Manager of Topalov just issued a stunning allegation in a Press Release!! This is absolutely getting ridiculous. I really wish everyone would just stop with these open letters and press releases and play chess. I DO NOT believe that Kramnik is using any computer assistance at all. Below is Danailov’s press release:
Coincidence Statistics of the moves of GM Kramnik with recommendations of the chess program Fritz 9
Elista, October 4, 2006
After very detailed analyze of all games of the match we would like to present to your attention coincidence statistics of the moves of GM Kramnik with recommendations of chess program Fritz 9.
First game:
From 75 moves: After the 12th move of Topalov Ba6, a novelty, from 65 remaining moves – 41 moves match with the first line of Fritz 9. (63% of matches)
Second game:
From 63 moves: After 17th move, where the theory ends, from remaining 46 moves- 40 moves match with the first line of Fritz 9. (87 % of matches)
Third game:
From 38 moves: after 10th move, when the theory ends, from 46 remaining moves- 40 match with the first line of Fritz 9. (86 % of matches)
Forth game:
From 54 moves: After 14th move, when the theory ends, from 40 remaining moves- 30 match with the first line of Fritz 9. (75% of matches)
Sixth game:
From 31 moves: After 13th move, when the theory ends, from 18 remaining moves – 14 match with the first line of Fritz9. (78% of matches)
Thus, out of 5 games – 78% of GM Kramnik’s moves match with the first line of Fritz9.
Does anyone know at which match percentage you get accused of cheating on chess servers?
DANAILOV IS A DISGUSTING PIECE OF HUMAN TRASH!
Would someone do Topalov a favour and feed this slime to the wolfs!
Seriously, this moron shouldnt be aloud to reproduce, hes just to much of a burden to humanity.
This man is a troublemaker.
This is his next attempt to insult Kramnik out of the match.
Topalov should fire him.
Chris
No big surprise, in most of the positions there is only one good move. And of course you can also wait a bit until the engine displays the move you would like to see and then stop the engine and then you claim the engine plays the same moves…
This is shows only how stupid Danailov is.
I don’t buy it.
This is how someone at Kramnik’s level plays.
If he was cheating it would be 95 percent and above.
Another fact to consider is that except for game 2, the positions were not highly critical (full of choices) for most of the game so it wouldn’t be hard to find the best move.
Hopefully he and Topalov will soon be sued for libel. It would be good timing if Kramnik could issue the writ just before a game starts. I’m sure Danailov would do it that way, anyhow.
this could only be relevant if one did the same analysis for the moves of Topalov in this match (i would roll on the floor laughing if he has a higher percentage), or for other games at a recent strong tournament. this Danailov guy really has a Fritz complex – I wonder why? maybe he always wanted to get a Fritz program to help him with the backgammon – and his parents never managed to buy it for him. Catalin P.
1) What is the matching percentage of mr. Topalov?
2) What is a usual match in top GM meetings?
This must be named before making such a ridiculous accusation!
Danailov should be sent packing. These provocations are sickening.
DANAILOV KNOWS THAT TOPALOV WILL LOSE THIS MATCH.
THIS IS HIS DESPERATE PLOY TO DISTRACT KRAMNIK.
UNLESS HE HAS CONCRETE PROOF DANILOV SHOULD NOT BE PERMITTED TO POST ANY MORE DISPARAGING ACCUSATIONS.
HE HAS DONE MORE OF A DISSERVICE AND DESTROYED THE REPUTATION OF THE TALENTED TOPALOV.
topalov should fire this man. it is obviously completely irrelevant what percantage of moves relates to fritz suggestions, unless of course, you are willing to directly accuse kramnik of using fritz.
the play on both sides so far in this match has been anything but errorfree – which understandable with due stress. however, it also makes danailov look very stupid indeed with his “information”.
it does nothing at all apart from creating more tension, which, as we can all see, this match can certainly do without. eventually, this is just hurting topalov.
veselin, fire him!
I agree
Danailov is damaging Topalov’s reputation and career. I reviewed Topalov’s video on youtube after his last game with Kasparov.
Topalov is humble, brilliant and plays such exciting games. For him to associate himself with this “Professional wrestling” caliber “manager” is to harm himself only.
Pathetic accusations. Maybe he believes Kramnik hides Fritz in his glasses as james bond?
These percentages do not strike me as particularly shocking by the way. If you follow games on this level live often, you will know that it’s quite rare that a move gets played that has not been suggested by some program.
