John von Neumann -- World Open 1993
William Collin
the appearance of John von Nuemann at the World Open in 1993.
It inferred than "John von Neumann" was using a transmitter and
cheated in winning his section. It gave a couple of his
brilliances and one dumb game of his.
Apparently, Goichberg gave him a simple back rank mate problem
to solve and he couldn't solve it. Goichberg denied him the
prize.
My question is - does anybody have any follow ups to this story, either
first hand or can they point me to a source of info.
thanks
collin
Mike Leahy (BOOKUP)
I had the "privilege" of witnessing a small piece of this act at
the World Open. As far as I know the case was never cracked.
The Chess Chow article contains almost all of the pertinent
anecdotes.
I've been fascinated with this case and the use of shoe computers
and tranmitters/receivers in similar adventures.
If the stooge and his support team had only a tiny bit more chess
knowledge the story could have been quite different!
Mike Leahy
"The Database Man!"
Johnwatson
check back issues to see which one. The credit for the story really goes
to Joe Fang and Dave Vigorito, who were spectators at the tournament and
noticed strange things about von Neumann. The documentation is in the
Inside Chess story. I didn't believe Joe and Dave at first, but after I
became convinced, I told Goichberg and the story got out. Subsequently I
was called repeatedly by journalists and players (including long-distance
calls from Europe), so powerful and alluring was the idea. We don't know
what technique was used, although his mannerisms and a mysterious 'friend'
who kept appearing when things went wrong led us to believe that it was a
system with a keypad and a transmitter.
I have never heard of another case of this happening. I wonder if more
sophisticated versions are afoot, and perhaps undiscovered?
Peter Stein
No doubt. Imagine if von Neumann was a real player of say 2300 to 2400
strength and had the assistance of another master who was operating a
super strong program in conjunction with a database such as ChessBase.
The 2300-2400 player wouldn't even have to be incognito and although
an oustanding result against IMs and GMs is unlikely it certainly is
within the realm of possibility.
BTW, on an unrelated thread does anybody know who Blas Lugo is? If
I'm not mistaken he was listed as tied for first in the NY Open after
6 rounds. Another von Neumann in the making? :-)
Peter Stein
n...@xnet.com
Michael Atkins
It was one of the later rounds and I knew nothing about him up til that
point. I watched him hang a peice in the opening and then sit there for
almost an hour....it was so bizarre! Later on, I discovered that he had
most likely lost his connection during this hour lapse, and that his
"operator" showed up several times to check out the position.
After the tournament, a master friend of mine was also given the task of
sitting and playing him , to assess his real playing ability without the
headphone concealed under the dreadlocks. After a few common opening
moves, he quit...not knowing how to proceed.......come to your own
conclusions :)
Richard Reich
>No doubt. Imagine if von Neumann was a real player of say 2300 to 2400
>strength and had the assistance of another master who was operating a
>super strong program in conjunction with a database such as ChessBase.
>The 2300-2400 player wouldn't even have to be incognito and although
>an oustanding result against IMs and GMs is unlikely it certainly is
>within the realm of possibility.
It wouldn't even have to be a master. Martha Fierro, now a master, had
an excellent score at the World Open in 1994 [I think it was a plus
score]. Playing in the Open Section, rated only about 1950, she beat IM
Zlotnikov, amongst others. No uproar ensued [Martha of course was vastly
underrated, and had no need nor desire to cheat]. The problem with von
Neumann was that he didn't have a clue as to how to imitate a strong
chess player.
Richard Reich
Peter Stein
The point that IM Watson made and which I was responding to is the
sophistication involved in a deception which is likely to go undetected.
We aren't talking about the statistical outliers that perform way above
their rating once in a blue moon. While no uproar may have ensued in your
example I would wager that at a minimum it did generate some attention
which is precisely what a von Neumann wants to avoid. The best way to
minimize attention is to maximize von Neumann's credibility. To that
end a 2300 player is bound to draw a lot less attention than an expert
or A player. It's possible to imitate strong players away from the board,
but not in their play or results.
