Hat tip to Susan Polgar for excerpting and linking to a New York Times article out today titled "Cheating Accusations in Mental Sports, Too" (free registration required to view it today, or see basically the same article at the International Herald Tribune site) which discusses the recent World Open cheating scandal (also discussed at the USChess site and at various chess message boards).
Update: ChessBase has posted a story on the topic.
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[Event "34th Annual WORLD OPEN"]
[Site "Philadelphia United States"]
[Date "2006.07.03"]
[Round "07"]
[White "Smirin, Ilya"]
[Black "Varshavsky, Eugene"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2800"]
[BlackElo "2169"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5
8.dxe5 Be6 9.Be3 Be7 10.c3 Nc5 11.h3 Nxb3 12.axb3 O-O 13.Re1 Qd7
14.Nbd2 a5 15.Nf1 Bf5 16.Ng3 Bg6 17.Qd2 h6 18.Rad1 Rad8 19.Qe2 b4
20.Rd2 Rfe8 21.Qd1 Qe6 22.Nd4 Nxd4 23.cxd4 f6 24.Bf4 fxe5 25.Bxe5
Qd7 26.Rde2 c5 27.Re3 Bg5 28.f4 Bh4 29.Rf1 Rf8 30.Kh2 Rf7 31.Qd2
cxd4 32.Qxd4 Qa7 33.Ne2 Qxd4 34.Nxd4 Be4 35.g3 Re8 36.Rc1 g5
37.f5 Rxe5 38.gxh4 gxh4 39.Re2 Ree7 40.Rf2 Rc7 41.Rcf1 Rf6 42.Rf4
Rg7 43.R1f2 Kf7 44.Rxh4 Ke7 45.Rg4 Rgf7 46.Kg3 Bxf5 47.Rgf4 Bd7
48.Re2+ Kd6 49.Rh4 Rg7+ 50.Kh2 Rg5 51.Rd2 h5 52.Re2 Rf1 53.Rd2
Be8 54.Rg2 Rxg2+ 55.Kxg2 Rd1 56.Kf2 Rd3 57.Ke2 Bg6 0-1
Yes, that game was analyzed in the Bobby Ang piece I link to and it is clear that this guy was getting assistance.... Thanks for the PGN so we can look at it with Shredder...
In the NY Times piece, Goichburg suggests that being a TD is going to get a lot less pleasant. I think playing in tournaments is already a less pleasant experience. Chess tournaments have changed due simply to the fear that computers might be lurking in the background.
For instance, I was playing a game at a US Amateur Team event where I had blundered badly in a superior position, and my opponent suddenly gained an attack, though at significant material sacrifice. We reached a position where he had an obvious draw by perpetual check or he could try to continue the attack. Seeing him hesitate, and suspecting I was in serious trouble, I offered a draw, trying to appear as though that was the obvious result. He sat and sat. Then he took a bathroom break....
At some point during that "bathroom break," it occurred to me that he could easily go back to his hotel room and set up the position on Fritz and learn a lot about how to win it....
Obviously, he did not do that, since shortly after he came back he accepted the draw -- and we won the match. But a less ethical opponent easily could have and there really is nothing you can do about it. You don't need a wire to cheat.
There is even a story that Kasparov took a "bathroom break" in his hotel room during a game once....
Hi Mike, can you add more RSS buttons? I'm not using bloglines. Sorry for the offtopic.
Thanks for letting me know. I'll look at what you use and do the same...
Thanks Mike. I think the best way is to use www.feedburner.com.
My connection is 64k and opening single post from RSS reader is much easier then loading entire blog with photos and diagrams.
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