Protests Over Fritz's Participation in Dutch Championship
A firestorm of controversy has erupted over the decision to include the computer program Fritz in the Dutch Championship to be contested May 7 to 19 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Not only has the Board of the Royal Dutch Chess Federation seeded Fritz directly into the elite 12-player tournament, but the silicon soldier will be declared "Champion of Holland" should it emerge as the winner.
The 12 competitors in the Broekhuis Dutch Championship 2000 are:
1. Loek van Wely 2646
2. Jeroen Piket 2643
3. Dimitri Reinderman 2561
4. John van der Wiel 2558
5. Erik van den Doel 2522
6. Friso Nijboer 2540
7. Dennis de Vreugt 2498
8. Manuel Bosboom 2461
9. Herman Grooten 2393
10. Paul van der Sterren 2526
11. Sergei Tiviakov 2567
12. Fritz SSS*
The sponsors of the tournament are: Broekhuis Groep (a computer company), Stichting Rotterdam Topsport, ChessBase, Lost Boys, SGI, SARA, Storage Tek, Infonomics and Bolesian.
Broekhuis is understandably ecstatic that Fritz has been authorized to compete. The expectation is that its participation will generate a ton of publicity. But much of the hullabaloo surrounds the questionable decision to include the computer, and possible embarrassment for the Dutch competitors, as well as Dutch chess in general. Apparently, the Dutch Chess Federation and Broekhuis believe in the old adage that "bad publicity is better than none at all."
Along with Fritz's participation come several additional bags of gold. The original prize fund totaled about 100,000 Dutch guilders; the new fund is 170,000.
Some of the players are a bit queasy about a computer joining them in a competition designed to crown a Dutch national champion. But as an incentive for agreeing to compete against Fritz, the players receive more money, which is undoubtedly why most are going along with it. Anyone who refuses to play the program will receive his prize money according to the old, lower, prize fund.
So the players are held as economic hostages to this scenario. They only need to be good sports and will be paid for their cooperation, despite what they might really think about all this. It's a common theme in chess: the players are bound to the whims of the politicians because they really have little choice.
But one man of principle, Paul van der Sterren, refuses to act his part according to this script; he refuses to play the computer. As punishment for being such a "bad sport," van der Sterren loses his game with Fritz automatically and will start the tournament with a score of 0-1.
Some of the players have declared they will resign their games with the computer after only a few moves, as a way of voicing their displeasure. By making a few token moves, they become eligible for the new, bigger, prize fund contributed by ChessBase and other sponsors. It's a strange world, isn't it? If several players agree to lose without even trying, the tournament becomes a farce, a phony competition, with Fritz as the pre-anointed conquering "Hero of Holland." Has Holland ever before had such an unusual hero?
A special prize of 2,000 guilders will be awarded to the player of the best game against Fritz. Presumably at least one player will fight it out for more than just a few moves and collect the loot.
Fritz is ineligible for any of the prize money, nor can it qualify for next year's championship or gain a spot on the Dutch national team that competes in the Olympiad.
Broekhuis has sponsored the Dutch Championship for the past several years. But they may not do so next year. Will their legacy of supporting Dutch chess end with an embarrassing fiasco?
A group is now protesting the participation of Fritz. Their website is at www.schaakprotest.nl/english.htm.
Over 450 protests have been registered at the website so far. But will it do any good? Will the howls of protest grow so loud that Fritz will be removed from participation?
Oscar Lemmers of the protest committee told MindZine, "It is totally unclear if the action will prevent that the computer plays at the Dutch championship. We can only hope; at least we tried."
Anjo Anjewierden, webmaster at www.schaakbond.nl, doesn't think the Board of the Dutch Chess Federation will change their mind, and also told MindZine, "It will embarrass the entire Dutch chess world and even the prospect of a computer participating makes chess-players uneasy."
The possibility of Fritz winning the tournament seems rather good, especially if many of the players resign without putting up a serious fight. The program is virtually assured of a top result.
The important question is what effect will this have on Dutch chess? Including Fritz apparently is a one-time publicity stunt designed to benefit the sponsors. The argument that widespread news coverage will attract many people to the game who otherwise would not be interested rings hollow as a rationale for such an odd, unique decision with so many obvious drawbacks. Are things so bad in Holland that such an act of desperation is necessary? If a computer program reigns supreme in Holland, will that only serve to discourage young Dutch from taking up the game? Will this contribute to the feeling that chess is no longer for humans but is more suited for machines? If there is no longer any place at the top for humans, why bother?
The Dutch Chess Federation has already achieved the mass of publicity they so fervently desired. But it may be wise in this case to remember another old saying: "Be careful what you wish for...."
The Broekhuis Dutch Chess Championship will be on the Internet at http://www.nkschaken.nl.
- Stephen Leary
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