22 Jul 08
Originally posted by KatastroofUsers do that here and get away with it.
"Officials first became suspicious after Umakant began the year with an average rating of 1933, and in 64 games gained over 500 points to give him a rating of 2484."
From 1900+ to almost 2500 in 64 games?!Did he want to get caught?What an idiot 😞
22 Jul 08
1 edit
Originally posted by JonathanB of LondonI didn't know the corollary to the Miles game, that's very funny. And for Anand, of all people, to fall into it!
Christiansen was it? (the opponent I mean).
Anway - amusing kicker to this story.... Anand sees the game in Informator - a quick draw - and decides to try the line out with Black without any more thought.
His opponent can't believe his luck and of course plays the killer move - Anand has to resign on move 6.
:-)
Here is the Anand game:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1018015
Looks like I had a few details of the story wrong, but the gist was the same.
22 Jul 08
Originally posted by JonathanB of LondonHe won that game. His opponent was Malakhov, if I remember correct.
Azmaiparashvili also once went to play a move... realised it would lose immediately so replaced his piece on its square and moved another one.
He went on to win the tournament - the Euopean Individual Championship IIRC - although I'm not sure about the game itself. i think he won it too though.
22 Jul 08
1 edit
Originally posted by JonathanB of LondonYes, I remember Nigel Short got his wrist smacked by FIDE for recalling that incident and suggesting that perhaps Azmaiparashvili was not the best person to preside over the Topolov vs Kramnik cheating allegations.
Azmaiparashvili also once went to play a move... realised it would lose immediately so replaced his piece on its square and moved another one.
He went on to win the tournament - the Euopean Individual Championship IIRC - although I'm not sure about the game itself. i think he won it too though.
22 Jul 08
Originally posted by JieSalem witch trials,eh?Ha!Funny.I assume you don't believe witches exist?Do you likewise honestly think there's no such thing as online chess cheaters?
Is this the chess equivalent of the Salem Witch trials?
As I said,go out to meet some cute boys,you'll be much happier.
23 Jul 08
Originally posted by Fat LadyJohn von Neumann (a name he made up) he was an unrated Player who showed up at the World Chess Open in 1993 he scored 4.5/9 in the open section of the tournament he drew a Grandmaster and he even beat a strong Master rated 2350 Neumann got busted when it was discovered he had a suspicious looking bulge inside one of his pockets that made a humming noise when the Tournament Director quizzed him the jig was up.
Can anyone think of any other cheating scandals in chess? I'm sure that throwing games must happen all the time. I once entered a tournament in Hungary and in the last round my opponent, who was an IM, offered to lose to me for the princely sum of £10. I refused so he opened 1.a4 and 2.h4 and won in about thirty moves!
I heard he ran out of the Tournament Hall.
23 Jul 08
Originally posted by AristolleI heard that story too. I managed to track down an archived copy of the webpage which contained the details:
John von Neumann (a name he made up) he was an unrated Player who showed up at the World Chess Open in 1993 he scored 4.5/9 in the open section of the tournament he drew a Grandmaster and he even beat a strong Master rated 2350 Neumann got busted when it was discovered he had a suspicious looking bulge inside one of his pockets that made a humming noise wh ...[text shortened]... he Tournament Director quizzed him the jig was up.
I heard he ran out of the Tournament Hall.
Let's turn the clock back to 1993. The scene is Philadelphia, the Adams Mark Hotel, site of the World Open. A dreadlocked young man, wearing headphones, enters the event under the name John von Neumann. (It's interesting to note here that the historical John von Neumann, who died in 1957, is one of the fathers of computer science). The mysterious young man enters the tournament as an unrated player. He gets a Round One forfeit win, then is paired with GM Helgi Olafsson in the second round. von Neumann plays White:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 b5 8.e5 dxe5 9.fxe5 Qc7 10.exf6 Qe5+ 11.Nde2 Qxg5 12.Ne4 Qh4+ 13.N2g3 gxf6 14.Qd4 Ke7 15.Qc5+ Kd8 16.Qb6+ Ke8 17.Qd4 Ke7 18.Qc5+ Kd8 19.Qb6+ Ke8 20.Qd4 Ke7 21.Qc5+ 1/2-1/2
Who was this weird kid? Olafsson was later quoted in Inside Chess as saying, "...I even thought he was on drugs. He took way too much time to reply to obvious moves and he was very strange."
