Kid used Fritz instead of eNotate and cheated

[krusher]

Sounds like something out of Holywood. How is the USCF able to allow people to use PDA's and smartphones on the premise that they are recording moves digitally?

"A lot of kids use those now, and I knew those were allowed," says Moore of the scorekeeping app, called eNotate, which had only recently been sanctioned by the chess powers that be for tournament use. eNotate received the blessing of administrators after its designers convinced the USCF that the software was fail-safe for cheating. Moore, then an 18-year-old senior at TJHSST, generally regarded as one of the brainiest high schools in the country, shunned the gizmos in favor of an old-school record-keeping method: paper and pencil.

But while Moore ignored his opponent's between-move activities, tournament director Robert Getty didn't. Getty, who says he was aware of Smiley's winning streak, monitored the match from across the ballroom. Its one-sidedness held his interest most.

"I've watched Quentin Moore play in these tournaments over the years," Getty said. "He's always been a strong player. And while I've seen him lose before, I'd never seen him take a beating like he was taking here. He was getting destroyed."

And when he spotted something fishy about the way the player consulted his personal digital assistant, Getty moved in for a closer look. After Moore's 28th move, Getty halted the match and asked Smiley to show him the PDA. Smiley pulled away and turned off his device, says Getty, but after several uncomfortable seconds he handed it over without saying a word.

Getty fired up the Dell again, and no score sheet appeared. Instead, a screen popped up for a program from the Fritz line of so-called "chess engines." These are super-smart, user-friendly apps able to analyze the positions of all pieces on the chessboard and consider millions of possible outcomes in a matter of nanoseconds before suggesting the best next move. By pushing all the right buttons on a good chess engine, any Kardashian sister could conceivably checkmate Fischer.

And, as proven here, with Fritz's assistance, Smiley could destroy Moore.

Smiley admitted to Getty and others that he'd cheated. While making his confession, though, Smiley said the game against Moore was the first and only time he had ever accessed the illegal program.

[simonhue]

IMO too - absolutely bad idea to allow smartphones in the playing hall. Thou I remember (Not sure where I've read that, I think it was some of the FIDE pre-congress materials) that FIDE is planning to license official digital move recorders (a devices, that would do only that).

[IWB]

.... on a good chess engine, any Kardashian sister could conceivably checkmate Fischer.

THAT is the part which I find fascinating and humiliating at the same time ...
Especialy the "on a good chess engine ..." part, they do not even ask for the best one anymore but just 'any' good engine ...

I fear that 'fascinating' human chess is dead! The admiration of good chess players is just carried by the echoes of the past. The complete culture of sponsored tournaments and professionals earning money with chess is close to extinction.
Maybe I am pesimistic but to me it seems real.

Bye
Ingo

[carldaman]

This nonsense could be squashed in an instant if they just banned electronic devices in the tournament hall (which I assumed they had done).

CL

[krusher]

This nonsense could be squashed in an instant if they just banned electronic devices in the tournament hall (which I assumed they had done).

CL

Read here the description of eNotate A USCF approved electronic score sheet created by the North American Chess Association.

here is the USCF Approval. It is a huge embarrassment to the NACA/USCF who have allowed cheating through the front door.

[krusher]

Even with the USCF approving some devices, as you can see from the pic below, non-approved devices are being used.

You can see that Dean (left) is using an iPad to keep score of his game. If you look closely you can see that Mark McGough playing Isaac Martinez in the background, is also using some sort of phone device to notate his games.

http://tacticstime.com/tournaments/rece ... g-scandal/

[Uri Blass]

This nonsense could be squashed in an instant if they just banned electronic devices in the tournament hall (which I assumed they had done).

CL

Read here the description of eNotate A USCF approved electronic score sheet created by the North American Chess Association.

here is the USCF Approval. It is a huge embarrassment to the NACA/USCF who have allowed cheating through the front door.

Nobody allowed cheating.

Allowing using a tool that you can use to cheat is not the same as allowing cheating.

By the same wrong logic it is also possible to say that allowing people to drive is allowing murder because it is possible to use a car in order to kill other people on purpose.

[Uri Blass]

.... on a good chess engine, any Kardashian sister could conceivably checkmate Fischer.

THAT is the part which I find fascinating and humiliating at the same time ...
Especialy the "on a good chess engine ..." part, they do not even ask for the best one anymore but just 'any' good engine ...

I fear that 'fascinating' human chess is dead! The admiration of good chess players is just carried by the echoes of the past. The complete culture of sponsored tournaments and professionals earning money with chess is close to extinction.
Maybe I am pesimistic but to me it seems real.

Bye
Ingo

I think that you are too passimistic.

I do not see that professionals earn today less money relative to the past and the fact that computers are stronger than humans is known for many years.

Note that I do not know how much professionals earn today but I can see that strong GM's who never got fide rating above 2700 usually play many games so I guess that they can live from chess.

For example look at the statistics of the following player.

http://ratings.fide.com/id.phtml?event=2804344

[Don]

I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before people gradually dispute whether programs should be allowed to "help" human players in tournaments. I know this sounds terribly cynical, but the threshold for what is fair keeps moving away from people who work hard to accomplish things. Someone is going to make the argument that the technology to win should not be withheld from the common man. I know, it sounds really crazy, but I have seen some crazy stuff - more crazy that this.

.... on a good chess engine, any Kardashian sister could conceivably checkmate Fischer.

THAT is the part which I find fascinating and humiliating at the same time ...
Especialy the "on a good chess engine ..." part, they do not even ask for the best one anymore but just 'any' good engine ...

I fear that 'fascinating' human chess is dead! The admiration of good chess players is just carried by the echoes of the past. The complete culture of sponsored tournaments and professionals earning money with chess is close to extinction.
Maybe I am pesimistic but to me it seems real.

Bye
Ingo

[carldaman]

tionNobody allowed cheating.

Allowing using a tool that you can use to cheat is not the same as allowing cheating.

They're allowing the increased possibility and suspicion of cheating, which are very bad in themselves. How did chess players get by all these years with just a pen and paper to record their moves?!

CL