It’s obvious that Danailov is trolling again. If he were serious he would – as others have mentioned above – also have given the percentages for Topalov’s moves, and told us what the percentages usually are for, say, 2750+ players. Without any numbers to compare this too, his accusations are not even wrong, they’re meaningless.
What is Danailov doing? This is really stupid. The percentages mean nothing.
– what time did he let use Fritz per move?
– how many moves were forcing ones (recapturing for instance)
– has he tried the same with other chess engines? My guess is that they will have similar percentages.
– has he tried to do the same with other WC matches (say from 1930s)? My guess is they will also show similar percentages
I hope Danailov is doing this on his own, and not because Topalov asked him to.
Topalov, fire this guy!!
Wow, Topalov and Danailov are willing to resort to any dirty tricks to win. I was a fan before this match, but now I’m certain I don’t want Topalov to be the next world champion. Kramnik has played honorably and deserves to win. He’s also better over-the-board.
CAN SOMEBODY, ANYBODY DO A TOPALOV – FRITZ MOVE ANALYSIS TOO?
THE RESULT(S) OF TOPALOV-FRITZ MOVE ANALYSIS WOULD PROVE / DISPROVE DANAILOV’S ALLEGATIONS.
AND THEN KRAMNIK SHOULD SUE!!
This is what happens when you give a player a free point as a reward for trolling. More trolling. Danailov will probably continue doing this until Kramnik quits the match, because then at least Topalov can keep calling himself a World Champion and make some money against Radjabov…
It’s a pretty stupid accusation for the obvious reasons.
The only slightly mitigating circumstance I can think of are that Kasparov gave some credence in his WSJ article to the accusations of computer use against GM Topalov, so maybe this is some kind of response to it. After that, maybe it’s of some interest to think about whether Danailov is (a) an irresponsible person throwing around baseless accusations on purpose, or (b) a paranoid person who actually believes that GM Kramnik actually miight be using Fritz. I can’t rule out (b) entirely. I am continually amazed at the crazy things that intelligent people believe.
Fortunately I think this is so obviously silly that it can’t possibly hurt GM Kramnik’s reputation or even, I hope, his concentration. It only hurts GM Topalov’s reputation – whether Danailov is a paranoid or a slanderer, GM Topalov gets no credit for having him on the staff.
Yes Mr Danialov that is suspicious isn’t it? 78% you say. You get higher than that with my games sometimes. In fact ‘after theory’ I’ve played 100-percenters many times (almost meaningless, but true!). Why isn’t the percentage higher? Pity the ‘very detailed analysis’ didn’t run to deviding 165 by 215 which gives ~76.7% not 78%.
I’d like to pass sentence on Danailov. And I only hand out one sentence.
Dirty tricks after firty tricks… He pulled this one out 15 minutes before the start to distract Kramnik.
W**kers, both Danailov and Topalov. No excuses for Topalov either. His manager is making the accusations. He cannot pretend it has nothing to do with him.
Utterly disgusting and not worthy of any champion.
Actually, Susan, I think the headline should be ‘stunning insinuations’ rather than ‘stunning accusations’. An accusation would be if he said that “Kramnik is using Fritz”. It’s an insinuation if he says that “70% of Kramnik’s moves are the same as Fritz’s moves”, which may be entirely true (and unsurprising) and leaves the reader, if the reader is stupid or ignorant, to draw the conclusion that Kramnik is using Fritz.
This is pathetic beyond words. Even as an amateur ~2000 rated player, for some games even *I* would match Fritz for > 50% of the moves. (I recently won a miniature off a master, in which I played nearly 100% the same as Fritz — not because I was cheating, but because my opponent made a tactical mistake upon leaving the opening in which I capitalized perfectly.) Simple straight percentage analysis just doesn’t cut it — it really depends on the character of the position.
The way you can determine that someone is cheating with a computer is by examining particular moves which are anti-intuitive. These are moves that are unusually tactically sharp which just end up winning a pawn in a weird way, or stunningly dangerous looking moves which end up holding via some fantastic tactics.
You can also easily falsify the claim by counting up the number of blunders made. From my observations top level GMs such as these will make about 2-3 (near) game outcome changing mistakes per game. Computers make fewer, and the characteristic of computer mistakes are strategic or positional in nature. As demonstrated by his performance in “Advance Chess” Kramnik is basically perfect with computer assistance (he defeated Anand, who had been thought to be invincible at the time, in a head to head of computer assisted chess a few years ago). The game commentaries that I have seen so far on the games indicate that these players are, in fact, making the typical number of errors per game for players at their level.
Danilov needs to be sanctioned for abusing the appeals process.
