Computer Chess Cheating: Rybka’s Vasik Rajlich Interview

By Chess Tutor William Stewart

Original Article on Chess Cheating available here.

The International Computer Games Association (ICGA) released a public statement on June 28, 2011 declaring the ultra-strong computer chess program Rybka guilty of plagiarism, specifically alleging that the author/programmer Vasik Rajlich plagiarized two other strong computer chess programs (Fruit and Crafty) while designing the code for Rybka. Rybka has been the undisputed Computer Chess World Champion for the period 2007-2010, however it is extremely unlikely the program will compete in the November 2011 Championship.

Vasik Rajlich

Vasik Rajlich has elected not to directly respond to the ICGA's public accusations, preferring to be interviewed by Nelson Hernandez. Rajlich is an MIT Graduate and an International Chess Master, not to mention one of the best computer chess programmers in the world. What Rajlich doesn't get enough credit for is his ability to dodge questions and provide meaningless / irrelevant answers better than Johnny Cochrane on his best day in court. In his defense, he does make a few good points.

The ICGA stated that they had attempted to contact Rajlich multiple times and were ignored - leading them to publicly accuse and condemn Rajlich and Rybka. When asked why Rajlich has declined to respond directly to the ICGA, at 12:30 he demanded that "the investigation be conducted in a fair and proper manner". This is certainly a legitimate request, however it appears the ICGA was frustrated that Rajlich had declined to cooperate from the beginning.

Rajlich Explains His Side

Essentially, Rajlich feels that the existing rules are sufficiently vague for general misinterpretation and enforcement. Also, any objections to his programming should have been raised a long time ago because he has been publicly doing the same thing under the same rules for years. At 14:15 Rajlich claims that the ICGA rules are vague/ambiguous, specifically the wording in rule 2 with respect to the scope of the word "original" in computer programming. Rajlich believes that the ICGA's case is incapable of presenting evidence that is quantifiable, as computer chess programmers frequently copy codes from public domains to employ in programs. He claims that this "... could have led to an overlap between Crafty, Fruit and Rybka - Which is perfectly legal and normal". ICGA rules do permit copying of programming code, as long as it is credited and/or unrelated to playing strength. It would be nice to see Rajlich and the ICGA work this out transparently to avoid any misrepresentation of the facts, however this is unlikely. At 21:10 Hernandez asks "What would it take for you and the ICGA to be back in good graces?" - greeted by:

"I guess the resignation of everyone currently there". - Vasik Rajlich

So What Happens Next?

Rajlich has declined to comment in detail, however implied that his current business relationships continue in good standing (notably with ChessBase). He stated his sales "were up 400% last week", and joked that maybe he should do this type of thing more often. The ICGA is intending to report the issue to legal authorities and other associations with the intention of proving that Rajlich plagiarized source code to develop, improve and profit from Rybka.

Original Article on Chess Cheating available here. Follow William on Facebook and Twitter.

Four world championship titles stripped

Computer chess champ stripped of its four titles
By Claire Courchane
The Washington Times
9:40 p.m., Thursday, June 30, 2011

Yet another world champion has been brought low for suspected use of a banned performance-enhancing substance.

Rybka, the chess-playing computer program that won the past four World Computer Chess Championship titles, was summarily stripped of its silicon crown this week amid charges its programmer plagiarized the software of two rival programs.

David Levy, president of the International Computer Games Association (ICGA), announced the action against Rybka on Wednesday and imposed a lifetime ban on Czech-American programmer and Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate Vasik Rajlich. He accused Mr. Rajlich of ripping off the coding of two other software programs marketed as Crafty and Fruit. Mr. Levy also demanded the return of trophies and prize money the program won.

“We are convinced that the evidence against Vasik Rajlich is both overwhelming in its volume and beyond reasonable question in its nature. Vasik Rajlich is guilty of plagiarizing the programs Crafty and Fruit,” an ICGA letter states.

As accusations have mounted in recent months about the sources of Rybka’s phenomenal playing strength, Mr. Rajlich has steadily maintained his innocence on various online chess forums but given no formal denial. Now reportedly living in Warsaw, he did not respond to email requests for comment Thursday.

Mr. Levy also released eight comprehensive evaluations of the programs in comparison, put together by specialists who used Mr. Rajlich’s own words on how easy it is to copy programming source code to emphasize their point. The evaluations show identical coding in numerous aspects of Rybka and the earlier programs.

“The Rybka code base was without doubt derived directly from other people’s work and this was never revealed, so this is [a] case of taking credit for the work of others and it shows a lack of respect for the other major talents in computer chess as well as the ICGA and organizers of these events,” Don Dailey, a fellow computer chess programmer, wrote in one report.

Mr. Dailey was also one of 14 co-authors of a letter sent to the ICGA in March accusing Rybka of copying Fruit, an “open-source” program created by Frenchman Fabien Letouzey that was runner-up world computer champion in 2005.

Rybka won four consecutive World Computer Chess Championship titles from 2007 to 2010. But questions of programming ethics and stolen codes still bedevil the field.

Full article here.