On the Impact of Information Technologies on Society: an Historical Perspective through the Game of Chess

The game of chess as always been viewed as an iconic representation of intellectual prowess. Since the very beginning of computer science, the challenge of being able to program a computer capable of playing chess and beating humans has been alive and used both as a mark to measure hardware/software progresses and as an ongoing programming challenge leading to numerous discoveries. In the early days of computer science it was a topic for specialists. But as computers were democratized, and the strength of chess engines began to increase, chess players started to appropriate to themselves these new tools. We show how these interactions between the world of chess and information technologies have been herald of broader social impacts of information technologies. The game of chess, and more broadly the world of chess (chess players, literature, computer softwares and websites dedicated to chess, etc.), turns out to be a surprisingly and particularly sharp indicator of the changes induced in our everyday life by the information technologies. Moreover, in the same way that chess is a modelization of war that captures the raw features of strategic thinking, chess world can be seen as small society making the study of the information technologies impact easier to analyze and to grasp

On the limits of engine analysis for cheating detection in chess

The integrity of online games has important economic consequences for both the gaming industry and players of all levels, from professionals to amateurs. Where there is a high likelihood of cheating, there is a loss of trust and players will be reluctant to participate — particularly if this is likely to cost them money. Chess is a game that has been established online for around 25 years and is played over the Internet commercially. In that environment, where players are not physically present “over the board” (OTB), chess is one of the most easily exploitable games by those who wish to cheat, because of the widespread availability of very strong chess-playing programs. Allegations of cheating even in OTB games have increased significantly in recent years, and even led to recent changes in the laws of the game that potentially impinge upon players’ privacy. In this work, we examine some of the difficulties inherent in identifying the covert use of chess-playing programs purely from an analysis of the moves of a game. Our approach is to deeply examine a large collection of games where there is confidence that cheating has not taken place, and analyse those that could be easily misclassified. We conclude that there is a serious risk of finding numerous “false positives” and that, in general, it is unsafe to use just the moves of a single game as prima facie evidence of cheating. We also demonstrate that it is impossible to compute definitive values of the figures currently employed to measure similarity to a chess-engine for a particular game, as values inevitably vary at different depths and, even under identical conditions, when multi-threading evaluation is used

WCCC 2016: the 22nd World Computer Chess Championship

In the ICGA's 22nd World Computer Chess Championship in Leiden, six contestants together gave the latest demonstration of the state of the art in chess-playing programs. This article highlights the advances and subtleties exemplified by their play. The new World Champion was KOMODO with JONNY, edged out in the play-off, second and SHREDDER third. GRIDGINKGO, HIARCS and RAPTOR took the remaining places

WCSC 2016: the 6th World Chess Software Championship

In the ICGA's 6th World Chess Software Championship, seven contestants provided the latest comparative demonstration of chess programs on identical hardware platforms. The restricted parallelism available from multiple cores was particularly felt by GINKGO and JONNY. KOMODO took the title with JONNY and SHREDDER second and third, separated only by their Sonneborn-Berger scores

On the Impact of Information Technologies on Society: an Historical Perspective through the Game of Chess

12 pages - ISSN: 2105-0422The game of chess has always been viewed as an iconic representation of intellectual prowess. Since the very beginning of computer science, the challenge of being able to program a computer to play chess, and to beat humans, has been alive and has been used both as a mark to measure hardware/software progresses and as an ongoing programming challenge leading to numerous discoveries. In the early days of computer science it was an affair of specialists. But as computers were democratized, and the strength of chess engines started to increase, chess players started to appropriate to themselves these new tools. We show how these interactions between the world of chess and information technologies have been herald of broader social impacts of information technologies. The game of chess, and more broadly the world of chess (chess players, literature, computer softwares and website dedicated to chess, etc.), turns out to be a surprisingly and particularly sharp indicator of the changes induced in our every day life by the information technologies. Moreover in the same way that chess is a modelization of war that captures the raw features of strategic thinking, chess world can be seen as small society making the study of the information technologies impact easier to analyse and to grasp

Spartan Daily, October 17, 1972

Volume 60, Issue 18https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/5653/thumbnail.jp

The Exchange: A Novel

The Exchange is a fiction novel Xavier Savvy Kowalski, one of the most promising American chess prodigies and rumored up-and-comer for the international fame as a potential challenger for the world chess crown. After he loses the junior world chess championship in Venice, Italy, he retires to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he hopes to start his life over. Savvy\u27s father and the chess world at large conspire against him and he finds himself returning to competitive chess again after three years away. He assembles a new team to train him for a return to the world championship, and he also falls in love with a young prodigy he met during his retirement. Together they travel the United States and Europe as Savvy attempts to win back his reputation as America\u27s premier chess player while encountering various rivals, including his own father. The story culminates with Savvy\u27s final championship game, and with his dad

The Reporter, November 14, 1966

The Reporter was Baruch College\u27s evening session newspaper. Founded in 1923, when Baruch College was still part of City College, the Reporter billed itself as the Oldest Evening Session College Newspaper Published in the United States. It ceased publication in 2002