to >>excuse themselves for having to disqualify List. Even when there were dissenting >>opinions on this board, with some of the programmers themselves saying that they >>wouldn't reveal their own source, that circumstantial evidence wasn't enough for >>the committee to act upon, etc., there was no subsequent clarification of the >>circumstances of the disqualification. The rules are the rules, as they say (and >>said). >> >>But...the List decision being BS, and there being balance and fairness in the >>Universe, the Law of Karma kicked in as a means of showing us exactly how >>hypocritical the tournament is: The rules are the rules when it's convenient to >>excuse the behavior of the committee, but are open to interpretation in another >>circumstance where they should apply. The effect of the Law of Karma is seen in >>the consequences of this behavior, which is to undermine, if not invalidate, the >>meaning of the IGCA world championship title. >> >>The Law of Karma interpretation has a lot to recommend it, because it proposes >>that even if tournament committees act hypocritically and unfairly, at some >>level there is justice in the universe, and that if fairness is flaunted, then >>while the Universe may not be able to correct the result, it will at least >>render the result completely absurd and meaningless. By this reasoning, the >>latest snafu is actually required in order for Karmic balance to be achieved. >> >>Unfortunately, the Law of Karma interpretation also supposes the operation of >>unseen forces, and cannot be called the most parsimonious interpretation. Maybe >>fairness, unlike matter and energy, is not conserved. Maybe there are only >>events that happen, and while it's possible to chronicle them and note strange >>coincidences, these coincidences are just nothing more than statistical >>aberrations, with meaning imposed upon them. >> >>By this explanation, the latest snafu with Shredder is simply history repeating >>itself. The causality at work is not the causality of Karma, but the causality >>of stupidity, the fact that if you screw up once in a critical situation (e.g., >>with List), you're likely to screw up again, no matter how much egg you already >>have on your face. >> >>For the tournament committee, the problem is that the Shredder snafu puts the >>List issue in a completely different light, because it shows us how incompetent >>the committee really is. At it's maximum, it means that the List issue becomes >>more significant, because the issues involved must be reevaluated in the context >>of the committee's latest faux pas. >> >>Take your pick. >> >>Roger > >I would use the word comeuppance. I expect ICGA to be shadowed by this for some >time. (Which is a shame for the sake of the developers. It will follow them as >well). And I couldnt agree more regarding the committees imcompetance. It >appears to me that either the committee needs an overhaul or there needs to be a >new committee. This is the committee that sanctions Twixt as well I believe. >Heady company. Sorry for the sarcasm, but why precisely doesnt computer chess >have a chess governing body in this area. For that matter, why isnt computer >chess governed by FIDE. > >I'm sure they did their best and meant well. I believe that a better job could >have been done, whether by ICGA or some other organization. I believe that needs >to happen. > >I dont know why FIDE doesnt sanction these computer tournaments, even though >they do sanction 'events'. > >http://www.fide.com/calendar/fidecalendar.phtml?view=8 Indeed, comeuppance is a great word for what happened! Roger
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