Proposing: The REAL World Computer Chess Championship

[Cubeman]

I like the idea of a new system to create a World Champion chess competition and to see the end of ICGA running this event.
Has anyone thought about getting FIDE involved in running this event.I would think that the title awarded by FIDE would be more valued by the winner and also the general chess public.The Mickey Mouse outfit ICGA can keep running events like Connect 6 , Phantom Go or many other obscure events where only a handful of participants take part.

[hgm]

Well, having objective standards, as the ICGA does, seems infinitely preferable to me than deciding who can participate and who not by 'majority vote'.

And you raise an important point that I so far failed to mention:

The ICGA is officially associated to FIDE, as the sub-division for computer Chess, right? (I know the Dutch CSVN is an official sub-division of the Dutch Chess Association, KNSB.) So yes, people have thought of having FIDE running the event, and FIDE has commisioned its member association ICGA to handle it...

And as far as the FIDE is concerned, whatever we organize here, no matter how well intended or how popular, is in fact nothing but a 'Mickey-mouse title'.

It would be very illuminating to take a look on the FIDE website. Guess who is listed fourth in the list of FIDE subsidiaries... It seems that there is only one World Title Computer Chess that carries the predicate 'FIDE recognized'.

[Cubeman]

Well, having objective standards, as the ICGA does, seems infinitely preferable to me than deciding who can participate and who not by 'majority vote'.

And you raise an important point that I so far failed to mention:

The ICGA is officially associated to FIDE, as the sub-division for computer Chess, right? (I know the Dutch CSVN is an official sub-division of the Dutch Chess Association, KNSB.) So yes, people have thought of having FIDE running the event, and FIDE has commisioned its member association ICGA to handle it...

And as far as the FIDE is concerned, whatever we organize here, no matter how well intended or how popular, is in fact nothing but a 'Mickey-mouse title'.
It would be very illuminating to take a look on the FIDE website. Guess who is listed fourth in the list of FIDE subsidiaries... It seems that there is only one World Title Computer Chess that carries the predicate 'FIDE recognized'.

Which begs the question why FIDE choose Houdini as the engine of choice for there analysis engine from recent human WCC.
http://moscow2012.fide.com/
No mention of Hiarcs or Crafty.

[jdart]

This format highly biases the chances in favor of the ruling champion, and I don't see that as very desirable. Why not use a format where the best is most likely to win?

I don't see that the 48-game match biases the result either way, but using a round-robin to select a challenger may not produce the best challenger.

--Jon

[hgm]

Which begs the question why FIDE choose Houdini as the engine of choice for there analysis engine from recent human WCC.

Because it was free?

(Or any of several other reasons that seem plausible. Why not ask them?)

No mention of Hiarcs or Crafty.

No mention of Crafty by ICGA either. Why do you expect people to mention Crafty?

[hgm]

I don't see that the 48-game match biases the result either way, but using a round-robin to select a challenger may not produce the best challenger.

Well, that is exactly the point. Statistically it is unlikely that the RR produces the best challenger, and this favors the champion. And even if it would, say in the case of 5 contenders equally strong as the champion, the champion will have 50% chance to prolong its title, while each of the 5 contenders only has 10% to grab it. So they are disadvantaged by a factor 5 (!).

[Sean Evans]

Hello everyone,

Skinner I have plaguerized Hiarcs, but I am going to call the new program Skinner-The-Butthead and claim it is my own original work. When I win the championship I will make some big money too!

Do you see a problem with that

[Peter Skinner]

I don't see that the 48-game match biases the result either way, but using a round-robin to select a challenger may not produce the best challenger.

Well, that is exactly the point. Statistically it is unlikely that the RR produces the best challenger, and this favors the champion. And even if it would, say in the case of 5 contenders equally strong as the champion, the champion will have 50% chance to prolong its title, while each of the 5 contenders only has 10% to grab it. So they are disadvantaged by a factor 5 (!).

I see your point, but how would a 9 round swiss determine the best candidate to move on to face the Champion?

[Peter Skinner]

Hello everyone,

Skinner I have plaguerized Hiarcs, but I am going to call the new program Skinner-The-Butthead and claim it is my own original work. When I win the championship I will make some big money too!

Do you see a problem with that

Thanks Sean. Insightful as always.

Peter

[LudiBuda]

I think it would be very exciting to watch these events.
But you have a catch 22 problem. In order to make WCCC legit, the number 1 engine has to participate. But if Houdini and Rybka enter the competition (which I think is absolutely necessary) then Shredder, Hiarcs and Junior will refuse to enter. I think you need at least one of these three to make it a true WCCC. Hiarcs team seems bent on becoming WC by banning all other competition, Junior team has close ties to ICGA, so your best bet is probably Shredder.
The most important thing and the only way to attract all top engines is to get a big sponsor. Sponsor willing to not just shell out a few bucks or a couple of CPUs, but one willing to issue a press release about sponsoring the event and really get behind it. Unfortunately this is probably just a pipe dream


I would have 2 entry criteria:
1. Engine has to be under development for at least 2 years (in order to weed out people doing a quick hack job and entering the event).
2. Engine has to be accepted for testing by at least 2 out of 4 test groups (CEGT, CCRL, IPON and SSDF). This will weed out engines that most people consider to be clones.