Thorsten Kober from www.deep-chess.de just sent me an email about the mystery super player Raffael on playchess. Who is Raffael? Forget about the rumors. Can you figure out the identity of Raffael from the moves, the opening or the style? Can you solve the mystery? Do you have any game from Raffael?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Nigel Short and Mig wrote that Kasparov plays on playchess. There is no other unknown nick in 3200+ club. So Raffael should be Kasparov.
Raffael is Fischer
Nigel also wrote that he played Bobby Fischer on ICC. Bobby called Short a liar. I wouldn’t trust anything Short says.
there are indeed some clues, that “raffael” might be a prototyped
“fritz 10” … ^^
Most likely a PR stunt from ChessBase.
Hook up some bot and create and leak some story about it being (ex) GM xyz.
Raffael is from St. Petersburg, Russia, strong GM and superb at blitz. The only one who match this is Svidler. Very easy.
Not that easy, because Raffael and Svidler was playing at same time…
Well, ask Tendulkar on ICC. may be he knows. 🙂
I did it by the way.
Raffael is a computer.
Not a computer since Raffael loses on time.
Kasparov nickname on playchess is simply “Garry Kasparov”
Geek God said…
Nigel also wrote that he played Bobby Fischer on ICC. Bobby called Short a liar. I wouldn’t trust anything Short says.
But you trust Fischer?
Fischer is a nut but he’s not a liar. Short is.
In Fischer’s “defense”, he was right about the Soviet Chess Cartel ‘fixing’ games and pre-arranging draws.
Sorry to get off topic here, but also in Fischer’s defense his conditions on the Karpov match were not unreasonable. The “number of wins” format was actually tried later on between Kasparov and Karpov. Regardless of how it worked it was obviously considered worth a try by the chess community. Furthermore the stipulation that the challenger had to “win by two” is in line with a continuing history of leaving the championship with the defender in the case of a draw. It made the bar a bit higher than usual, but not that much so. Karpov should have played, especially since he didn’t expect to win anyway. FIDE shouldn’t have been so stubborn. Chess would have been better off if the title defense had taken place.
It’s a computer, like 90% of the anonymous are 🙂
About Kasparov playing on playchess under his real name: it’s not true. He uses his real name when he kibitzes on various events, but he doesn’t play under that name, so he could be Raffael. But if Raffael really his from Saint-Petersbourg (can that be verified?) then maybe it is Svidler, or someone else.
Here is an amusing story from ICC (http://www.chessclub.com/news/990) where Kasparov played under different handles, against many opponents, including Svidler who played under the handle PBS (his full name being Peter Borisovich Svidler). It is interesting to note that Kasparov, when he met PBS, knew immediately that he was playing against “one of the top ten”; apparently he recognized the touch of a super-GM. Kasparov’s ICC games are available on Tim Krabbe’s site: at this address: http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/ChessTutor/pgnview.htm
And here is another even more amusing story (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1916), from the Chessbase archives, in which Kasparov destroys a number of astonished opponents, whitout revealing his identity, using someone else’s Playchess account!
