Hardware limits in the WCCC

[Harvey Williamson]

It seems that the only way to apply the rule in practice is to allow remote play and trust participants. If you have a better idea, please say so.

So there is a new controversial rule, but no enforcement will be in place? Then basically the rule does not exist.
Richard.

It's a good way to make everybody happy...

With unlimited hardware cheating would still not be that difficult when using remote. People could load Rybka or have a tame GM sat by the remote machine. I doubt anyone will seriously consider cheating.

[Harvey Williamson]

Who is Computer Chess fan? - Remi are you going to allow anonymous posters into this discussion?

Well, there are supposedly many more people IN FAVOR of the rule, and they have not identified themselves. How is this different?

I thought the idea of having the discussion here was so it could be a sensible open debate between ICGA members away from places like CCC. I think Remi can confirm there are at least 6 who have contacted David in favour of the decision. I do not know who all are but the ones I do know are people that are regular attenders.

[Harvey Williamson]

The first I heard of this hardware limit idea was when I receieved the general email from Johanna Hellemons about the proposal.

That's interesting. One of your team members has mentioned the idea several times shortly before it was put into effect. You did not know about this?

We are willing to give up our h/w advantage to see a more level playing field since I believe that makes for a more exciting and competitive competition.

What h/w advantage are you giving up? Your team has a very fast 8 core machine and you have used it in the past. The rule is very convenient in this respect.

I have held the view that hardware should be uniform or limited for many years. You will find my posts about this going back several years on the forums. Mark is aware of my views but as for the change in rules the 1st we heard of it was when receiving the email.

Yes I own a fast 8 core machine as you know from borrowing it several times and you are welcome to again. The Skulltrail we have access to belongs to a customer who is now part of the team. I am sure if you let it be known you want the use of a Skulltrail for Pamplona there would be Computer Chess Fans willing to give you access to one.

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto]

Yes I own a fast 8 core machine as you know from borrowing it several times and you are welcome to again. The Skulltrail we have access to belongs to a customer who is now part of the team. I am sure if you let it be known you want the use of a Skulltrail for Pamplona there would be Computer Chess Fans willing to give you access to one.

Yes, then I can make a 1 machine cluster. Brilliant! Should I publish the results in the ICGA journal?

[DavidLevy]

At this stage of the debate I would like to make just two comments. Later in the debate I will contribute more to this forum, but only after there has been time for many chess programmers to air their opinions.

The biggest problem that the ICGA faces each year is its quest for sponsors for the WCCC and our other events (Computer Olympiad and games conference). Sponsorship for computer chess events has never been easy to find, a situation that will not become easier with the present economic climate. We can quite understand that participants in the WCCC would welcome financial support for their travel expenses each year, but that would depend on the availability of more money than we can reasonably hope to raise from our sponsors. The travel subsidies given for Beijing were the exception rather than the rule.

We also understand the often expressed desire by North American chess programmers to hold the WCCC on their continent, and we would very much like to be able to accommodate their wishes, but again, this is entirely dependent on sponsorship. To the best of my recollection there has not been an offer of sufficient sponsorship for the WCCC since Jonathan Schaeffer and his team hosted the event in Edmonton in 1989. So to our North American colleagues I would say this - if you want our events to be held in North America why don't you try your best to find sponsorship there for the ICGA? Our system for accepting bids to host our event is very simple. We do not "auction" the WCCC in the way that FIDE and the IOC do for their events - instead we accept the first offer each year that meets our financial requirements. Bidding is thus on a first-come-first-served basis.

[Rémi Coulom]

At this stage of the debate I would like to make just two comments. Later in the debate I will contribute more to this forum, but only after there has been time for many chess programmers to air their opinions.

Hi David,

Welcome to the forum. Great that you post here. The absence of ICGA leaders from online discussions had been often mentioned as a problem before. I am sure many programmers will appreciate your presence here.

Rémi