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1994-01-05
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Evans On Chess. December 3, 1993. Copyright by GM Larry Evans.
CHESS CHEATS
Years ago some blackjack players devised a way to keep track of the cards in
Nevada casinos by wiring themselves to concealed computers. It was bound to
happen in chess.
Among the 1127 entries at the 1993 World Open in Philadelphia was a young man
with dreadlocks named John Von Neumann who claimed to hail from California.
Unknowns competing for cash in massive Swiss events are common these days, so
nobody gave it a thought when he held an Icelandic grandmaster to a 21-move
draw in the second round.
"I was sure he was a complete patzer. I even thought he was on drugs," said
Helgi Olafsson. "He took too much time to reply to obvious moves and was very
strange, but I made a mistake in the opening and got punished with a draw."
Indeed, this Von Neumann was weird -- it wasn't just sharing the name of a
celebrated mathematician, or taking at least three minutes on each move no
matter how easy, or wearing a headset. He also didn't know much about chess
and could barely identify the openings he was using.
An odd thing happened in round three when he lost on time on move 27 with an
even game against a strong master. In round four he again overstepped on time
with white in only nine moves after using the entire 2.5 hours allowed for
the first 40 moves! (See game below.)
Suspicions really began to surface in round five when Von Neumann apparently
got his signals crossed and lost a Bishop by moving it to a square instead of
a pawn. He also seemed to press something in his pocket after every move.
The hoax continued until he scored 4.5 out of 8 points and tried to claim his
$850 prize as runner-up in the unrated division. When asked to prove who he
was, he rushed away saying his wife was having a baby. Later he returned
without ID and demanded to be paid.
The director gave him a simple chess puzzle to test his skill. Von Neumann
came back with a friend and solved it but was denied the loot.
A month later a strange beeping sound followed by short bursts of static
emanated from one of the lower boards during round six of the U.S. Open. A
player alleged that his opponent, a middle-aged man, had a radio transmitter
attached to his ankle. By the time officials came over to investigate, the
culprit had fled. But he forgot to grab a "cheat sheet" listing various tones
and which chess piece they stood for.
This kind of cyberspace crime used to be the stuff of science fiction. Where
will it all end? Will it get more sophisticated as computers mature and the
stakes get higher? Will it be necessary someday to scan players before,
during and after each game? Or to encase them in glass isolation booths?
White: JOHN VON NEUMANN Black: DANIEL SHAPIRO Scotch Gambit 1993 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 0-1 (time).