Into the Lions Den
Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 9:17AM 
When I saw how the Infinity Chess Freestyle Masters tournament was being discussed over at the Rybka Forum, I new knew someone should speak out. I also knew I would be walking into the Lions Den.
The Rybka forum has become, probably the most important clearinghouse for discussion on computer chess. It is of course owned and operated by the good folks that produce the strongest chess engine in the world. (see Standing on the Shoulders of Geniuses) This is clearly in itself not a conflict of interest. Rybka, its production team and its supporters have contributed tremendously to increasing the strength of chess software. Vasik Rajlich put in the hard work to tweak the heuristic algorithms developed over thirty years ago to practical application. I use Rybka 3, and I recommend it to others, as the best commercially available chess program for positional analyses.
Having said this, I am not going to entertain criticism that in voicing my opinion on my own website is in any way attacking someone’s character or demeaning their integrity. My opinions are just that, opinions, they may be excepted or rejected by the reader as they wish. If the good gentleman who frequent the chess forums wish to burn me in effigy, daily, I would urge them to get a better life. Perhaps they would do well in remembering the famous quote.
“Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those that own one.” A. J. Liebling:
In my pilgrimage into the chess forum world, I was immediately greeted by intellectual bullies, that seemed to imply my complaints regarding the Freestyle Masters Tournament a few weeks ago were at best spurious, because my spelling and grammar did not meet Ivy League standards. I was informed that Arno Nickel was not capable of making mistakes, and by suggesting the man running the tournament (like the captain of a ship) should be held responsible for the fiasco that he presided over, all I was doing was attacking his character.
It went on and on, first I was called insane, then a anti-bourgeois Marxist, and finally I was Satin himself. (Literally, my defenses of honor among chess players and love of the game, was condemned as a worldly thing. Therefore belonging to the infernal domains.) In short my well intentioned concerns that the PAL sponsored Freestyle Tournaments were having a devastating effect upon the public impression of computer chess were dismissed by those that saw them as a personal cash cow.
The facts are, that at the writing of this article Feb. 5th, 2009 (Twelve days after the tour ended.) Infinity Chess has not revealed who won, how players finished, or made any of the games played in this tournament public.
Infinity’s website is strangely silent, and rumor abounds. Some of the players in contention for the prize money are claiming wins by default when their opponents failed to play at agreed upon times, that were not sanctioned by Arno Nickel. It is truly a mess. Unverified reports are saying that the remaining four Freestyle Masters Tournaments have be postponed until technical problems can be resolved.
To those who wish to defend Infinity Chess and the way they ran this tournament, please go to the chess forum or your own blogs. I am not going to debate or defend my opinions in this matter and will delete any comments that wish to start an argument.
Reader Comments (6)
As I am clearly the intellectual bully to whom you refer, some very brief comments:
1. As of this the writing the tournament is complete except for two games. I do not know the status of one of them; neither of the players involved are in contention. As for the other, AnsonWilliams and Shun_Zu will be playing on Sunday on the Playchess server. If the latter wins he will share first place with Sephiroth (Eros Riccio). If the former wins he will share second place with a clutch of others. This delayed game is in full accord with the policy laid down over a week ago by Arno Nickel allowing the remaining games two weeks to be completed.
2. References to your being in league with Satan were purely in jest. As I recall you were citing Biblical passages regarding men's souls and I thought replying with something in kind might be appropriate. For the record: I do not believe you are in league with Satan.
3. I concur with Alan Sassler who says little is to be gained at this point by bashing the general manager, the tournament director or the sponsor. Freestyle, as you must be well aware, is on thin ice. It has little credibility at present and we probably could independently list a half-dozen identical reasons why this is so. Whatever his strengths or failings I feel sure Arno Nickel is very much aware that the recent tournament was a major embarrassment. Postponement of the World Cup series was the only thing to do and for my part I am very glad that decision was made. We cannot tolerate a major tournament experiencing the same turmoil as the last. It would be fatal for Freestyle. I am sure you agree.
