Author: Micheal Cummings
Date: 23:14:10 02/15/99
Below I have reproduced a Newspaper article from my Sunday paper written by Australian GM Ian Rogers. I think it brings up a very interesting point, I have seen many smaller tournaments played in Australia when players have had remarkable improvement in their play and beaten opponents which they would usually not. When you can get ear radio transmitters that can fit inside your ear and go unnoticed and get moves transmitted to you without anyone knowing. Article by GM Rogers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Garry Kasparov has been expounding the virtues of "Advanced Chess" - man working in unison with computer - for some time, but it now appears that a few players have taken the Worlds No1 idea too seriously. Recently two similar scandals have broken in Germany and New Zealand, involving non-professional players accused of furtively using computer assistance to win important games. The New Zealand case broke first; an outsider who has already beaten two Olympic representatives during a weekend tournament, was discovered during a later game with what looked like a small computer under his scarf. (The player and his long scarf has been inseparable during the tournament and many opponents had noticed the incessant scratching in the vicinity of the scarf which seemed to accompany every move.) Refusing to allow the arbiter to inspect him, the player was forfeited. He rushed out of the playing hall before he could be examined closely. He returned a few hours later to explain that he had merely been toying with a Nintendo Gameboy, but most believed that a pocket Novag Sapphire chess computer was responsible for the players remarkable run of Success. The German episode was more productive and certainly more worrying for the chess world. Unheralded 55 year old Clemens Allwermann, tied for first place in the Boblingen open in December, performing at a level close to the worlds top 50 and winning almost $A1,5000. Allwermann attributed his success to luck and his opponents underestimation of his strength, but later analysis of the games indicated that almost all Allwermann's moves were those which would have been suggested by the Fritz chess program. Even more damning was Allwermann's behavior at the end of the final game against International Master Sergey Kalinitschew. As Kalinitschew resigned, Allwermann - somewhat tipsy according to his opponent - announced "Its checkmate in eight moves". (Announcing mate was very popular in the 19th century, but is now considered poor manners, although such information is often provided by computer readouts.) Taken aback, Kalinitschew asked for proof, but it turned out that Allwermann was absolutely correct. The position was later tested by many Grandmasters but none had the confidence to predict the precise number of moves to checkmate. Allwermann later claimed he really wasn't sure about the mate in eight, it was just a lucky guess. Observers in Boblingen believe it is unlikely that Allwermann could have been hiding a sufficiently powerful computer under the dark blazer and tie which he wore everyday of the tournament - despite high temperatures in the playing hall - but an infra-red connection to another computer has not been ruled out. All this is a far cry from 1993 when a weak player with a walkman linked to a friend outside the playing arena managed to draw with GM Hjartarson during the world open. If advice may now be received undetected, tournament chess may cease to be a one-on-one struggle and degenerate into an unfair form of "Advanced Chess". Taken From "Chess by Ian Rogers" Sydney Morning Herald Sunday 14th February 1999. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Does anyone know where I could get my hands on the games that were played by Allwermann during this match and especially during the Final when he announced this mate in eight. Plus also it might be a good Opinion Poll Question a ask how many people do you think use unfair means when playing a tournament.
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.