Danailov aims at two things:
a) he is trying to distract Kramnik,
b) he is providing material to the non-chess media of his country which show Topalov as the victim in this match.
Of course it’s a provocation, hopefully Kramnik (and the useless Hensel) will not fall againt into the trap by overreacting and losing again the control of his nerves. It’s been also a witty chose by Danailov, as Fritz 9 is sponsored by Chessbase that has hosted the toughest critics against him and the FIDE (by publishing Nunn, Seirawan, and many other GMs protests) now it’s likely that that site will be less harsh against the provocation.
At last, strangely enough, it was Topalov to be accused of having the indirect support by Rybka in St.Luis, but inlike now he had the technical possibility to receive it.
I have a new idea.
Maybe Danailov knows how hated he and Topalov are. This then would be his way of showing the public that they’re not in fact evil, just insane.
Or maybe he’s trying to put Kramnik off again.
Either way it’s a ludicrous complaint, so if FIDE are true to form, then they will award Topalov another win in the initial position.
Btw, nice comment JudgeDeath. A few others from the chessworld forum have posted here – helio and some Finnish guy whose name I can’t spell.
KRAMNIK is a CHEATER
No doubt about it
This proves that Fritz cheated 78% of the time!
this could be a DELIBERATE posting by S DANAILOV…to create… dought,uncertainty,maybe headline news…not eveyone is against him..but Iam not sure that he will get the desired outcome
theodlolf
Accusation is the right term
If fact I would have used much stronger terminology than that, but I won’t sully this fine blog like others have.
Danilov doesn’t have the humanity to be capable of “insinuating” anythig!
If I were the makers of fritz, i’d sue Danailov. Because if Kramnik is using fritz, then in game 2, fritz lead Kramnik to 3 moves of checkmate, which would have squared the match if Topalov had seen it. If this is the case, then Danialov is effectively saying Fritz doesn’t cut it at the top level. And he can’t prove that either.
I have been a Topalov fan for many years, but not anymore!
I think Morozevich once said that he didn’t believe in preparing with the computer. He said he believed in creativity. He also said that if you analyse only fritz your playing style will become a lot like the computer. Morozevich stated that this is the reason chess is so dynamic right now (with all the masters analysing with a computer).
Kramnik used fritz to analyse his game and used it to prepare for the match. Logically Kramnik plays like a fritz but you can hardly accuse him for this. I even think that 75% of the best computer move isn’t even that much. Even I @ 2300 frequently play 70% of the best computer move….. If you improve your game with a computer this is bound to happen!
In short… Danailov do us a favor and die you piece of sh!t. If you want to accuse anyone of cheating then you have to prove something like ‘Radio signals’ or a pocket P.C in his… well pockets? Since both are NOT possible Kramnik can’t possibly be cheating.
Maybe kramniks awnser to Topalov’s Psych is Hans Klok’s ‘How did I get that info without anyone noticing it?’
It’s probably a Topalov sanctioned statement. The plan being that Topalov can now sack Danilov for being a nutcase and then get back some of his supporters. Coming out looking like a player with a crazy manager who caused all the trouble.
This is Bulgarian style don’t worry about it. We saw it when their national soccer team played ours (Romania) and their staff and coach (Stoicikov) behavior was outright scandalos, calling Romanians mamaliciki (mamaliga=polenta) and other very brutal remarks and gestures that were simply out of touch with civilized world.
So let’s not pay too much attention to their statements. We would lower ourselves too much.
Why should Dainalov stop? His player has little chance of winning without his special help. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is not smart enough to see the true source of the problems is Dainalov.
Just another step in the mud down the muddy road FIDE is taking chess.
Time for Kramnik to drop out of the tournament and sue FIDE AND Danailov!
What is the coincidence in game fifth? We have to ignore Danailov statements, their are good only for tv-starts.
It is amazing how over the past few days, the tremendous goodwill Topalov acquired with his splendid aggressive play at San Luis, Linares, and else where has been dissipated by Dainalov.
I’m afraid that with computers getting smaller and more ubiquitous there will always be rumors of cheating just like in bicycling and track and field there are always rumors of steroid or human growth hormone use.
Like the others, I don’t believe the accusation. Kramnik’s level of play is consistent high even at very quick time controls so these accusations are just sad.
Who would have predicted that having a WCC match would do more to harm chess’s image than help it?
Danailov is just playing an old marketing trick called FUD (Fear, uncertainty and doubt). Basically, it means to disseminate negative but vague information on a competitor. FUD influences people even if it has no objective merit (“well, MAYBE he cheated after all..”)
