Chess on wheels 2019

The 2019 Tour de France has snuck up on me, but I did catch part of the first stage. Apart from the beautiful French scenery, there will of course be the obligatory "chess on wheels" comments from the media. If you can't get (or don't want) the television coverage, I always find The Guardian's live blog entertaining and informative. 

Just chill baby baby

While the end of a chess game usually involves a polite handshake, this is not the case in other games. Apparently getting into your opponents face is a thing in some e-sports, and this then can escalate into something worse. https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/07/fighting-game-tournament-has-too-much-actual-fighting/ describes this issue at a recent event. But what surprises me is the article suggests that one cause is the fact that the players are close to each other, as opposed to being separated like in other events. If this were so, then there would be a lot more punching at chess tournament, which there isn't. Instead, have a look in the (NSFW) comments section for more accurate reasons!

More things that aren't chess

While chess grapples with the issue of drawn games and the best method of deciding a champion/tournament winner/rating prizes, the world of 'competitive spelling' (words I spelled incorrectly in my first draft), dealt with the issue by simply giving up. The US National Spelling Bee ended in an 8 way tie when it became clear that the remaining finalists new every word in the dictionary. As usual I defer to Deadspin for commentary on obscure competitions.

Cricket, chess and exercise

While previous years my trip to the Chess Olympiad often saw me extend my stay overseas by a week or two, this time it is straight there and straight back. Otherwise I would have been tempted to do a bit of walking in the English countryside, visiting the aptly named Chess Valley.
Named after the River Chess, there are plenty of walks to be had. One that I came across starts at The Cricketers in Sarratt and is a circular route of around 8km. From the description it covers a lot of farmland and wooded areas, so based on previous experience of walking in the UK, a sturdy pair of boots is a necessity.

Bad officiating - What do you do?

I suspect all chess players have been the victim of bad officiating at one time or another. Whether it's an opponent who stops writing their moves and gets away with it, or a spectator/friend casually suggesting a strong move to your opponent, there are always situations where we can feel that the rules have not protected us.
But that pales in comparison to what happened to the Canberra Raiders in the NRL on Friday night. Not one, but two officials indicated that an infringement by the other side had occurred, so the players waited for the referee to stop play. While waiting, a Cronulla player casually put the ball down for a try, which on review was awarded, on the grounds that no infringement had actually occurred.
After the game the usual apologies and 'we are looking into it' comments were made by the games governing body, although the result will of course not be changed. Apparently action has now been taken against the one of the officials (a two week suspension), with a strong hint that the official concerned won't be appointed to top level games again.
Is anyone aware of a similar occurrence happening in a chess tournament or series? The closest I can think of was an Olympiad arbiter who found himself dropped for the rest of the event after telling a noisy senior FIDE official to be quiet during a top board game. Otherwise nothing springs to mind.

Greedy Santa

With Christmas approaching, there will be a lot of work parties and opportunities for gift giving. I've already had one such get together, and at this I was introduced to "White Elephant Secret Santa", which is an alternative to the basic 'Secret Santa' that most people know about.
This got me thinking about a 'Game Theory' version of the game, and what the 'best' strategies are.
Firstly some rules:

1. There are N players
2. Each players pays N/2 dollars to take part
3. N envelopes are filled with an amount of money starting with $0, then $1 up to $N-1
4. Each player takes a number at random, lowest number choosing and opening the first envelope, revealing the money inside.
5. Subsequent players (starting at 2) can either steal money from another player, or chose to open a sealed envelope.
6. If a player has money stolen from them, they then get the same option (steal or open). Once a player opens an envelope, this turn ends and a new one starts with the next player
7. An amount can only be stolen once per turn, and there is a limit on the number of times an amount can be stolen overall (usually the third owner keeps it for good).

The addition of Rule 7 adds an extra level of strategy, as trying to steal the largest amount runs the risk of having it 'frozen' by another player. On the other hand, the last player may have the most power, as they have the greatest choice of what to take (and essentially a retaliation proof grab).
I don't know if anyone has done the maths on this, but it looks as though it may be an interesting programming exercise, both to simulate the game, and to try and generate the best strategy.

