Daily Archives: March 15, 2020

Until the sports world ground to a halt last week over the coronavirus outbreak, perhaps the biggest issue looming over professional sports in the United States was the Houston Astros cheating scandal. The revelations of their scheme led Major League Baseballs commissioner, Rob Manfred, to deliver a stern warning to all 30 club owners that there was a culture of cheating in the game.

But baseballs malfeasance sign-stealing or otherwise has nothing on chess. At prestigious live tournaments and among thousands of others playing daily online, cheating is a scourge.

Whether its a secret buzzer planted in a shoe, a smartphone smuggled into the bathroom, a particular flavor of yogurt delivered at a key moment or just online players using computerized chess programs chess has perhaps more cheating than any other game in the world.

Of course it is a problem, said Leinier Domnguez, the Cuban-born player currently ranked No. 1 in the United States. Because with all the advances in technology, its always a possibility. People have more chances and opportunities to do this sort of thing.

In both chess and baseball, both real and rumored instances of cheating have been around for decades, but an explosion in technology and data over the past 10 to 15 years has made the problem much harder to curb for both.

The Astros scheme, which helped propel them to the 2017 World Series title, involved illegally deciphering the signs of opposing catchers via a live video feed and then banging on a trash can to signal the next pitch to the batter. M.L.B. is now grappling with how to prevent similar electronic-based schemes in the future.

In chess, players at live tournaments are now required to leave their phones behind and pass through metal detectors before entering the playing area. Some have even been asked to remove clothing and been searched. And some tournaments now put players behind one-way mirrors to limit visual communication.

But, like the Astros, many chess players still try.

Just last year, a grandmaster named Igors Rausis was caught examining a smartphone in a bathroom stall at a tournament in France. In 2015, Gaioz Nigalidze of Georgia was barred for three years by FIDE, chesss global governing body, and had his grandmaster status revoked for the same offense.

FIDEs anti-cheating commission has recently stepped up its efforts to combat the problem. The group met last month and resolved to give financial support to national federations that need it to help them root out cheating, and will share detection techniques with online chess platforms. They are currently investigating 20 cases.

The cheaters have been winning for a long time, Arkady Dvorkovich, the president of FIDE, said in a telephone interview from Moscow. But in the last few months we showed our determination to fight it and I think people realize it is serious.

In 2013, Borislav Ivanov, a young player from Bulgaria, was essentially forced into retirement after he refused to take off his shoes to be searched for an electronic device that might be used to transmit signals to him. A device was never found Ivanov reportedly refused to remove his shoes because, he claimed, his socks were too smelly but he retired shortly after the tournament.

Dominguez said he did not think the top 20 players in the world cheat: It would be too risky to their reputations, he said. But he was at the 2012 chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, when accusations flew that the French team had used an elaborate cheating scheme. The French team was accused of sending text messages to teammates, who would then stand in prearranged spots in the gallery. Their location was supposedly the signal to a young, unproven player, Sbastien Feller, for the next move.

Feller denied the accusations but was suspended by the French chess federation, which said it discovered numerous suspicious texts. That penalty was later overruled by a French court.

Dominguez was not playing Feller, but saw the furor at the time and its effects even on clean players.

One of the dangers is that you get a bit paranoid about these things, Dominguez said. Maybe in baseball as well. You feel insecure and lose focus on your game.

There are players who cheat by sandbagging intentionally playing poorly in order to qualify for a lower tournament and win the prize money. There are some who create fake accounts online, build up the stature of that account, and then beat it in order to improve their own ranking. Sometimes opponents agree to an outcome and share meager prize money.

In 1978, Viktor Korchnoi accused Anatoly Karpov of cheating with blueberry yogurt. After Karpov received purple yogurt from a waiter during the game, Korchnoi worried that the flavor was a signal from someone on the outside.

Korchnoi later claimed his accusation was a joke, but officials took it seriously, ultimately mandating that the same snack would be delivered to both players at a predetermined time.