Anyway MANY Russians really believe that Topalov cheats. Surely it is not beyond all possibility that they would use any means necessary to ‘even things up’.
Well this is the point of the accusation, that these bathroom visits are allowing him to cheat, and it’s right for Topalov’s side to present evidence.
78% may or may not be very high, so I would like to see that in the context of a broader analysis of top-GM chess, Kramnik’s other events, etc.
In Game 6, I thought it somewhat odd that Kramnik would first spend a move to avoid the trade of dark-square bishops with … Bc5-b4, then a few moves later spend another move to force the exchange with … Bb4-c5. The position did not change much fundamentally in the meantime; the queenside pawns did not move at all. It seemed computer-like to me.
The only means necessary to beat Topalov is Kramnik.
Hmmm. A 87% Percentage is totally normal when a Grandmaster plays. In the most moves it is very obvious what to play.
If Fritz would play there would be a 100% percentage btw.
Seriously Chess needs to have a different administration. FIDE seems to be made up of power hungry megalomaniacs instead of chess lovers… Maybe there should be some real chess organizers on the top of FIDE.
What an embarrassment. If Topalov has any self-respect left, he’ll fire this clown.
Which grandmaster said this only some 3 days ago:
“I have read a lot of comments so far from the regular chess fans to chess professionals. Some agree that 40-50 trips to the bathroom per game is unreasonable. Some think that Kramnik is entitled to go to the bathroom 100 times a game if he wants and Danailov was wrong for protesting.
The bottom line is BOTH SIDES ARE PLAYING this PSYCHOLOGICAL GAME against each other instead of thinking of the best interest for chess. They are each paid $500,000 tax free to play this match for the chess highest honor. THEY SHOULD BOTH BEHAVE HONORABLY! They BOTH should put the best interest of chess and the fans first!
The fans waited 13 years for a unification match and we are fighting over 1 or 2 toilets?”
Dainalov is one of the most ridiculous persons I’ve ever seen. Many GMs moves match with Fritz’ moves. That’s stupid. Check out by yourself. And check if ain’t another stupidity by Dainalov. This guy is really ridiculous.
Another thing. When I’m pondering too much I’m usually unquiet, just like Kramnik, who wanders from one place to the other and uses to think better im motion, just like me. This is one sort of intelligence. Dainalov should stop being the clown of this circus.
Besides, I hope Kramnik beats Topalov, the only who could be in discussion whether uses a program or not.
hi to all, game seem tight at the moment.
In any given normal chess position, there are not so many good moves. Otherwise, we would all be grandmasters. So there are only a few good moves. Then it is no surprise, when strong players – computers or humans – have a high coincidence in the moves they suggest.
Danailov is uneducated.
I bet you havent noticed this on the report about Danailov’s findings Susan! -> ChessBase made a smal joke – on the main page the last sentence in the intoduction of the article is: “What’s going on?” -> that is what fritz9 says when he is loosing 😀 (the guys of ChessBase are hilarious :D)
D.K.
[1a] Danailov’s letters are approved by Topalov before the letters are released.
Pure shame on D & T. History will not forget.
[1b] This stream of cheating accusation spewing from Topalov amounts to verbal abuse.
The new Appeals Committee would keep Topalov’s $5000 this time, so he dares only issue a press release.
[1c] Can the Appeals Committee punish a player who verbally abusing his opponent, and FIDE (by insinuation they are unable to run a clean match), and the chess world in general? They should.
In the American NFL and in Baseball, managers or players who verbally defame the game are fined.
[2a] This Danailov-Topalov accusation of Kramnik cheating has a glaring omission of control group data.
Without control data this acusatory letter has the same value as snake oil does for curing cancer.
[2b] I used Fritz9 to analyze several grandmaster chess960 games played at Rapid speed (Game/20 minutes +5 seconds), from Mainz.
Even under these challenging conditions usually one of the two players matched Fritz9 75% of the time (using its new chess960 engine of course).
[3a] The D-T letter has a glaring omission of the Fritz9 settings. What is the ply depth Fritz9 was told to calculate too?
Omission of this type of info renders the letter silly.
[3b] A person could watch Fritz9, then when they see Kramnik’s move, could stop Fritz9 and say “See there is Kramnik’s move!”. Of course that is cheating by D-T.
[4] “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Kramnik is not going to rattled by this a second time.
[5] If the Sun rises in the east, then Topalov is to blame. The Sun rises in the east.
Hey, I never said Topalov was to blame.