Here is a quote from Chessbase :
« Some of the players are clearly recognisable: Sergey Karjakin, Alexander Grischuk, Gata Kamsky, Michael Adams, Rustam Kasimdzhanov. But who are Raffael, Trudodyr and Arres? Their identities are their own secrets. Hundreds of visitors have followed their games carefully, and come to the conclusion that these are not computers, or computer assisted games (Playchess has extensive algorithms to prevent cheating anyway). They are top level human players. In recent weeks Trudodyr, who many believe is Alexander Morozevich, worked his way to the top of the list. But then his greatest adversary, Raffael, went online and got the place he has owned for over a year: number one with a record-breaking 3300 Playchess rating. The games between the top players are a joy to watch, the highest level of blitz chess ever seen by ordinary chess enthusiasts. About 90% of the Playchess visitors are 90% sure he is Garry Kasparov, about five percent think it is Svidler, some think it is Anand, Vaganian or even Bobby Fischer. By far the most common chat line seen on the server is “Who is Raffael?” »
And here are three losses by Raffael :
Raffael – Comp Fritz,D [B52]
4m + 1s, unrated, 02.07.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ (d4) 3…Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 (0-0) 5…Nc6 6.Nc3 (0-0) 6…Nf6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qg4 9.0-0 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 Nxd4 11.Rxd4 Rc8 12.b3 g6 13.Rd1 (Bb2) 13…Bg7 -0.10/14 8 14.Be3 Nd7 -0.11/14 16 15.Rac1 (Bd4) 15…a6 -0.09/12 16 16.Nd5 (Ne2) 16…h6 -0.10/13 16 17.f3 (b4) 17…e6 -0.16/14 11 18.Nb4 (Nb6) 18…Ke7 -0.39/14 13 19.Rc2 (Bf4) 19…Rhd8 -0.48/13 10 20.a4 (Nd3) 20…Nc5 -1.14/13 6 21.Rb1 f5 -1.08/13 9 22.exf5 a5 -1.04/13 4 23.Na2 gxf5 -0.90/12 3 24.Nc3 (Nc1) 24…d5 -1.35/12 6 25.cxd5 (Bxc5+) 25…Nd3 -1.73/12 4 26.Bd2 Rc5 Raffael resigns (Lag: Av=0.49s, max=0.9s) -2.21/11 3 0-1
Raffael – Comp Fritz,D [B52]
4m + 1s, unrated, 02.07.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ (d4) 3…Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 (0-0) 5…Nc6 6.Nc3 (d4) 6…Nf6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qg4 9.0-0 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 Nxd4 11.Rxd4 Rc8 12.b3 g6 13.Rd1 (Bb2) 13…Bg7 -0.11/15 19 14.Be3 Nd7 -0.11/14 23 15.Rac1 (Bd4) 15…f5 -0.12/13 16 16.exf5 gxf5 -0.06/13 0 17.Nd5 (Rd5) 17…Kf7 -0.33/12 8 18.f3 (Kf1) 18…Rhg8 -0.38/11 8 19.Kf2 Be5 -0.43/12 5 20.g3 (f4) 20…e6 -0.41/13 12 21.Nf4 (Nb4) 21…b6 -0.32/13 17 22.Nd3 Bf6 -0.45/12 0 23.Rd2 (h3) 23…Ke7 -0.34/12 17 24.Rcd1 (h3) 24…Bc3 -0.44/12 5 25.Re2 (Rc2) 25…a6 -0.38/11 9 26.Rc1 (a3) 26…Bg7 -0.39/11 5 27.Rce1 (a3) 27…Rge8 -0.42/11 8 28.Nb4 (a3) 28…a5 -0.31/12 8 29.Nd3 (Nc2) 29…a4 -0.39/11 4 30.Rd1 (Nb2) 30…Rg8 -0.39/11 8 31.Bg5+ (Nb2) 31…Kf7 -0.26/12 5 32.Nb4 (Be3) 32…Nc5 -0.80/11 3 33.Be3 Rgd8 -0.92/12 0 34.Rb1 (Nc2) 34…Bc3 -0.88/10 8 35.Nc2 axb3 -0.79/10 1 36.axb3 d5 -0.71/11 1 37.cxd5 (Bxc5) 37…Rxd5 -0.75/12 3 38.Kg2 (Bxc5) 38…e5 -0.86/12 8 39.Bg1 (Bxc5) 39…Rd3 -1.16/11 4 40.Ne3 (b4) 40…Kf6 -0.93/11 2 41.Nc4 (Rc2) 41…b5 -1.29/12 3 42.Na3 (Bxc5) 42…b4 -1.44/12 2 43.Nb5 (Bxc5) 43…Ne6 -1.84/11 2 44.Rc1 (Be3) 44…Rb8 Time (Lag: Av=0.51s, max=1.2s) . -2.18/11 1 0-1
