In 1999, world number one Garry Kasparov played the game with the most page views, versus the “Rest of the World” on MSN Zone, Microsoft’s game site. Anybody could log on and vote for the RoW's next move, which was chosen by majority vote. GK won a complicated endgame. Over 50,000 people participated (and millions watched).
Democratic plurality is not ideal. Even if everybody possesses strong programs, the majority view is more likely to be wrong than that of a single strong player. This is especially so in a complex endgame, where engine analysis is uncertain. GK Vs RoW was in fact, such a complex endgame, that Kasparov later published a 200-page analysis.
Current world number one Magnus Carlsen is set to give a similar demonstration. The Dutch clothing company, G-Star is sponsoring the RAW World Chess Challenge (Magnus is also modelling some of G-Stars creations). Starting September 10, anybody can register and vote for the RoWs moves versus Carlsen at http://rwcc.g-star.com/en/rawchess/#/en-gb/rawchess/
But instead of pure democracy, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura and Judit Polgár will suggest a move each and the public voting choices will be restricted to those three alternatives. This begs the question of what happens if there is only one good move in a given position but in that case, one assumes the GMs will be in consensus. Not clear yet what the time controls, etc, will be.
While this might be great PR another former world number one, Anatoly Karpov is moving to centrestage in a Fide presidential election thats heading for an unseemly wrangle that isnt likely to enhanbce the public image of the game. The latest news is about threats of lawsuits.
In the meantime, the Icelandic grave of the late world number one, Bobby Fischer has been excavated and DNA samples taken to run a paternity test on nine-year-old Filipino Jinky Young, who is allegedly his daughter.
Fischers estate of an estimated GBP 1.3 million is at stake. Under Icelandic law, Jinky would inherit if she is his daughter. Miyako Watai would be second in line, if the DNA test is negative, assuming Watai can prove she was actually married to Fischer, as she claims. Third in line, if the Watai and Jinky claims are disproved, are Fischers late sister Joan Fischer Targs children.
Back to chess after that saga of number-ones. The Diagram, WHITE TO PLAY (Carlsen vs Wang Yue, Medias 2010) is a not too complex endgame. White won with 46. g4! Hxg4 47. h5 Be4 48. Rc7 f5 49. h6 f4 50. h7 g3+ 51. Ke1! f3 52. h8=Q f2+ 53. Ke2! Bd3+ 54. Ke3 (1-0). Now 54.-- f1=Q 55. Qe8+ wins — its mate on the d-file or Rf7+ xf1. Nice and easy if you can calculate 10-odd moves.
Devangshu Datta is an internationally-rated chess and correspondence chess player