Gene Milener
http://CastleLong.com/
I have done a statistical analysis of Danailov’s public statements, which show that 87.9% of the time he says the same thing that a total dickhead would say.
Apparently Danilov believes that Kramnik in game 1 used Fritz to obtain a position where Topalov had an instant forced win? Fritz would have told Kramnik to play …Kxf8 rather than his …Bxf8, which lost immediately by force.
i wonder wath is Topalov’s percentage
The abuser abuses again.
YOU MUST strongly stop the abuser or he will continue to abuse. stoping abuse is more important than “playing the game”
Playing the Game is accepting abuse. allowing him to abuse again and again and again.
As I said before, let the dogs bark and keep walking.
This scoundrel’s word has no longer any value.
I just went over several of my games. In the last game I played, 90% of the moves were the main line of Hiarcs 10. We won’t discuss the blunder that lost the game for me.
This release by Danailov flies in the face of Topalov’s comment in the after game 6 interview:
“Veselin TOPALOV: Perhaps it sounded too emotional; there is nothing for me to be proud of. I shook hands with Kramnik, and the match continued. I believe that his play is fair, and my decision to continue the match proves it. We are humans, and sometimes we make mistakes.”
Danailov’s FIDE card is here:
http://fide.com/ratings/card.phtml?event=2900114
No picture, but shows his rating, etc. He hasn’t played rated games since ~2000.
Hi Susan,
Is it so surprising that a top GM and a strong computer chess engine will pick the same move most of the time? Danailov’s publication of this slander is despicable.
The only question I have is whether Topalov is sanctioning Danailov’s behavior or whether Danailov is out-of-control?
I think Topalov needs to play the Danailov Gambit — sacrificing a worthless pawn to regain respectability.
Tom D
Kramnik’s team needs to ignore this, and take this as a compliment, not an accusation if asked in a press meeting.
Danailov works for Topalov. Topalov is allowing this as he did the false accusations leading to forfeit win which he also kept. I blame Topalov for allowing all of this since he is the boss! I really feel after this match all tournament/match organizers should ban Topalov/Danilov from chess for one year! We cannot allow people such as these to continue tarnishing professional chess. Corporate sponsorship will not come to chess if this continues.
“I think Topalov needs to play the Danailov Gambit — sacrificing a worthless pawn to regain respectability”.
Nicely put, Tom D. Topalov needs to take action here.
The more I think about latest complain from Danailov, the more I understand Topalov’s frustration.
Kramnik plays ONLY 78% of moves like Fritz 9. This is just not enough for Rybka to win over him!
The next demand from Danailov should be to force Kramnik to play only Fritz favorite moves, otherwise Topy packs his computer and goes home!!!
The next one will naturally be that Danailov accuses Kramnik for using doping.
Dumbailov could write a book – “How to Become Globally Impopular in One Week – Results Guaranteed”
Poor guy.
Danailov should be fired. If he has a case with solid evidence, then he should follow the procedure and present it to FIDE offically and not by the mean of “open letter.”
FIDE should seriously warn Dainalov of his conduct. If not, who know what tricks he will try for the weeks to come.
Tapalov should fire him. Dainalov should be replaced immediately.
Anonymous said…
Does anyone know at which match percentage you get accused of cheating on chess servers?
Wednesday, October 04, 2006 7:25:15 AM
IF my memory is correct. I think the accusations down at the world open were pretty close to 100% of the computer moves. at least for the one person who left because he would not allow them to look under his bulky sweater to see if there was a loop for the receiver in his ear.
I am sure it would be easy to find the reports written back then.
Danailov is thinking only one sided and he would not be a good chess player. He would not be a good lawyer neither.
Danailov should do the same analysis on Tapalov’s moves for those games. Even then, he need to know the validity of those percentage in GM games for such accusation.
Second game:
From 63 moves: After 17th move, where the theory ends, from remaining 46 moves – 40 moves match with the first line of Fritz 9. (87% of matches)
Third game
From 38 moves: after 10th move, when the theory ends, from 46 remaining moves – 40 match with the first line of Fritz 9. (86% of matches)
Hmmm… round your numbers off consistently. Hope the proof-readers don’t catch it, presuming the papers will print this rubbish. But I’m sure they will, non-chess players probably love this stuff.
So, who ran these tests anyways? Because if it was Danailov, their probably wrong.
Someone else already pointed out that if the sum the numbers up, he claims Kramnik played 165 of 215 moves the Fritz way.
Teacher: “Now, children. What is 165/215?”
Danailov: “Ooh! I know! I know!”
Teacher: “Anyone?”
