In 2006, a U.S.A. player obtained his
ICCF ID# and began server play in both CCLA and USCF events. Here is
a summary of his results:
Club Year Place
USCF 2009 4
USCF 2007 4
CCLA 2007 5
USCF 2006 6
USCF 2006 6
Not exactly a success story. Here is a
rare game won by “Anonymous.” {LBM} stands for “last book
move”; (…) means unranked by the engine. All Top3 analyses below
performed by Stockfish 6 x64 engine, multi-pv=3, plydepth=25-30.
[Event "redacted"]
[Site "CCLA"]
[Date "2007"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anonymous"]
[Black "redacted"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
1.e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5.
Nf3 Bd7 6. Be2 Qb6 7. O-O Nge7 8. Na3 Nf5 9. Nc2 Rc8 {LBM} 10. a3 cxd4 11. cxd4 Na5 12. b4 Nc4 13. Ne3
Nfxe3 14. Bxe3 Qc7 15. Rc1 Be7 16. Nd2 b5 17. f4 O-O 18. Bf2 a5 19.
Nxc4 dxc4 20. Be1 axb4 21. axb4 Bc6 22. Bf3 Bxf3 23. Qxf3 Qa7 24. Bc3
Rfd8 25. Ra1 Qb6 26. Rfd1 Rd5 27. Kh1 g6 28. g4 Qb7
29. Ra2 Ra8 30. Rxa8+ Qxa8 31. Ra1 Qb7 32. Kg1 Rd7 33. Qxb7 Rxb7 34.
Kf2 Kg7 35. Ke3 Rd7 36. Ra5 Rd5 37. Ra7 Bh4 38. Ke4 h5 39. gxh5 gxh5
40. f5 Kg8 41. Ra6 1-0
Top 3 Analysis:
N=28 N=27
White Black
T1 11 .393 T1 10 .370
T2 4 .536 T2 5 .556
T3 4 .679 T3 1 .593
… 9 … 11
S=2 S=4
Summary: clearly neither
player exceeds any Top3 maximum value: T1=.700, T2=.800, T3=.900, S=5. Percentages are cumulative. T1 is chess engine's top ranked move, etc. Players must have at least one unranked move (else T3 will be 100%.)
Here is what this player told an ICCF official in early 2010: “I
want a refund for this tournament entry. I did not realize the ICCF
allows computer engines until this evening. That is terrible. Please
send me my refund for this and section [redacted] to my [redacted]
account. Once refund is completed you can delete my membership to the
ICCF.” He
went on to say: “Yes
please rename my data as Anonymous.... I do not want any affliation
with a computer engine chess organization. It really should be
clearly stated on the rules page that you allow engines... its [sic]
very misleading since I feel most people assume different [sic].”
It
took this person 5 U.S. (not ICCF) events over 4-5 years, getting trounced section
after section, to figure out many of his opponents were using chess
engines!? Besides the game scores, his salvo to ICCF clearly shows
he was anti-engine.
Amazingly, “Anonymous” apparently changed his mind in 2014,
obtaining another ICCF ID# under his real name. He began playing
exclusively in CCLA server events:
Club Year Place
CCLA 2015 1
CCLA
2014 2
CCLA
2014 3
CCLA
2014 4
CCLA
2014 3
CCLA
2014 1
He had also figured out something else. Apparently CCLA doesn't have any mechanism in place to enforce its no-engine rule, which warns of dire consequences, stating in part: "During a game, a player ... in the selection of moves may not receive help from any other player, chess- playing computer or any mechanical device designed to play the game of chess. Violation of this rule will result in penalties ranging from the forfeiture of the involved games to expulsion from CCLA, depending on the severity of the violation." One may examine several years' worth of prior game results on http://www.chessbymail.com/rated_results.htm but there is no evidence of games forfeited en masse, or notices of any player expelled for chess engine abuse, not on the club's two websites or in its official publication, Chess Correspondent magazine.
Compare Top3 percentages of his current games (below) to the 2007 game.
Compare Top3 percentages of his current games (below) to the 2007 game.
[Event
"redacted"]
[Site
"CCLA"]
[Date
"2015"]
[Round
"?"]