Raffael – Comp Fritz,D [B20]
4m + 1s, unrated, 02.07.2006
1.e4 c5 2.d3 (Nf3) 2…e6 3.f4 (g3) 3…d5 4.Be2 (Nd2) 4…Ne7 0.03/12 17 5.Nf3 Ng6 0.02/12 5 6.c3 (0-0) 6…Be7 0.02/12 9 7.0-0 Nc6 -0.04/13 17 8.Na3 (Qe1) 8…0-0 -0.12/11 9 9.Nc2 f6 -0.14/12 8 10.g3 (Be3) 10…a6 -0.36/11 7 11.Ne3 (Re1) 11…d4 -0.39/12 6 12.Ng2 (Nc2) 12…Rf7 -0.45/11 8 13.c4 (Qc2) 13…b5 -0.71/12 8 14.b3 (Nd2) 14…Bb7 -0.80/11 9 15.h4 (f5) 15…Qc7 -1.09/11 7 16.h5 (a4) 16…Nf8 -0.99/12 11 17.Nh2 (g4) 17…f5 -1.08/11 9 18.e5 (Bf3) 18…Rb8 -1.18/11 7 19.Bf3 Nd7 -1.07/11 4 20.Rf2 (Bd2) 20…Nb4 -1.03/11 9 21.a3 Nc6 -0.98/14 0 22.Bd2 (a4) 22…Bf8 -1.02/11 8 23.Ra2 (Qc2) 23…Nb6 -1.00/12 11 24.g4 (Qc2) 24…fxg4 -1.17/11 4 25.Nxg4 Ne7 -1.05/11 5 26.Nh4 (h6) 26…Nf5 -1.04/11 4 27.Nxf5 exf5 -1.01/11 0 28.Nh2 Re7 -0.93/11 6 29.Rg2 (Ba5) 29…Re6 -0.93/11 5 30.Be1 (a4) 30…Qd7 -1.09/10 5 31.Nf1 (a4) 31…Nc8 -1.02/10 7 32.Bh4 (Rg5) 32…bxc4 -0.68/10 4 33.bxc4 (dxc4) 33…Rb6 -0.68/11 3 34.Kh2 (Bg5) 34…Bc6 -0.77/11 4 35.Ng3 (Bf6) 35…Be7 -0.77/11 2 36.Bxc6 Rxc6 -0.77/13 0 37.Bxe7 Nxe7 -0.74/13 0 38.Rab2 Rcb6 -0.78/13 0 39.Rxb6 Rxb6 -0.77/13 0 40.Qf3 Kf8 -0.68/13 2 41.Qa8+ Qe8 -0.82/14 2 42.Qa7 (Qf3) 42…Qc6 -1.39/13 2 43.Ne2 (e6) 43…Rb2 Time (Lag: Av=0.56s, max=1.7s) . -1.75/12 1 0-1
Can’t we just play “Where’s Waldo?”
Who cares about this weakie raffael? Zsoyd is the worlds greatest player. He was never defeated either. I know who he is. Do you? (no, he has no fide title)
what do we know, we are outsiders, why dont the grandmasters tell us who is raffael?
they should know from his openings, technique and whatnot else.
so susan, who is raffael? 🙂
Raffael is Kasparov..
Has anyone thought to ask the person? 🙂
where can i see who is leading the rating list on playchess ?
In reply to a few of the comments so far:
You can trust Nigel Short, he did say he belived he played Fischer but then retracted the claim when he saw he was wrong.
In one of Nigel Shorts chess columns (you can find them at http://www.guardian.co.uk under Sports – Chess) He mentions that Garry Kasparov has chalenged him to games on playchess, so Garry must play there under a nickname. It is quite possible that he is therefore Raffael.
I wouldn’t trust Nigel with a 10 foot …. Nigel is a liar and a disgrace to British Chess. Thank God he’s in Greece now.
raffael is a polgar
The world may never know.
Actually, I am Raffael. I have wireless internet and sit in the toilet and use Rybka and Fritz 10 at the same time.
I should have clarified when I posted Kasparov’s nickname is smply ‘Gary Kasparov’. If you look under that handles game history he has played no games under that handle.
Daily Dirt Mig probably has had Kasparov play with his handle before.
well that answers that. I guess we all agree to disagree.
What about Khalifman? He lives in SP as well…
Raffael is Kasparov and Trudodyr is Morozevich. I have various games of both, including a number of games they have played against each other.
Raffael is GM Mecking!
Raffael is Frank Zappa!
Raffael is Susan Polgar!
😉
Yes in many ways Raffael reminds me of Susan and my old pogo blitz and bullet buddy, Xtreme Angel
On the other hand, Raffael could very well be Sofia Polgar.
