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Subject: Re: Technical question regarding interface for CCT

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 20:34:42 12/13/03

Go up one level in this thread


On December 13, 2003 at 13:48:29, Omid David Tabibi wrote:

>On December 13, 2003 at 13:23:14, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>
>>On December 13, 2003 at 12:38:27, Omid David Tabibi wrote:
>>
>>>On December 13, 2003 at 12:18:43, Sune Fischer wrote:
>>>
>>>>>A CCT style tournament can never turn into an official event, since you cannot
>>>>>prevent any kind of cheating. I can run 5 engines on different computers, see
>>>>>which analysis I like, and then force my engine to play that move by feeding the
>>>>>move via a file it checks once a second. How are you going to prevent that? By
>>>>>looking at the analysis I output?! I can force my engine to print a spurious PV
>>>>>starting with the move I want it to play...
>>>>
>>>>You can do exactly the same in WCCC.
>>>>
>>>>Here is one way, you do a ssh to some remote 'super' computer not monitored by
>>>>any officials.
>>>>Then you get your cheating partner sitting at home to use multiple engines to
>>>>decide on the move.
>>>>He then feeds the best move into your proxy which then makes up some bogus node
>>>>count and PV and sends it back.
>>>>
>>>>You can even let it show analysis on the fly, it just has to have the right fail
>>>>high at the time when the move is sent. It's a nobrainer to fake.
>>>
>>>It's all true. But the only person running remote in Graz was Vincent. And we
>>>know enough about him and what he does to be confident that he is running on
>>>what he says he is running. I ensure you that if an unknown person shows up
>>>running on some unknown remote machine, everyone will question that and will ask
>>>for verification.
>>
>>See my other post.  I won't run remote.  I _will_ cheat.  Because you simply
>>can't stop it without the expense I mentioned.  Want to provide a wide-band
>>frequency scanner to detect RF?  Won't catch a burst transmission.  Nor an
>>IR transmission.  Nor a transmission into the room over building power (do
>>a web search for electrical power line modem).  Etc...
>
>
>See my other post. It is far easier to cheat online (needs about half an hour of
>coding to enable a full range of cheatings), than to use RF or IR.

No it isn't.  With the rule to kibitz analysis, it is much more complex
to make your program play a strange move, and keep kibitzes consistent.  And
then there is the timing as this is all done in real-time with lots of
people watching.  Kibitz A and play B and someone will notice.  Move at
an odd time point and someone will notice.  It is _not_ that easy.  It can
be done, yes, but cheating can be done, period.

It's certainly happened at ICCA events, for example.

>
>
>
>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>>The only reason why CCT tournaments are popular is that the stakes are not high.
>>>>
>>>>You may be on to something here, we are all so scared when the stakes are high.
>>>>:-)
>>>>
>>>>Nah, I think the answer is more straight forward: it's because it's so
>>>>accessible to everyone while the ICGA event is so unaccessible to most.
>>>>
>>>>>Most programmers join CCT only to test their engine against others (speaking for
>>>>>myself, I will enter a totally experimental and untested version of Falcon).
>>>>
>>>>I will enter whatever version I think is the strongest, probably it will be
>>>>experiment and somewhat untested, all my versions are.
>>>>I would have done the same had I been at the WCCC.
>>>
>>>I wouldn't. In Graz I used a version which was tested enough (tens of long time
>>>control matches against top programs), and was proven to be stable. During the
>>>whole tournament I didn't encounter even one bug in Falcon. I learned quite a
>>>lot about its weaknesses, but no programming bugs.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>I assume you also won't be joining with something you know for certain to be
>>>>weaker 'just for the testing'.
>>>
>>>Untested means I don't know. It could be stronger or weaker.
>>>
>>
>>I _always_ enter with what I believe is the strongest version.  "believe"
>>!= absolutely certain.  But I do that at WCCC/WMCCC events as well.  I
>>treat them no differently from that perspective.
>>
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>>But
>>>>>when you give an official title to the winner, expect many (if not most)
>>>>>participants to cheat in various degrees starting from "move now" to playing all
>>>>>the moves as dictated by the operator.
>>>>
>>>>So you expect most people at WCCC to be cheaters given the chance?
>>>
>>>The stakes in WCCC are so high that you cannot rule out that option. If you
>>>don't do any drug tests in 100 meter sprint in the olympics, how many contenders
>>>will use drugs in your opinion?
>>
>>Not me.  I can't speak for others.  But I notice they still get away with
>>it.  Testers are human.  They can be bought just as easily as the competitors
>>can.
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>And you think showing up in person made cheating impossible for everyone there?
>>>
>>>Makes it very hard to cheat, and almost impossible to fake a whole game.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>>The physical presence of the programmers (or operators) is inevitable for an
>>>>>official event, especially one giving the title "World Computer Chess Champion"
>>>>>to the winner.
>>>>
>>>>It doesn't prevent cheating at all, nothing can prevent cheating 100% unless you
>>>>want to release codes etc...
>>>
>>>In a physical WCCC there is no easy way to cheat, apart from plagiarism which is
>>>a different story. When playing against an engine in WCCC, I know that the move
>>>it just played was produced by itself, not some external entity (machine or
>>>human). Could you say the same in CCT?
>>
>>Again, see my previous post.  I could use any program I choose and you would
>>_never_ know or prove it.  You might leave scratching your head "how did he
>>do that?" but that's it..
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>-S.



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