In Round Three, the plot thickened. von Neumann was paired with Icelandic master Ingvar Asmundsson, got to an even position on move 27, and proceeded to lose on time. According to Inside Chess, "Oddly, he [von Neumann] seemed incapable of hurrying his play in the slightest, always taking several minutes per move, even on simple recaptures, with much time devoted to staring at the ceiling."
It all started unravelling for von Neumann in Round Four. As White he played the following:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.e5 Nge7 5.Be2 Nf5 6.0-0 Be7 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.Nb3 d6 9.exd6 Qxd6
And then von Neumann did a very curious thing: he refused to move. The time control was 40 moves in two hours. von Neumann just sat on his hands, looked at the ceiling, sat some more, and eventually lost on time.
By Round Five, people were beginning to suspect that von Neumann was receiving electronic assistance. After a very weird opening, he got to an even Rook ending, had four minutes to make five moves, took three minutes to make the first move of the five, and proceeded to lose on time yet again.
It really hit the fan in Round Eight. von Neumann is White:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.e5 Nd5 7.Bd2 Nxc3 8.Bxc3 Bxc3+
and von Neumann again began to think, spending 40 minutes on his next move. His analytical style during this extended "think" was pretty interesting. He didn't even look at the board. He spent the entire time staring at the ceiling.
It was during this period that something odd occurred. A second young man appeared at boardside, jotted down the board position, and vanished into the crowd. Shortly thereafter, von Neumann finished his close scrutiny of the ceiling and played the obvious 9.bxc3. He went on to win the game.
(It was later theorized that the move transmission had become garbled. 8.bxc3 was misinterpreted as either 8.Bxc3 or 8.dxc3 -- the Bishop being the only d-file piece that could legally capture. Unfortunately, back at the computer room, the second young man thought the Bishop was still on d2 and was frantically transmitting the move 9.Bxc3 over and over, in the erroneous assumption that von Neumann had played 8.bxc3. After a half-hour, he finally wised up, figured out what happened, came down to the playing hall to record the position, then went back upstairs and reset the computer).
Making a long story short, everyone was on to von Neumann by Round Nine. It was unfortunately too late -- he'd already won the Unrated section and the prize money. However, he refused to produce legal ID (required for tax purposes in the case of large monetary prizes) and likewise refused to play a "test" game sans headphones or even to solve any simple tactical problems. He was therefore denied his prize money. "John von Neumann" left the Adams Mark Hotel empty-handed, and has never been heard from since.
23 Jul 08
Here is a story about cheating in the toilet:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=693
I spent a lot of time in the toilet in one of my league games last year. It wasn't because I was consulting pocket Fritz, it was because I was puking up every few minutes. Fortunately my opponent was one of those people who have far too much respect for players who outgrade them and he capitulated without too much fuss.
23 Jul 08
Here's a fascinating article from chessbase.com. It includes the story of a German player called Clemens Allwermann. Allwermann, after two decades as a 1900 player, suddenly, at the age of 55, started beating Grandmasters:
http://www.chessbase.com/columns/column.asp?pid=190
23 Jul 08
Originally posted by KatastroofWitches do exist but everyone will agree the Salem Witch Trials were not the dictionary definition of "justice" or "fair". Just like there was a need to fight communism, in the 1940s McCarthyism was born. The actions of the Salem Witchunters and/or the McCarthyists were wholly disproportionate.
Salem witch trials,eh?Ha!Funny.I assume you don't believe witches exist?Do you likewise honestly think there's no such thing as online chess cheaters?
As I said,go out to meet some cute boys,you'll be much happier.
Sure there is cheating in chess but look at the paranoia of the Kramnik vs Topalov game that overshadowed the whole game. That is the sort of paranoia that is eating people's bones on this site like some cancer.
23 Jul 08
Originally posted by Fat LadyThis one is really good.
Here's a fascinating article from chessbase.com. It includes the story of a German player called Clemens Allwermann. Allwermann, after two decades as a 1900 player, suddenly, at the age of 55, started beating Grandmasters:
http://www.chessbase.com/columns/column.asp?pid=190
Sadly enough it shows what lengths of way some people would go to win.