Today’s NY Times ran an interesting article on cheating in chess. The central character is IM Ken Regan, who is also a computer expert: nyti.ms/GCPBiA.
Most people reading this are familiar with the technique of using similarity to a top engine’s move choices to detect cheating. ICC supposedly does it (but does not appear to notice how frequently someone makes the third or fourth-best move, or has a friend play a few games for him – the topic of another post perhaps).
What caught my eye was this comment:
“[Regan] has also discovered that the way people play has evolved. According to his analysis, the player now ranked No. 40 in the world plays as well as Anatoly Karpov did in the 1970s, when he was world champion and was described as a machine.”
Does this surprise anyone? Is chess indeed like other sports, where comparisons are only valid within the group of one’s contemporaries?