4. You are entitled to express your opinion anytime, anywhere--and especially here. But if you venture out into other websites and express your opinions there, and they are controversial and potentially libelous, you must expect vigorous, colorful and highly-articulate push-back. Not just from me, but from everyone who disagrees with you. It's in the nature of things. You did, after all, call an honorable and well-seasoned man an incompetent and make allegations of dastardly conspiracies against the unnamed "weak" without naming particulars. Then you said the top players had lost their souls. When you say such things there is bound to be a reaction, and if you escalate and prolong the debate it turns into a online bar-fight and virtual chairs and bottles start flying. Someone could get hurt, you know?
Nelson, I ask you not to post comments on my blog of a contentious nature. I am letting this one stay, as it contains new information for the readers. However, I am letting you know right now that if you make another post here I will delete it. Please go back to the Rybka forum and make your comments there.
I do wish to know, if you also would like to concur with Alan Sassler’s comment in regards to the Spanish player Shun_zu. Who was complaining about the stalling tactics being used by AnsonWilliams team (which you are a member of) to delay his final game.
If Jose is discovered with 17 bullet holes in his back, and a note in broken Spanish saying it was suicide, I will know the real story!
Alan Sassler:
Or maybe you like to contribute to Eros Riccio’s words.
hmmm maybe Nelson I should offer you some money in order to make you and Anson put maximum efforts in the game
Eros Riccio:
Or Alan’s once more.
Or maybe Nelson should offer to throw the game for $. Better yet, sell it to the highest bidder!
Alan Sassler:
And you have the gall to ask me why I believe some of the top players in computer chess have lost their way. These are men I once respected.
I and several other players would have liked to postpone our games until the server was stable, but were denied that advantage by Arno Nickel. The tournament director was talked into some of these decisions by players who sought to gain an advantage not enjoyed by others. You would be wise to have listened to Vasik Rajlich when he wrote.
Obviously, though, situations arose in this last event which could be abused for personal benefit. These possibilities need to be eliminated to gain the confidence of the spectators and players. The decision to reschedule the events until the software is ready is absolutely the right one.
Vasik Rajlich:
On one hand you tell me that I am banned from your site, and on the other you ask me questions and make rhetorical points. How am I supposed to reply? "Very carefully" is my conclusion.
Sassler's remark on 17 bullets: you omitted the context. Our opponent had engaged in what one German observer called "racist, sexist, insulting and megalomaniac" remarks. He had implied in a public forum that he wanted to have sex with Anson's sister, if he had one! Given the prodigious correspondence he had posted online in a strange effort to pressure, humiliate and belittle our team one can only conclude he was quite serious.
Riccio's remark on paying us to play better: a joke, and identified as such by the author, though you omit this. This was in response to my making the reasonable observation that our opponent had a much stronger motivation to win as we were out of the money race. Eros knows perfectly well that we do not lay down for anybody.
Sassler's remark on our selling the game: not serious. Whatever else you may say about him he is one of the straightest shooters in computer chess. You omit the fact that Sassler, more than anyone else I can think of, has been sharply critical of collusion and unfair tactics in Freestyle. I am sure he would find selling a game an abomination, as we would. I might mention that our team was on the receiving end of such a proposal several tournaments ago (seriously, that time) and we rejected it out of hand.
its your own thinking, so some agree with, some dont :D
loveisintheair
Kevin, I've lost your email address. Changing subjects I am curious about your Chimera project and the resistance you've encountered. I cannot fathom how anyone could threaten you with legal action. The .ctg code is private, but products made with this code cannot possibly be anything other than saleable. This would be like Microsoft forbidding someone to sell an Excel spreadsheet because it was on Excel and therefore royalties had to be paid, regardless of the fact that the content within the spreadsheet was someone else's intellectual property. If I were you I would go forward with your project until someone issued you a cease and desist order that had the force of law.
Also I forgot to mention...I'd be willing to put your book up against mine in a scientific test. You might not like the results but you would certainly learn from the experience. Rest assured you would get metrics and ideas you have never thought of before. Consider this an olive branch.