What has been keeping me busy (and it isn't chess)

My posting has been a little sporadic over the last few months, mainly due to a big work project that is now due for completion. The project was an update/rewrite to a spam reporting and collection database that is used by the Australian Government, both updating the application, and moving the whole thing to the cloud.
We are rolling out the new system over the next month, but for now it is substantially completed (in that it has passed all the user acceptance testing).
For those with a technical interest, the system is written in python using the Django web framework. (There is a chess link here btw, as the late Malcolm Tredinnick was a significant contributor to Django). The backend database is Postgresql, with Elasticsearch for text searching, as well as javascript,css and html for the front end stuff. All of these tools are open source btw
It was developed in house, 37% under budget, exceeded the initial specification, and is designed to handle an average of 300,000 spam filled emails a day.
I hope I have't risked fate by blowing my trumpet too loudly or too early, but if everything goes according to plan, the work/chess balance may be heading back into chess's favour.

Oh No, another time waster

Blizzard have just released a free version of the original StarCraft, along with the expansion. It has been patched to fix any bugs that have been noticed over the last 8 years(!) and runs under all the Window releases (including 10). You can download it from the Blizzard site.

And in other news ...

Civilization VI was released today. That is all ....

le Tour

No, not the Grand Chess Tour, but the 2016 Tour de France.
I almost missed the start this year (due to coverage of the Australian election), and only a lull in punditory resulted in me channel surfing to SBS to see that it was one. So once again it will be later nights for me than normal, and probably grumpier days as well.
If you want to follow the race, my two main sources are the SBS site and the Guardians coverage of the race.  One nice thing about the Guardians coverage is their live blog of the stage, which you can reread at your leisure the following morning.

Some magnificent time wasters

If you need a change of pace from 'all chess, all the time' here are a couple of browser games to while away the hours. The first is 'A Dark Room' which is a combination of Text Adventure/Resource Gatherer/Rouge Like game, while almost have a Zorkish feel to it.
The second is Gridland which is a novel twist in the popular 'matching game' genre, combining the traditional '3 in a row' mechanisms, with a 'Candy Box' style combat system.
Both of these games are produced by Doublespeak and are free to play.

The month of no love - 2015

Ah November. In Canberra this is when Spring really starts. Not only do flowers bloom, but there is also an outbreak of facial hair. For November is also Movember, when men can grow some very ugly moustaches, and claim it is for charity. (There is a trade-off of course, mentioned in the title to this post)
This year is my 8th year of growing my usually voluminous mo, and as the picture to the right shows, I am already off to a good start. However, unlike previous years I will be going for quality over quantity, although for now I am aiming for a huge block of marble, before I chip away to reveal the masterpiece within.
It is of course for a good cause, and I am taking donations. You can visit http://mobro.co/shaunpress either to make a donation, or just to see my somewhat sporadic updates.  And thos who wish to check my mo out in person, don't forget to drop into the Vikings Weekender!

Things I am not surprised to see

After all the excitement earlier in the week surrounding FIFA, the re-election of Sepp Blatter was probably the least surprising thing about the whole affair. Of course this has lead to a number of "how could this possibly happen" in the media, but anyone who has attended the last few FIDE elections (as I have), would know how these things in fact work. Although the articles are about football rather than chess, they have a familiar ring about them, right down to which continents get blamed.

Things I never expected to see

News that various FIFA officials have been arrested in a corruption probe is something I never expected to hear. Not that I am privy to the inner workings of FIFA, but international sporting organisations tended to avoid too many legal difficulties, by virtue of being "international". Enough conflicting jurisdictions meant that anything too dubious could be parked in a friendly country, away from prying eyes. But it seems that this is no longer the case, after the news out of Switzerland.
I suspect a number of other sporting associations may be rechecking their current codes of conduct as clearly this sets a new standard for what is actual corruption as opposed to "just business". And while FIFA (along with the IOC and maybe Forumla 1) is at the top of the sporting tree, who knows where the spotlight is shone next.