Peter Stein
n...@xnet.com
John Uchida
>
> I wrote the first story about this affair, in Inside Chess; you'd have to
> check back issues to see which one. The credit for the story really goes
> to Joe Fang and Dave Vigorito, who were spectators at the tournament and
> noticed strange things about von Neumann. The documentation is in the
> Inside Chess story. I didn't believe Joe and Dave at first, but after I
> became convinced, I told Goichberg and the story got out. Subsequently I
> was called repeatedly by journalists and players (including long-distance
> calls from Europe), so powerful and alluring was the idea. We don't know
> what technique was used, although his mannerisms and a mysterious 'friend'
> who kept appearing when things went wrong led us to believe that it was a
> system with a keypad and a transmitter.
>
> I have never heard of another case of this happening. I wonder if more
> sophisticated versions are afoot, and perhaps undiscovered?
Is "John von Neumann" a real name? There was a famous mathematical
physicist with the same name in the 1930's-40's who was involved in
developing some of the earliest computers in the world (BRAINIAC comes
to mind) during WWII. It sounds suspicious to me.
John Uchida
Martin Borriss
Did John von Neumann pop up somewhere again? I remember an article in NIC
magazine where it was suspected that he cheated in some way, but neither
the exact nature of the cheat nor more info on his person was given.
So, was he seen before or ever since? Does he have an USCF rating?
Martin
Paul Powell
John Uchida <eni...@accessone.com> wrote:
>Is "John von Neumann" a real name? There was a famous mathematical
>physicist with the same name in the 1930's-40's who was involved in
>developing some of the earliest computers in the world (BRAINIAC comes
>to mind) during WWII. It sounds suspicious to me.
It really happened, however I do recall them checking into being paid
in cash.. So I assume it was not a real name.
R,
Paul
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Eric Schiller
It is a sad commentary on the general eduactional level of chessplayers these
days that only a few of us recognized the reference and found it odd that a
rastafarian-looking gentleman would have such a name (though not impossible, of
course). I figured that whoever was behind the scam had enough of a sense of
fair play to give this obvious clue, but that's just my HO.
BTW, those researching this issue will find my comments in Chess Life rather
uninformative. CL/USCF legal eagles made sure I stepped carefully.
Eric
In article <4ltsai$h...@goodnews.voicenet.com>, mem...@voicenet.com (Paul
--
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously at the chessboard, awaiting digital input.
John Macnab
In article <4mb5lt$k...@nntp1.best.com>, over...@chessworks.com says...
>
>It is a sad commentary on the general eduactional level of chessplayers
these
>days that only a few of us recognized the reference and found it odd that
a
>rastafarian-looking gentleman would have such a name (though not
impossible, of
>course). I figured that whoever was behind the scam had enough of a sense
of
>fair play to give this obvious clue, but that's just my HO.
>
>BTW, those researching this issue will find my comments in Chess Life
rather
>uninformative. CL/USCF legal eagles made sure I stepped carefully.
>
>Eric
>
>
ridiculed a voter's list that listed Omar Sharif and Martina Navratilova
living in the same apartment in Montreal. To his embarrassment, these
people turned out to really have those names and be married to one
another. Yes, most of us probably recognized the name John von Neumann,
but that hardly makes us fools.
Philip Dorsey
John Macnab wrote:
>
> Let's not criticize too unfairly. A Quebec member of parliament recently
> ridiculed a voter's list that listed Omar Sharif and Martina Navratilova
> living in the same apartment in Montreal. To his embarrassment, these
> people turned out to really have those names and be married to one
> another. Yes, most of us probably recognized the name John von Neumann,
> but that hardly makes us fools.
I was at the 1993 World Open and never noticed either the name or the
face of "John von Neumann". I guess I was too busy thinking about my own
games. I did, however, recognize a familiar name next to mine on the
pairing sheet. In one round I was paired with a chess player named
"Frank Brady" -- same as the name of the author of Bobby Fischer's
biography, *Profile of a Prodigy*.