[White
"Anonymous"]
[Black
"redacted"]
[Result
"1-0"]
[ECO
"C02"]
1.
e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Be2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nh6
8. Nc3 Nf5 9. Na4 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Bb4 11. Bc3 b5 12. a3 Bxc3+ 13. Nxc3
b4 14. axb4 Qxb4 15. Qa4 Bd7 16. Qxb4 Nxb4 17. O-O O-O 18. Bb5 {LBM}
Bc6 19. Bxc6 Nxc6 20. Rfd1 Rfb8 21. Na4 Rb4 22. Nc5 Rxb2 23. g4 Nfe7
24. Kg2 a5 25. Ra3 Nb4 26. Rc1 Nec6 27. Rac3 h6 28. Na4 Ra2 29. Nb6
Ra7 30. Rxc6 Nxc6 31. Rxc6 a4 32.
Rc8+ Kh7 33. Rd8 Kg6 34. Nd7 f6 35. Nh4+ Kg5 36. Kg3 Ra3+ 37. f3 f5
38. Nf8 fxg4 39. Nxe6+ Kh5 40. Nf4+ Kg5 41. Rf8 Rxf3+ 42. Nxf3+ gxf3
43. h4# 1-0
Top3
Analysis:
N=24 N=18
White Black
T1
19 .792 T1 10 .556
T2
1 .833 T2 2 .667
T3
1 .875 T3 0 .667
…
3 …
6
S=12 S=5
Summary:
“Anonymous” exceeds T1, T2 and String max values, and is just one
move short of exceeding T3 max value. If it weren't for the
forced re-capture 31.Rxc6, moves 25-43 would be one continuous string
of 18 top engine moves. The probability of picking 18 of the engine's T1 moves in a row, by chance, is "astronomical." So is a string of 12 T1 moves. Black's Top3 scores are all well within the
limits. Note: any engine will announce mate-in-eleven after White's
38.Nf8. The fact that Black continued to play is further evidence he
wasn't consulting a chess engine.
What
will occur when “Anonymous” encounters another engine user? The
“draw death" of advanced chess rears its head once more:
[Event
"redacted"]
[Site
"CCLA"]
[Date
"2015"]
[Round
"?"]
[White
"Anonymous"]
[Black
"redacted"]
[Result
"1/2-1/2"]
[ECO
"E37"]
1.
d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Qc2 Bb4 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2
c5 8. dxc5 Nc6 9. e3 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 Qxc5 12. Rc1 d4 13.
b4 dxe3 14. fxe3 Qe7 15. Nf3 e5 16. Be2 Bg4 17. O-O O-O {LBM}18. h3
Rad8 19. Qc2 Bh5 20. b5 e4 21. Nh2 Bxe2 22. Qxe2 Ne5 23. Ng4 Nd3 24.
Rc3 f5 25. Nf2 Qe5 26. Rb3 Nc5 27. Rbb1 b6 28. Rfd1 Qc3 29. a4 Nxa4
30. Rxd8 Rxd8 31. Rd1 Rc8 32. Rd7 Qa1+ 33. Kh2 Nc5 34. Rd5 Qf6 35.
Qd1 Ne6 36. Nh1 Rxc4 37. Ng3 g6 38. Rd6 Rc5 39. Qb3 Re5 40. Rd7 f4
41. exf4 Qxf4 42. Qa3 Rg5 43. Qb3 Qe5 44. Re7 Kh8 45. Rxe6 Rxg3 46.
Qa2 Qb8 47. Kg1 Qc8 48. Rc6 Qf8 49. Qxa7 Rxg2+ 50. Kxg2 Qf3+ 51. Kg1
Qg3+ 1/2-1/2
Top3
Analysis:
N=28 N=31
White Black
T1
21 .750 T1 23 .742
T2
2 .821 T2 4 .871
T3
2 .893 T3 1 .903
…
3 … 3
S=5 S=9
Summary:
“Anonymous” exceeds T1 and T2, is just a move short of exceeding
T3 as well. Black exceeds T1, T2, T3 and String max values. Top3
indicates both players are engine users.
This
is what happens when organizations don't actively enforce their rules. Many
players, tired of engine abuse, simply quit. Others switch to illicit
engine use, fighting “fire with fire” so to speak. Results are unsatisfying for organizers and players alike.
Postscript.
Advanced
chess (use of chess engines allowed in selection of moves in
live games) is practiced in all ICCF (International Correspondence
Chess Federation) events. In the USA, the last two remaining cc organizations,
CCLA and USCF (correspondence chess,) have rules forbidding use of
chess engines. Both organizations have recently created a new event
where use of chess engines is permitted. Games and tournaments cited
in the above article were no-engine events.