Danailov: “Me! Right here!”
Teacher: *Sigh, “Ok, Danailov. What is it?”
Danailov: “78%”
Teacher: “Wrong. Its 76.7, or 77% rounded. Sit down.”
Also, look at his calculations for games two and three. In game two he got 40 of 46 moves, that’s 87%. In game three, he got 40 or 46 moves. That’s 86%.
Umm. . . Wait . . . 40/46 is 86.9. That’s about 87%. Now if I do the same calculation again, I get, wait. . . hold on. . . 86.9 again. Holy Cow! Who would have thought. Not Danailov, apearently.
Susan,
You have made the comment that it’s a black eye for Danailov and also for chess.
As someone very much on the outside looking in on the chess world, I’d say that it’s definitely a black eye for Danailov, but you might be surprised at the interest in the game that this sort of thing creates.
Thanks again for a fine blog,
Lori
Why is this a horrible statement? The “russians” have cheated and used all kinds of methods they could just get away with since time immemorial… is it so incredible that they still would?
As for GMs often making computer moves, that is a myth. Most of the time they do not make computer moves, and the lines suggested by patzers with engines do not become reality, that is a fact.
How many times have we heard someone say ‘that is a computer move, human would rather do xx’? And now that is out the window?
Why not investigate if there is merit to Danailov’s claim rather than dismiss it emotionally. Danailov already talked about the media being biased in favour of Kramnik.
The bias is obvious and it doesn’t help the case that so and so many GMs are coming to the rescue of poor Kramnik. Either they don’t see the bias and don’t consider all the circumstances, or they are for one reason or another prejudiced to being on Kramnik’s side.
i am 100% sure that Kramnik is not the innocent victim he portrays himself to be. First there was nothing illegal or anti-contractual about the decision of the appeals committee, and if there are worries about him cheating, he has inflamed the situation himself with his behaviour and lies (using the toilet as space to walk, right).
Everyone should realize that creating a situation and preparing oneself to be the blameless and injured party is not that difficult, most often innocent ones are the ones looking guilty because they don’t walk around figuring out how to look innocent.
Official Announcement from the FIDE Appeals Committee:
The members of the Appeals Committee were informed of Mr. Danailov’s press release concerning similarities between Mr. Kramnik’s decisions and the moves suggested by the Chessbase program Fritz 9.
Alhtough we feel the press release was very inappropriate and unproffessional, we have chosen not to take action against Mr. Danailov or Mr. Topalov for the one reason. After careful study of several comments made by Mr. Danailov over the last few days, as well as a close look at his past, it has become appearent to this Committee that he is mostly retarded.
His pathetic math skills aside, he really only says things that a mentally deficient person would say. In our experience, everytime we think that he couldn’t possibly say anything dumber that what he’s said already, he opens his mouth and proves us wrong.
Also, very reliable sources say that he ate paint chips as a kid. To this day, you will still find him everyday sitting crosslegged in front of the TV for the Telletubbies, clapping his hands and laughing.
Therefore, we feel that punishing him for acting in the manner he has, would be unfair. We have, however, decided to take action by opening another room of this facility that will show Telletubbie all day for the remainder of the tournament. We believe this will keep Mr. Danailove occupied. (Note to Media Specialist: Make sure it is Telletubbies and not Barney. He is deathly afraid of Barney.)
Sincerily
Members of the FIDE Appeals Committee.
Man! I wish I didn’t just make that up.
Seriously, FIDE should take action on Danailov. He know that if that this case to the Appeals Committee as is, it will be rejected. So he is trying other mean.
kehaar is right, people should investigate:
1) verify the number of Kramnik’s and Topalov’s moves that are the same as the first line suggested by Fritz9, by Shredder, by Rybka.
2) compare their percentage with those of Kasparov, Karpov, Fisher, during WCC matches.
Only then would it be possible to draw some conclusions.
Hi Susan,
The world of chess has been taking one black eye after another in the past week. We’ve now entered into the absurd with Danailov’s most recent Scud attack.
While I generally agree with your (i.e. Susan’s) appeal to stop the open letters, I believe that one more is due. What about an open letter to Topalov asking for his public agreement or disavowal of the most recent Danailov attack? It is a chance for Topalov to show his character.
I was a Topalov fan going into this match. At this moment I have serious difficulty in supporting him due to the damage that members of his entourage are inflicting upon chess.
Tom D
Even on the internet trying to catch a cheating IM is really hard. I have experience with this playing in the 5-min pool on ICC. Once your rating comes close to 2500 (mine was 2450) your opponents seem to be playing like Rybka.