Australian Boardgames Tournament

If you want a break from the agony and ecstasy that is chess, then the ACT section of the Australian Boardgames Titles is being held on the 30th & 31st May 2015. There a 5 separate games on offer, Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Dominion, Carcassonne and Rumikub. There are rpizes for each tournament, including entry into the National Titles being held in Melbourne later this year.
The venue is The Games Capital, Garema Place, Canberra City (just across from Street Chess), and the tournaments begin at 10:30am on both days.
Further details of the event, including entry fees and playing schedules are available here.

 (There is a chess connection BTW. The organisers of this event are also the team that organise the O2C Doeberl Cup, so it should be a fantastic weekend)

Robot buys drugs with Bitcoins, gets arrested

Turns out that this is an old-ish story, but I only came across it today. The headline alone cracks me up, but the details of the story are just as fantastic.
A group of Swiss artists set up a computer to buy things on the "Darknet" (image what your grandmother thinks the internet is, and you get the idea). It was given an allowance of 100 euros worth of bitcoins, to purchase items at an online market. The items were intended to be part of a future art exhibition, and it seemed to be going swimmingly, until the robot decided to score some ecstasy. At this point the police swooped, confiscating the drugs, a Hungarian passport, a baseball cap with a hidden camera, and other sundry items that the robot had acquired. Eventually most of the items were returned, along with the robot/laptop, and no one was charged as the artists did not intend to use the drugs(!).
Lots of places to find this story btw (just search for variations on the headline) or read one version here.

How does Microsoft stay in business?

The joy of computer upgrades. My previous adventures were chronicled here, and 5 years later nothing has improved. In fact the 'Easy Transfer' software has since been crippled, as you cannot transfer data across your home network anymore (expensive usb drives instead). Even the obvious 'drag and drop' from shared folders is a nightmare, as obscure file permission and ownership issues lurk at every turn.
Compare this with just about every Linux upgrade I have ever done. apt-get dist-upgrade and the latest and greatest operating system appears. Transfer files, no worries. scp or rsync and you're away. No fuss, no muss, and all for free.

The Two Envelopes Paradox

A mathematical problem that has nothing to do with chess.
Two envelopes are placed in front of you. You are told that one envelope contains a sum of money, and the other, twice the amount. You are asked to choose one. But before you open the envelope you are told that you can swap your envelope for the other one.
Question 1: Should you swap?

Assuming you know a little about calculation expected outcomes, your reasoning might go like this.
I have a 1/2 chance of choosing the smaller envelope and a 1/2 chance of choosing the larger envelope. My expectation from swapping is therefore (1/2*x+2*x)/2 or 1.25x
So swapping envelopes increases my return by 25%
Question 2: Is this a valid way of making your choice?

and Question 3: Can I infinitely increase my expected outcome by swapping again and again!

Papers, Please

I've been doing a lot of overseas travel recently (and am off to Switzerland in a couple of weeks), so the discovery of the bizarre game "Papers, Please" is quite interesting. The premise of the game is that you are an immigration inspector for the fictional communist country of Arstotzka. You job consists of inspecting passports and visas, and deciding whether to let people in the country or not. And this is what you spend the game doing. Looking at documents and then stamping them. I'm pretty sure there is supposed to be more to the game than this, but I have yet to discover it.
Despite what seems to be the mind numbingly boring gameplay, it is curiously addictive. At my first attempt I took to long to decide who to let in and as a result received very little pay. This led to having no money to feed my family, so they got sick and all died. This resulted in me losing the game, as Arstotzka expects healthy and happy citizens.
So during my next trip, rather than complain about the slow lines at immigration, I will at least some appreciation for the work the inspectors are doing, given the repetitive nature of the task. If you are interested in immersing yourself in the work of an immigration officer, you can find the game at www.humblebundle.com where they have a range of terrific computer games, often using a 'pay what you wish' pricing model.

Travel blogging

Ah Sydney International Airport. You never fail to disappoint. Crappy wifi, and $10 toasted chicken sandwhiches. At least my patronage will be necessarily brief.