Despite efforts to copyright chess games, they remain in the public domain. Most opening manuals freely cite the same analysis of the same key games, and the same errors are passed on like the Olympic torch.
A current morality play illustrates two maxims: Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery; Let he without sin cast the first stone.In a recent issue of Inside Chess, associate editor John Donaldson cast a stone at British grandmaster Ray Keene, author of 80 chess books. But Keene reminded him that people in glass houses should not throw stones.
Donaldson's charge: "Examples of plagiarism are not unknown in chess literature, but Keene has set a new standard for shamelessness.
"A glance at pages 128-132 of his `Complete Book of Gambits' (Bastford, 1992) and a comparison of my two-part article in Inside Chess discloses that not only did he have nothing new to say about Lisitsin's Gambit, but also he could hardly be bothered to change any of the wording or analysis.
"What's more, no mention of the original source was given, misleading the reader as to the originality of his work. His behavior is absolutely inexcusable."
The publisher's reply: "Full credit was prepared with the manuscript, but due to an unfortunate oversight this became detached and failed to appear in the book. It will be put right on the second edition (or the whole piece dropped if you prefer).
"Keene offers his full apologies and is happy to offer you, or any nominated charity of your choice, a share of the United Kingdom royalties equivalent to the share the section occupies in the book."
Donaldson's reply: "I would prefer my work be omitted from any second edition. I prefer a flat royalty payment of $50 per page ($200). I suspect that if all the other victims of Mr. Keene's `oversights' are accorded the same privilege, it will be a slender work indeed."
Keene's fax to Donaldson: "This book was several years in preparation. In an endeavor to be complete, I gathered together a huge amount of source material to beat a last-minute deadline. Inadvertently a planned bibliography was omitted.
"As an editor yourself, you surely appreciate, when under pressure, how it is possible to inadvertently print material from someone else's copyright.
"Let me take an example from your own magazine. I was most flattered to see my notes to games already published in the United Kingdom appear word for word in two consecutive issues (4-5, 1991). I was given no credit; you certainly did not consult me nor offer any payment.
"I felt somewhat annoyed at the time, yet decided to let it pass rather than cause any embarrassment by drawing public attention to what you had done.
"But now it must be drawn into the balance. As the most elegant solution, I propose we pay $200 each to two nominated charities. Or we can just call it a draw."
Oh, yes, Larry Evans suggested: "Lest anyone wonder about Lisitsin's Gambit, the initial moves are: 1 Nf3 f5, 2ed? fxe4, 3 Ng5."
- HARD HEADS - SOFTWARE? At the recent Fourth Harvard Cup Human vs. Computer Chess Challenge at the computer Museum in Boston, a team of six grandmasters triumphed easily (27-9) over a team of six computers.
A sign of still prevailing one-sided superiority by humans?
"Surprisingly not," writes Shelby Lyman, "if we look beyond the overall numbers.
"Although four of the machines got trounced, the two strongest did remarkably well.
"Socrates Exp scored 3-3 against a group of humans that included the current U.S. champion Patrick Wolff; a former USSR champion, Boris Gulko; a former U.S. champion, Joel Benjamin; and a former U.S. Open champion, Michael Rhode.
"ChessSystem R30 fared only a little worse with a 21/2-31/2 score."
Both Socrates, a software package for personal computers, and ChessSystem R30, a dedicated device, are commercially available - Socrates for about $150 and ChessSystem for $2,000.
What distinguishes these machines, Lyman notes, from much larger "brute force" counterparts, is their clever programming. Using Intel Pentium chips, they are able to search up to 20,000 positions a second.