Try to follow the games on ICC 5-min played by OLEGAS (IM)
Anyway the way most ‘good’ players cheat is by using infinite analysis and insert their first choice (preferabely a pawn sack or attacking move) and if it’s in the + they play it. You can easily see who is cheating by looking at the % player x wins in complicated positions. This way cheating is almost indetectable.
My conclusion is that Kramnik’s playing style is a little Anti-computer (calculating precise move orders) While Topalov’s style is more like a cheater (Make a mess, sac an exchange, winning 99% in super complicated positions!).
To me Topalov accusing Kramnik is really stupid… if anyone is cheating….
Topalov’s percentage will be low in the first few games because he took much risk in attacking. Kramnik’s playing style is conservative and he plays the board and not the man. In fact, with this style, Kramnik was able to tie with Fritz in the man-machine match few years ago.
After some tough i went to the conclusion:
Danailov is a man very wise, intelligent. He can speack russian, english, bulgarian, and so with confidence and a good skill.
In his claims he had made a work o find well choosen path to present claims full of suggested cheat by kramnik, BUT without ever accusing him directly.
The first time, it works . In its team they are two psychologists: they are still in the shadow, but i do think that they played a big role in all that.
Ok, it’s free from my part to say something like that.
Don’t insult him as a dumb : he is more intelligent that most of us!
Be carefull for now: the only one who is paying a urge and infinite bill from all that, it ‘s only… Topalov…
And just for that: I HATE HIM!
Dcax
My bad. Now I realise how stupid of me it was to say this. Nothing in Kramnik’s play would suggest cheating. His chess has been very human. And Danailov is probably lying about it anyway. I didn’t either consider variables like depth, first/second choice and such. And I just realised that some people have claimed Topalov’s play from San Luis matched Rybka upto 95% in some of the games.
Again apologies for my stupidity.
“Win with grace and lose with dignity.”
“The end does not justify the mean.”
“A man’s character makes the man.”
Everytime i post something, someone posts with my name. i did not make the post by kehaar previous to this one.
Whoever is doing that, why don’t you just tell me what is your problem?
Is it done by moderators because it always happens very soon after my post?
Keehar,
please stop the paranoia about the “Russians.” This is about Topalov and Kramnik, not about anything else. Keep the nationalism out of it, it’s undignified.
I duly apologize for my racist generalisations about “the russians”.
I’m sorry.
Great Advertisement for Fritz9 and Chessbase!! Thank you, Mr. Danailov!!
Talking of racism, i remember a comment from the illustrious mr. Kramnik saying that chess sponsorship should come from civilized western countries rather than some which he doesn’t regard as such.
Why don’t you tell your beloved mr. Kramnik that his comment is racist?
“DANAILOV IS A DISGUSTING PIECE OF HUMAN TRASH!”
Are there any children in here reading these outrageous blogs? Speak up, don’t be shy.
This fake is now tainting my good nick. Of course the chess world shouldn’t accept money from corrupted dictators like Gaddafi (the Libya KO tournament).
Whether we should accept money from tobacco companies (Danneman) is a good question someone might want to ask Mr. Kramnik.
And stop using my nick fake “kehaar”.
Stop your ridiculous behaviour. Instantly.
Ok i stop the fight against the idiot using my nick.
Anyway, Gaddafi is corrupt? Yeah, like not every single western leader is! Like every single western company is not corrupt. Yeah.
But i’m sure the 3rd world countries are corrupt in some unacceptable way whereas it’s just normal that all the great western civilied countries are corrupt in an acceptable manner.
Garbage.
Could it rather be that the western civilized countries want control of FIDE and chess world in general so that they cna use FIDE the way THEY want? Oh, gee, what a new idea.
i would be underestimating my opposition if i assumed they don’t know all this.
Well, Kramnik is a very strong player! I”m surprised the match rate wasn’t in the 80s.
Time to say the truth…
I am Danailov and I made the “kehaar” nick up.
I am confessing as I hate seeing other people using it and apologizing…. I NEVER APOLOGIZE!!!
What TV channel broadcasts Teletubbies in Kalmykia? Maybe my remote lacks a button… hmmmm
Game 1 + game 2 average = 75%
Kramnik wins these two games.
Game 3, 4 and 5 average = 80%
These games ends in a draw…
¿How Danailov explain this?
Compared to other sports it is really time to do some very sharp actions by the organizers of the coming World Championship Chess tournaments in order to avoid doping allegations in chess.