It sounds crazy, said Gerard Le-Marechal, a full-time monitor and anti-cheating detective for Chess.com, one of the worlds largest online chess platforms. But its a legitimate concern because there are so many ways to help a player.

Le-Marechal is one of six people employed by the website to combat cheating. They rely on sophisticated algorithms of statistical data, and Le-Marechal says he gets ping alerts throughout the day about cheaters many amateurs, some professionals and even the occasional grandmaster.

During a 40-minute telephone interview, at least three pings could be heard in the background, and Le-Marechal said all were alerts for cheating.

Daniel Rensch, a former junior champion and one of the owners of Chess.com, said his cheat-detection team had consulted for live tournaments to help stop cheating. There is little doubt, he said, that haptic buzzers have already been used.

The idea is that, while one person plays, another watches from a remote location and simultaneously pores over potential moves on a computerized chess engine. Then the accomplice would signal the best upcoming moves to the player via the haptic device that taps (or buzzes) a coded signal for the player.

A top player does not necessarily need to be told the exact move. In some cases, the prearranged signal could simply be: There is a winning move here. Grandmasters are skilled enough to find it.

Buzzers have also fueled plenty of speculation in the Astros scandal. Though they were found only to have cheated in the 2017 season, many suspected they continued beyond then in part because of a video that showed second baseman Jose Altuve telling teammates not to rip off his shirt after hitting a home run during the 2019 postseason.

Altuve and the Astros denied the accusations, but it has done little to quell rumors and questions: Could baseball players effectively use haptic devices?

One hundred percent, Rensch said, and it would not even be that complicated.

During his teams investigations, Rensch said, a knowledgeable source indicated that tiny electronic earpiece receivers, the size of a peppercorn, were being used to cheat in chess. The insidious miniature earbuds, which are marketed online to students for the expressed purpose of cheating on exams, are so small that they cannot be detected.

But Rensch is more concerned with the scourge of online cheating on his platform. Ever since the IBM computer Big Blue beat the world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997, increasingly powerful chess engines have made cheating easy.

Its so much worse now, Le-Marechal said. You have this almighty god that can tell you everything. Its so tempting for everybody.

About 10 years ago, as rank amateurs were beating grandmasters and rampant cheating threatened the legitimacy of online chess, Rensch and his fellow owners of the site held a meeting on the topic. At that point they were hosting a million games a day now it is 3.5 million and someone suggested there might be nothing they could do to stem the rolling tide of deception.

Just saying it out loud was enough to make us kind of vomit in the back of our throats, Rensch said. We were like, No, we have to do something. We have a responsibility as a steward of the game to try to solve this problem, that everybody and their cousin with a free freaking program was suddenly the best chess player in the world.

The website also hosts tournaments for money, making cheat-detection even more critical. So the team developed computer programs that mine statistical data to prove cheating, which they say has saved the online game. They often do not even know how someone is cheating, but they can prove it is happening based on irregularities in the moves over time.

Rensch said they shut down sometimes tens of thousands of accounts a month, including some of professionals and grandmasters.

They can also spot irregularities in live matches. According to Le-Marechal, they knew about Rausis months before he was busted in the bathroom in France last year. Even some professionals whom Renschs team does not name publicly have confessed, apologized and wondered how they were caught.

I dont care how you are doing it, Rensch said. All Im saying is, what you are doing is not reasonably possible based on the data I have, and I would win in court.

Rensch and Le-Marechal believe that other sports, particularly baseball with its wide use of statistical data, can adopt their approach to catching cheaters. Dvorkovich, the head of FIDE, added that just as the cheaters benefit from technology, the authorities can, too.

No matter what the game is, Dvorkovich said, when there are benefits from winning, you have cheating.

See the original post here:

Think Cheating in Baseball Is Bad? Try Chess - The New York Times

Our beloved game of chess has had many legends, world champions, challengers, world-class players, and grandmasters.