Hehe, funny discussion. Please send your kibitzed games to
webmater@deep-chess.de
You can find the, hopefully increasing Raffael database on http://www.deep-chess.de
Thanks for your help!
sorry, right email-address:
webmaster@deep-chess.de
thx
In my humble opinion it is a COMPUTER having studied the games offered for evidence / viewing. Here are my analysis. It played a philidor in one game and it is certaintly not Kasparov. It plays passively in an equal / drawish position. It would rather repeat itself 3 times then take a risk to try and aggressively win if it was human. Spassky commented when Fisher lost the 1st game of the world championship he was always an attacking player. In the first game he couldn’t bear playing a passive position. He over reached himself to try to win a dawish position. I also find it interesting the time controls favour a computer. 5 minutes or 4 minutes then 1 second time controls. So that it will not lose on time. A couple games it grabs matarial typical of a computer to win the game / get advantage. Perhaps human with computer assistance
Playchess list says Karjakin is #1 in blitz with 3312 pts. Rafael is at spot 2 with 3300. Looks like these two did not play between each other
You guys are so funny…LOL
R.
Yes, Karjakin took over a couple of weeks ago and Raffael hasn’t played anymore games since then.
I’ve seen Raffael really crushing some of his opponents with the Evans-gambit.
He plays positional and sometimes even more passive, manoeuvring his pieces a lot as he is unbelievable in the endgame.
Raffael is Howard Stern !
What do I get for figuring it out?
at least Raffael plays on Playchess and not cheatware heaven, the ICC
Whoever Raffael is, he or she should challenge Vladimir Kramnik for the world chess championship and Raffael would win.
For the one who asked about Arres, that is Mamedyarov’s second handle – just check his profile.
for a moment i though u were talking about the reinassance painter of the 15-16th century, its funny, raphhel is kramnik´s pet!
jajja
Short is always rude, makes idiotic comments and he’s a liar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcWixGaRAf0
Somebody should just investigate what Kasparov was doing on July 13, 2004, when the Raffael account was created. Maybe you’ll discover he was in a tournament that day or whatever… might be a hint as to whether he had the time to create a playchess account that day!
“Somebody should just investigate what Kasparov was doing on July 13, 2004, when the Raffael account was created. Maybe you’ll discover he was in a tournament that day or whatever… might be a hint as to whether he had the time to create a playchess account that day!”
July 13, 2004 2 tournaments
New York Masters 109th
Aegean op Agios Kirykos
No Kasparov
Raffael is Karpov, for sure.
Let me put this debate to rest by saying RAFFAEL is Vlady Kramnik. 90% sure
hehehehe You really think this will “put the debate to rest”?
but I was only 2 years old, so I’d be BS’ing if I said I remember it from then. But I have watched the game maybe 10 times now over my 40 years, and t
Raffael played some games last week. Here is one of the games he played coouple of weeks ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdBU2mdHS1c
Food for thought 2001 icc mystery player told jokes gave extra time made moves no.gm would make. Also no pc program would make 10 crazy unorthadox moves in a row. Thus it was not Fischer or any gm. Ask nigel about the knight he blundered ln first icc mystery game. Only one person could know that. The guy on the other side of the board.
Cassious clay shocked the world beating sonny liston. Now I guess I will. I am that guy nigel not Fischer. You bundered a knight in the first game. Then I proceeded to tale your head off. You said you can’t do that. I said why not. You said because I am nigel short. Not. Believing you I said verbatim yea and I am bobby Fischer so what. That was meant to be a wise crack. Not a declarative statement. Now you yourself said l got stronger and faster every game. So computer programs can’t play that way. So now you. Know world I sm the one who played short fontain. And many other mastets and im s . One day when I feel up to it I will digg those games out and post some. No one but me plays this crazy stuff. I beat a lot of grandmastet programs at home with my wild openings long before I took my show on the road intetnet. Lol. Only works in blitz . You have to admit it is great for shock value. My playing you Nigel was not my intention a couple of comedians on icc set that up without my knowledge. I would like to you if and you read this it was an honor to play and meet you. Also I did this on first chess master site as well. If you don’t believe I am him I will come do it to you again. Good chess to you.