Because it seems to be a fact that is is only depending on the stage of moral, if a chess player accepts to himself approving computer or communication aid during the game, how could this policy work in other sports?
Which one of the cyclists, athletics, participants of the olympic games have felt himself insulted because of strict anti-doping measures taken and approved by the sports game organizers?
Imagine, what could have been left from this ridiculous scandal, if the perpetual video surveillance by the official referees would have been a common practice already long ago in chess.
Neither one from these players´ managers, nor from hot fans would not have needed to make war against each others.
I am afraid this war will escalete after the match without these new official anti-doping measures taken by FIDE and approved widely by national chess federations.
That which have for long been normal in other sports must be done in chess. Otherwise members of different fan clubs can not continue to be friends with each other, which is more than pity.
GM Seirawan presented his anti-doping recommendations already.
Sooner or later his thoughts should be taken seriously.
I have posted a detailed logfile of Fritz 9 testing Danailov’s claims in the Rybka forums, at
http://chessobserver.com/rybkaforum/viewtopic.php?t=292
You can also obtain the file itself from my webpage
http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~regan/chess/
click on the last item. This is a small sample to be sure, but it indicates a method to follow. Here are my conclusions from that file:
Scorecard: Moves 13–30, 18 moves total
11.5 MATCH (counting TIE as 1/2)
6.5 NON-MATCH
Danailov claimed 14 matches.
Here’s a more-itemized breakdown, ordering the moves by “delta” (-difference in score when K played non-computer move) and “delta2” (+difference between computer move played by K and next-highest move), with non-matches first.
NON-MATCHES:
28. -0.63
20. -0.28
17. -0.25
14. -0.22
18. -0.04
22. -0.02
30. 0.00 TIE [“MATCHES”, I meant to put on the next line]
16. 0.01
13. 0.07
15. 0.15
19. 0.17
21. 0.20
23. 0.25
27. 0.82
24. 0.84
26. 0.87
25. 1.98
29. 5.00 or so.
I see where Danailov gets his “14”—the deltas of -0.04 and -0.02
might have shown up as +es on his run of Fritz. But I think also 5 of the matches have to be thrown out, as they were 0.82 or more better than the next-best move, and by a chess master would be regarded as “forced” or at least “clearly expected”.
This leaves really 6 matches, 6 non-matches, and 1 tie among the
remaining moves.
[methodological stuff snipped—see the full file]
…
In the range 0.15 to 0.30, Kramnik played the top move 4 times and didn’t 3 times. Too small a sample size—looks pretty random.
Interestingly, the “close moves” were all in sequence, 13–23, except for Move 30—which shouldn’t count as it kinda didn’t matter…
Going back to my logging of to-me-reasonable alternatives:
16. 0.01 10
13. 0.07 2 (or 3 if …Rg8 TN could come then, but this was prep IMHO)
15. 0.15 2 or 3
19. 0.17 3 (really 1 IMHO, you don’t leave a beast on b6)
21. 0.20 3 (but on the server we felt 1)
23. 0.25 4 (but 23…Bc5 was consequential, no?)
So the only case with a choice among more than 2 prominent
alternatives as judged (“objectively”) by closeness in score and (subjectively) by “chess sense” is move 16. But even here, the previous move 15…Rc8 seems to intend 16…Bc5 as *the* followup—and it came within 0.02 as not being a MATCH anyway!
For each non-match move, we can count the # of moves ranked ahead of it, plus 1 for the move itself.
20. -0.28 5
17. -0.25 4
14. -0.22 5 (but prepared?)
18. -0.04 2
22. -0.02 2
Not much to conclude from this. There’s also the “BRAVE MOVE” 28…Rc6!
(-0.63 worse than top move), but it is explained readily in practical, grandmasterly terms, so no “brownie points” for playing it—?
OK, it took me 2 hours and 20 minutes to generate the whole test and this detailed report. This is certainly feasible for others to
do, with the longer games. More testing is needed to make statistically significant conclusions…but there’s one more factor to evaluate: the “GIGO” factor.
For a conclusion, IMHO the MOST TELLING stat is IMHO my analysis of the choices available at the 6 moves that give a MATCH with delta
—Dr. Kenneth W. Regan, Buffalo (Amherst) New York, 10/4/2006.
I have to admit that Danailov doesn’t biuld a strong argument. But attacking the person (as many do) and not the data is false. You cannot claim that Danailov is wrong simply because of his position of interest in this situation.
I am only a “chess fan”, but I would be really happy to see a full analysis on Danailov’s claims. Indeed, I would be even happier if Danailov publishes his data.