The games of these masters delight, inspire and teach us the ways of the royal game. It is common to discuss the greatest players of all time in chess circlesbut these discussions always beg the singular question: Who was the best of all time?

Here are the top 10 best chess players:

The following players are all chess legends and are in the conversation for the best players of all time, but for one reason or another ended up just outside of the top 10.

Paul Morphy was the embodiment of romantic attacking chess, the strongest player of the 1850s and the best player of the entire 19th century. There was no official world championship title during his era, but he was light years ahead of his competition and is recognized as an unofficial world champion.

Morphy won the 1857 American Chess Congress and then traveled to Europe in 1858, winning every match he played versus the world's leading players.

Morphy taught the chess world about sacrifices, development, attacking, accuracy and more. Hislegendary Opera Game is considered one of the most famous chess games of all time and is still studied today. Bobby Fischer listed Morphy as one of the ten greatest players of all time.

GM Tigran Petrosian, or "Iron Tigran," was the world champion during 1963-1969 and a four-time Soviet champion. Undefeated the entire year leading to his world championship title (1962), he was known for his defensive prowess and his famous exchange sacrifices. According to GM Daniel Naroditsky, he was one of the "first elite players with a truly universal style."

Petrosian defeated the legendary GMMikhail Botvinnik to become world champion in 1963, defended his title against GM Boris Spassky in 1966 and then lost the re-match to Spassky in 1969.

In 1971 Petrosian was GM Bobby Fischer's last stepping stone to face Spassky for the world championship in 1972. His victory over Fischer in the second game of their candidates match stopped Fischer's historical and unprecedented 20-game winning streak (although Fischer did win the match).

GM Viswanathan Anand was the FIDE world champion from 2000 to 2002 and the 15th undisputed champion from 2007 to 2013.He lost the Professional Chess Association (PCA) world championship match against GMGarry Kasparov in 1995 and lost to GMAnatoly Karpov in the FIDE world championship match in 1998 (on tiebreaks) before winning the FIDE world championship in 2000.

In 2007 Anand won the double round-robin world championship tournament ahead of GMVladimir Kramnik and other world-class players and was crowned world champion. In 2008 he defeated Kramnikin a match to become the 15th undisputed world champion. He defended his title by defeating GM Veselin Topalov in 2010 and in 2012 against GM Boris Gelfand. In 2013 Anand was defeated by reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

Anand is the strongest Indian grandmaster of all time and has inspired multiple generations of chess players in India and around the world.

Alexander Alekhine was the fourth official world champion and held the title from 1927 to 1946 (with an exception during 1935-1937). He was a brilliant and well-rounded player with a special ability for combinational play in complex positions. He also taught the chess world that rules and principles can be broken based on concrete analysis of the specific and unique position.

Alekhine became world champion by defeating Jose Raul Capablanca in 1927, despite being a large underdog (he had never won a single game against Capablanca before the match).

Alekhine's reign as world champion was long, but he successfully defended his title only twice (both times against GM Efim Bogoljubow in 1929 and 1934). Capablanca and Alekhine never had a rematch for the world championship due to various reasons. Alekhine faced GM Max Euwe for the world championship in 1935 and surprisingly lost the match.

Two years later Alekhine won the rematch against Euwe to earn the crown back, but he would never defend it again. He passed away in 1946 as the world champion, the only champion ever to do so (although he was finalizing the details to play a match with Botvinnik).

GM Mikhail Tal, also known as the "Magician from Riga," was the eighth official world champion. He defeated Botvinnik in 1960 to earn the crown at the age of 23 and a half, becoming the youngest world champion in history at the time (although this record was broken by both Kasparov and Carlsen).

Known for his brilliant and unique attacking style, Tal's approach to the game has been an inspiration for attacking players for decades. One of his famous bone-chilling quotes is, "You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one."

His game collection The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal is a chess classic and considered one of the greatest chess books of all time.