Turned out it wasn't just the same name. It was the same *person* as
well. Brady had returned after about 20 years away from tournament
chess. Brady turned out to be a very personable fellow. He is now a
college professor.
In our game I eventually obtained a winning position but was in such
desperate sudden death time pressure that Brady could have run out my
clock and claimed a time forfeit. Nevertheless, he readily agreed to a
draw.
After the game we had a nice discussion about Bobby Fischer and the world
of chess in the 1960's and early '70's. I had never known that Brady was
himself a tournament chess player. Brady mentioned that he had won a few
speed games against Fischer in the old days.
Brady popped up again at the 1993 New York State Championship in Saratoga
Springs, then -- like the man whose biography he wrote -- he disappeared
from chess again.
I sent him some copies of articles I had written about Fischer at about
the time of the 1992 match. Brady rewarded me with a hardcover copy of
his biography of Orson Welles. He is also the author of a biography of
Barbara Streisand (who, incidently, was a high school classmate of Bobby
Fischer).
--Phil
KJBlake
In article <319A69...@tulsa.com>, Philip Dorsey <phi...@tulsa.com>
writes:
>I sent him some copies of articles I had written about Fischer at about
>the time of the 1992 match. Brady rewarded me with a hardcover copy of
>his biography of Orson Welles. He is also the author of a biography of
>Barbara Streisand (who, incidently, was a high school classmate of Bobby
>Fischer).
I don't think this is true. I believe that Barbara Streisand went to the
High School of Music and Art in NYC. Fischer went to High School in
Brooklyn--I don't remember which school--for a couple of years, then
dropped out.
CAPSA
My impression is that both attended Erasmus Hall High School at one
time, but I'm not sure they were classmates. I know that Fischer
"dropped out", I think in his third year, but I don't know of Ms.
Streisand's high school career. (Incidentally, isn't the given name
"Barbra" and not "Barbara"?)
Fraternally,
Jerome Bibuld
Paul Rubin
In article <APC&1'0'5685aad3'5...@igc.apc.org>,
Streisand dropped the second 'a' of her first name early in her
stage career. In high school she was still called Barbara.
Charles Blake
Actually it's fairly well known, and has been pointed out in "The
Compleat Chess Addict," that Streisand and Fischer were indeed classmates
at Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn. Bobby dropped out in the middle of tenth
grade, declaring "I don't listen to weakies." I sort of doubt they ran
in the same circles :-)
KJBlake
In article <319F6B...@emedia.net>, Charles Blake <cbl...@emedia.net>
writes:
I'm almost sure she went to Music and Art, where she was a classmate of a
friend of mine. Perhaps we're both right, and she transferred there after
going to Erasmus for a while.
Philip Dorsey
CAPSA wrote:
>
> My impression is that both attended Erasmus Hall High School at one
> time, but I'm not sure they were classmates. I know that Fischer
> "dropped out", I think in his third year, but I don't know of Ms.
> Streisand's high school career. (Incidentally, isn't the given name
> "Barbra" and not "Barbara"?)
>
>
> Jerome Bibuld
Yes, I did forget about the unusual spelling of "Barbra".
Many years ago I spoke with someone who attended Erasmus at that time
and she said that Bobby Fischer, Barbra Streisand *and* Neil Diamond all
attended that high school at the same time she did. When I spoke with
Frank Brady he said that at the time Barbra Streisand had a crush on
Bobby Fischer.
According to _The Complete Chess Addict_, by Mike Fox and Richard James,
Streisand and Fischer swapped MAD magazine comic books and friends said
they looked good together. Whether they were in the same school grade, I
don't know; but I wasn't intending to put too fine a point on it when I
called them "classmates".
--Phil Dorsey
P.S. Excuse my lateness in responding to the postings about Barbra
Streisand but I've had internet connection problems for several days.