Emanuel Lasker was the second official world champion and held the title for 27 years. His reign from 1894 to 1921 is the longest of any world chess champion, and his playing career lasted five decades. Lasker defeated the first official world champion Wilhelm Steinitz in 1894, and he defended his title five times against a host of world-class contenders, including Frank Marshall, Siegbert Tarrasch, David Janowsky, and Carl Schlechter.

In 1921 Lasker lost the title to Capablanca but continued to play at the highest level. He placed third in the 1935 Moscow tournament at the age of 66, half a point behind Botvinnik and Salo Flohr, but ahead of Capablanca, the first women's world champion Vera Menchik and 15 other masters.

GM Vladimir Kramnik was world champion from 2000 to 2007. He became the classical world champion by dethroning the legendary Kasparov in 2000, defended his title in 2004 against GM Peter Leko and in 2006 faced the FIDE world champion Topalov in a title unification match. Kramnik defeated Topalov to become the first undisputed world champion since Kasparov in 1993.

At his peak, Kramnik's game had absolutely no weak pointshe could do it all. He was known for his fantastic endgame play and his clean, tenacious and positional style. Kramnik is considered one of the most difficult players to defeat in the history of the game.

Kramnik was a top player for over 25 years before retiring in January 2019.

GM Mikhail Botvinnik is known as the "father of the Soviet chess school." The sixth world champion reigned from 1948 to 1963 (with two brief intermissions) and was a top player for over 30 years. Botvinnik's style was dictated by iron logic and flexibility, although he was extremely talented with methodical and strategical planning. His flexible style allowed him to adapt to all different types of playing styles.

He became world champion in 1948, defended his title against GM David Bronstein in 1951 and defeated GM Vassily Smyslov in 1954. In 1957 Smyslov defeated Botvinnik, who won their rematch the following year (at that time the world champion had the right to a rematch if they lost the title). In 1960 Botvinnik was defeated by Tal, but history repeated itself as Botvinnik won their rematch in 1961.

Although his reign as world champion was brought to an end by Petrosian in 1963, Botvinnik continued to play at a high level until his retirement in 1970. Botvinnik started his chess school in 1963, and he was the teacher of three future world champions (Karpov, Kasparov, and Kramnik).

GM Anatoly Karpov was the 12th world champion and reigned from 1975 to 1985 while also being the FIDE world champion from 1993 to 1999. Karpov was an exceptionally well-rounded player, but his specialty was positional binds, prophylactic play, and wonderful endgame technique.

Karpov became world champion by default when Fischer withdrew from their 1975 match because his demands weren't met. Karpov defended his crown by defeating GM Viktor Korchnoi in 1978 and again in 1981. In 1984 Karpov would have his first meeting with Kasparov, and the chess world was changed forever.

In the first of five matches between the two legendary titans, the match was called early with Karpov leading five wins, three losses, and 40 draws. In 1985 Kasparov defeated Karpov and claimed the chess crown. They played again in 1986, 1987 and 1990 and when their matches were concluded their lifetime record in world championship matches was 19 wins for Karpov, 21 wins for Kasparov and 104 draws!

In 1993 Kasparov broke away from FIDE (creating the PCA), and Karpov became the FIDE world champion. Karpov defended his FIDE world champion title by defeating GM Jan Timman in 1993, GM Gata Kamsky in 1996 and Anand in 1998 (on tiebreaks). Karpov refused to play in the 1999 FIDE world championship tournament after FIDE changed their rules.

Karpov's legendary games continue to be a source of inspiration for all positional and endgame players today. Tibor Karolyi's two-volume work titled Karpov's Strategic Wins is considered one of the best chess books ever written.

Jose Raul Capablanca was the third official world champion and possibly the most talented chess player ever to play the game. From 1916 through 1924 he amassed a tournament record of 40 wins and 23 draws, an unprecedented feat at the time and still a historically significant achievement.Capablanca's talent and skill were unmatched during his eight-year period.

Capablanca became world champion by defeating the legendary Lasker in 1921. Many believe that Capablanca would have defeated Lasker had he been given the chance before 1921, and many believe that he would have reclaimed the title had he been given an opportunity for a rematch with Alekhine. Unfortunately for Capablanca, his peak playing time happened both during and between World War I and World War II.

Every world champion and contender is well-rounded, but Capablanca had a special gift for the endgame. Even now (in the engine era of chess) it is difficult to poke holes in his endgame play. Irving Chernev's book Capablanca's Best Chess Endings is a classic.

Going eight years without a single loss and becoming world champion are something the chess world won't ever see again, and only Capablanca achieved this feat.

GM Bobby Fischer was the 11th official world champion as well as the first and only American world champion. He is considered by many to be the most famous chess player ever. From 1970 to 1971 Fischer won 20 consecutive games against world-class opposition, an unprecedented and mind-boggling achievement that will most likely never be equaled. This feat is counted among the seven most amazing chess records.

In 1972 Fischer defeated Spassky in the "Match of the Century" and was crowned world champion, despite starting the match with a 0-2 score after throwing away game one in a completely equal endgame and not even showing up for game two. Fischer's dismantling of the Soviet chess empire from 1970 to 1972 during the midst of the Cold War is considered one of the greatest individual performances of all time.

His style was unique, original and creative. He could attack and defend with the best of them, but he also showed a very deep and almost scary positional understanding. Fischer inspired multiple generations of chess players in the U.S. and around the world.

Fischer's "Game of the Century" is one of the most famous chess games of all time, and his book titled My 60 Memorable Games is considered one of the best chess books in history.

GM Magnus Carlsen is the reigning world champion for all three time controls (standard, rapid and blitz). In 2009 he becamethe youngest player in history to reach the 2800-rating threshold, and on April 21, 2014, he reached his peak rating and the highest rating ever at 2889.

Carlsen has been the number-one ranked player since 2011 and has been dominating the game ever since. As of February 2020, Carlsen has been on a 120-game undefeated streak in standard time controls, another record for the world champion.

His resume is already more than enough to be considered number two on this list of the best players of all time, but Carlsen is only 29 years old and may not have even reached his peak playing strength!

Carlsen became the world champion by defeating Anand in 2013 just before turning 23 years old (the second-youngest world champion ever, behind only Kasparov). He has successfully defended his title three times: in 2014 Carlsen won the rematch against Anand, in 2016 he defeated GM Sergey Karjakin and in 2018 he defeated GM Fabiano Caruana.

Carlsen himself does not believe he has earned the #1 spot on this list. According to an interview in January 2020, Carlsen states: "Kasparov had 20 years uninterrupted as the world number 1...He must be considered as the best in history. But I feel that time is on my side...I'm not 30 yet. If I were to be considered the best in history at 30, I would have had to start dominating at 10."

GM Garry Kasparov is the 13th world champion and held the title from 1985 to 2000. He first reached the number-one ranking in 1984 and with a few minor exceptions remained the number-one player in the world until 2006. Kasparov dominated the chess world for over 20 years.

Kasparov reached his peak rating of 2856 on March 3, 2000at the time an unprecedented number and a record that wasn't broken until Carlsen surpassed it.

In 1985 Kasparov defeated Karpov to become the youngest world champion ever at the age of roughly 22 and a half. He defended the world championship title against Karpov on three consecutive occasions in 1986, 1987 and 1990. In 1993, he broke away from FIDE and started the PCAthis break would create two different world championships until the reunification match between Kramnik and Topalov in 2006.

Kasparov defended his title by defeating GM Nigel Short in 1993 and successfully defended his title again by defeating Anand in 1995. Kasparov and Lasker are the only two world champions to defend their titles successfully five times.

In 2000 Kramnik defeated Kasparov, ending the reign of the best player of all time as world champion. However, Kasparov would continue playing in (and winning) tournaments until his retirement in 2005he left the game as the number-one player in the world.

Kasparov has remained active in the chess world after his effective retirement. He has played exhibition matches and even trained Carlsen and GM Hikaru Nakamura. His five-volume series titled My Great Predecessors is considered one of the best chess books ever.

This list is the product of a great discussion between many Chess.com staff members recently, and not meant to be taken as fact! Our own Colin Stapczynski put together our view on this debate as old as the game itself, but if you disagree with the order or think we missed someone please let us know your opinion in the comments below.

Excerpt from:

The 10 Best Chess Players Of All Time - Chess.com

3/13/2020 There are three different outcomes for a chess game. We can win, we can draw or we can lose. There are also three different ways how we can lose a game. We get checkmated, we lose on time, or we resign. Resigning is normally an option if we are losing too much material, the time is almost up, or we are about to get checkmated. Nonetheless, we often insist to keeping on playing our lost game, instead of just resigning. | Photo: Steve Buissinne (Pixabay)

Crushing Isolated Queen's Pawn Tactics

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All of us who have played a bit of online chess in our lives might have noticed a similar situation as shown on the board at right.

Our opponent has one king and a useless pawn left against our army of pieces, but the opponent still keeps on playing till the bitter end, instead of just resigning. Why? Why arent they resigning? This game could have been over since 20 moves already, right?

Wait a second. Could it be, that in this example we were, or even are, the ones sometimes unwilling to resign as well? I have to admit something to you: I am guilty as charged and admit to having done this several times when playing online, and I still fall into the habit. Why am I still doing this?

Here are 3 reasons why we dont want to resign in a completely lost chess position:

As painfully obvious as this might sound, it couldnt be more accurate. When we win a chess game we feel good. We feel good because chess is known to be a very highly intellectual game amongst humans. Unfortunately, this also makes us feel bad if we are losing a game.

We probably can agree that feeling bad aint fun. So we try to prolong this feeling, as long as possible. We dont resign, even if it is crystal clear that we cannot win any more. Well, what we dont realize in many cases is that this delay of pain leads to experiencing the same pain, just for a longer amount of time.

The same logic applies to when we need to get an injection from a doctor, the least painful move is to just get over it, correct? Or do we want to delay the unavoidable pain and get the injection slowly, poking through our skin? Ouch.

I hate losing | Picture: succofrom Pixabay

Once we have a lost position but can turn the game outcome around because our opponent makes an unforgivable mistake, we learn something valuable, To never give up!

An experience like this will stick stronger to our brain, because winning from a lost position is much sweeter than having the certainty to win the game anyway.

We completely blind out any element of us just being lucky, our opponent making a mouse slip or just being a worse player who naturally makes more mistakes. We have won and thats what counts. So we naturally repeat this behaviour more often.

Imagine we play a chess game, and we lose a knight against a pawn and our opponent is writing to us in the chat, give up you loser!

I believe many of us dont get triggered by this. I also believe that many of us do get triggered by this. And I also believe that most of us believe that they dont get triggered by this, but they actually get triggered by this!

The fact is, our opponent tries to hurt or harm us emotionally. Now the greatest punishment against this rude behaviour would be to simply win the game, right? Sadly, if we are a knight down, this is a difficult mission to accomplish. So, how else can we revenge our loss?

Some people just let their time run out. Others try to hurt back by answering the opponent. and the chess game turns into a discussion or fight. Finally, a mild version of justification would be to just not resign, even if we only have our king and a useless pawn left. Suffer opponent, suffer!

These are just a few of many reasons that leadto not resigning a chess game.

Do you agree with the mentioned points, or do you have a different opinion? Are you a player who resigns quickly, or not all? Please feel free to post some of your thoughts in the comment section below.

Continued here:

Three reasons we keep playing even when totally lost! - Chessbase News